The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-02-02

enough to show things with any dis
tinctness in the open, and l had shell
tered the back of our house by planting
a uumber of young fir trees. l wills
percd to my wife that she should go
back to Lotto and that L would stay
where l was for II bit, and see whether
the robbcr- if it was u robber-would
come again.
1t was scarcely to be called late, yet
it was too late for any of our mill pco-
pie to be about, and they were our only
neighbors. Indeed. we had no near
neighbors. My house. and one adjoin-
ing it Cntcndcd for another employee,
but at that time unoccupied), stood
partly within the high wooden fence
which incloscd the mil, that is their
backs opened into the Enclosure (thc
looked on a public thoroughfarc. Thus
after the gates to the mill had been
closed; and the person-if it was a per-
son-who had got to the windows must
either have sccreted himself within the
door, or have gained access to it i'll some
impropcrmanncr. Now, however, all was
still as could be.
Down l sat, to watch, close by the
door of the cladOcoy. l chose a dark
corner, and one where, in the dusk, it
would have been a hard matter to sec
nae, but l had a full view Of the lattice.
I waited till my patience was beginning
to wear out, and then fancicd that l
heard some slight sound outside under
the Jiort0chhn. 1t was so slight that ut
first I was not sure whether it might not
be merely fancy, but after a little pause
l heard it again, louder and more dis
tinctly. l sat still as Il mouse, and kept
a sharp lookout.
Slowly and gradually something
raised itself before the opening. 1t was
Il head; but in the uncertain light l
could not say whether it was a human
head or that of some brute creature.
Whichever it might be, l could see
enough of it to know that it was such a
wild, haggard, unearthly looking thing
as | had ncvcr lookc:l upon before. Any
quantity of shaggy hair was hanging
about it, and its only features to speak
Of seemed its eyes. Eyes it had, past
all mistake. Never did I see anything
like the way it glarcd at u good pro.
visions within. l have seen what a fam
ished wolf looks like, and 1 should
hardly think a furnished wolf worth
comparing with that creature. 1t was
ravenous after what it saw. Up beside
the head came two punches of long
claws, which wrenchcd ut the wooden
lattice as if to tear it down. But they
were too weak. The strips held fast.
And then the thing fell to with its teeth
to gnaw a way through.
While the creature was thus engaged,
l contrivcd to slip quietly from my dark
corner by the door, and catching up a
big stick, went out at the back of the
house. I stole round as noiselcssly as /
could toward the window. There were,
as | s id, young trees ON that side of the
house, SO that with q little care, it was
not difficult to approach the place unob-
served. When l got to within a few
yards, I saw that the man-for the crea-
ture was a man-was still hard ut work,
trying to force a way in.
L dropped my stick, and made a rush
at him, and had him before he knew
anything about it. He did not give up
quietly. He struggled hard-despcr-
atcly, I may say. But, bless you! he'd
not the ghost of a chance with me. /
am a tolcrably strong man still, as men
go, and l was younger then. 1 could
have undertaken three such as he, and
thought nothing of it. The poor wretch
had no sort of condition about him-he
was a mere skin and boncs-no muscle
at all. He wa nothing but Il walking
anatomy, with a few rags by way of COW
ering-and only a very few.
All that he gained for his struggles
was t. good shaking, for 1 gave him one
that made every tooth in his head chat
ter, and her I laid him fiat on his back.
l had been long enough in the coun-
try TO gain some knowledge of Russian.
1 could use it pretty freely to our mill
people; and l must own that for terms
in which to blackguard a set of lazy
r~ascals, as most of those fellows are,
Biilingsgate isn't a patch on it. So l
could make my prisoner understand me.
"Now, then, my friend" I said to him,
''you needn't take the trouble to show
any more fight. You sec it won't pay.
So just get up, and march quietly off
with me to tho omAastok"-thc ouchastoG
being, as you perhaps know, equivalent
to the police station in English.
But instead Of getting up, and doing
as he was told, like a reasonable being,
the creature contrived to wriggle itself
upon its knees, and to hold up its
hands, while it begged of me in the
of the Virgin and all the Saints
not to hand it over to the politzia. 1t
would rather be killed outright, and was
ready to be beaten as much as l pleased.
'My ragged FRIEND" l said, ''you are
q queer chap! Why do you object to
the police so %stronglyT
The poor wretch made no direct
answer, but only reiterated his entreaties
that l would not give him up. began
to have some suspicion of the quality of
my guest. II am inclined to Think
said, that you arc neither more nor less
than an escaped convict"
Instead of attempting to deny it, he