News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-06-10
THE OLD WOMAN'S WARNING.
An Old Story in Real Life RetoId.

An Old Story in Real Life RetoId.
In 1875 there lived in central Iowa a
family by the name of Robinson. con-
slstlng of father, mother, and two chill
dren, the latter being boys nine and
twelve years old respectively. Robin
son was a well-tO-do farmer, we'll
thought of by the neighbors, and a
Christian man. There was, therefore.
no one who questioned the truth of the
incident he related. He had a brother
IN Des Moines who was taken very i'll,
and sent for him, and he left home ex-
pectlng to be gone at least a week He
had no hired man, but the boys were
old enough to care for the stock, and
the wife was not a woman to borrow
| trouble
Robinson was in perfect health when
he left home, and there was no reason
to feel anxious for those he left behind.
He reached Des Moines OF Saturday
night. His brother was very low, but
it was believed that the crisis had
passed and that he was mending. On
Sunday night, at midnight, the watcher
who h d been at the bedside during the
first part of the night called Robinson
and retired. The patient was resting
easily, and the watchers had only to
give him medicine once every hour. He
gave it at O'Clock, and fifteen minutes
later, while he was seemingly as wide
awake as ever in his life, a little, old
woman suddenly entered the room.
! The sick man was in the parlor bed
room, and the woman came from the
sitting room, the door of which stood
open. Robinson bowed to her, and
while somewhat surprised at her pres
ence, he supposed it was all right, tax
| ing her for a neighbor who had come
In She looked to be So years old, was
very small for a woman, and years
afterward he could describe her dress
and features. She stopped in the centre
of the room, and Robinson tip toed
over to her and said:
''The doctor thinks he is much bet
! ter.n
''You must go home" she brusquely
remarked in answer.
'Who-me"
eyes"
"But I came to help take care of
James"
''You must be home by ten o'clock
tomorrow night2" said the old woman.
"Why?"
She beckoned him further away from
the bed and then whispered:
Tomorrow night, before midnight,
three bad men will enter your house
to rob and murder. You must go
homel"
GLOW did you learn this9' he asked,
knowing well enough that she would not
joke him at such a time, but unable to
credit her with all seriousness.
They poisoned your dog tonight"
she answered, and they are now sleeping
in the barn. There are two of them
now; tomorrow night there will be
three. If you love your wife and child
rem do not tarry here"
''But-but-"
"Go-go!" she commanded, backing
out of the room.
Charles, who is that woman?"
asked the sick man, and Robinson
turned to the bed to find his brother
wide awake.
81 do not know"
Il saw her in the room just before
you came in. She came and leaned over |
me. She must be a stranger"
Robinson passed into the sittingroom,
and from thence to the kitchen, but the |
woman had disappeared He called his
brothers wife, but she had no such |
person on her list of acquaintances. The
doors were all locked and the windows
down, and it did not seem possible that
she could have left the house, though a
thorough search failed to find the least
Of ha.r 4, Il
when the search was abandoned, and at
that hour the sick man was amazingly
better. he not only declared that he
had seen the woman and heard all she
said, but he stoutly insisted that his
brother should go home as soon as pos
sible. At ten o'clock in the forenoon
Robinson left for home. The nearest
railroad point to his farm was seven
miles, and as he had to wait at a
junction for several hours he could
not reach home before ten O'Clock
in the evening. When he reached
the station at which he must
leave the railroad he told the story to
the Sheriff, and team was hired and
six well-armed men went out with him.
1t was half-past 10 when they reached
the house. They approached it across
the fields, and came up just as two men
had entered by an open kitchen window,
while the third was on guard outside.
The trio were speedily captured, and
then several points corroborative of the
little old woman's declaration were
picked up. The family dog had died
with every evidence of having
been poisoned. Two strange tramps
had been noticed hanging about the
pace the day before, and two of the
arrested parties were identified as the
fellows. They had slept in the barn,
and they had been joined by a third
They intended to rob the house and
steal a horse and buggy to get away
with. In hopes of shortening his term
of Imprisonment at the expense of his
comrades, one OF the trio turned States
evidence. He said 1t was understood
between them that of Mrs Robinson and
the children awoke they were to be
killed.
Now comes another singular feature
of the case. At II o'clock of the night
on which Robinson reached home, his
wife was sitting up with him, and, as
he was resting very easy, she fell asleep.
The little old woman reappeared, sat |
down, and said to the patient:
''Youl brother reached home in time.
| am glad to see you getting better so
fast"
With that she was gone, and none of
the parties have been speaking Of ever
saw her again. People who know the
brothers well are firmly convinced that
they saw and heard just what they al
lege, and those who scott at the story
find it hard to explain why Robinson
started for home as he did, and arrived |
just in time to arrest three hardened |
fellows who were promptly sent to State
prison.
He Made His Bug1e Talk.