Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1886-08-28

the stairs ! do not know. There were
five lovely women overhead, listening
with beating hearts for the sounds Of
what might prove desperate. pos
sihlv n fatal, struggle. The mo-
mcnt placed my foot on the upper
step, the ludicrOus side of the picture
struck me SO forcibly that | smiled
Here was the man in the house that we
had heard so much of, that we had all
| TESTED about only few hours since,
upon remembering the Colonel was
not Mt home. "A man in the house
was the warning that caused three
frightened girls to huddle together
! trcmblinglN, while Alice Treyino and
Mrs. Potter eudcavored 10 allay their
apprehcnSions. And there was ahun-
dant cause The Colonel was known
to have very large sums of money in
his house at times sometimes he was
compelled to keep it three or four days
before he could conveniently deposit ii
in the city
Then there was the Potter plate.
Some of it had served three genera
tions. 1t was known over the length
and breadth oi the land. 1t had been
honored by the notice of three Presi-
dents and no end of Senators and Gov
enOrs, to say nothing of the superb
solid gold and silver service presented
to the Colonel by his regiment, his
State and two or three orders he was
active in. The Potter plate alone would
have proven a load for a horse.
My hand was placed on Dick May
In : ,i,l- .f A
moment later he would have revealed
our presence. caught Tom Blythe's
wrist, and held my companions at the
foot of the stairs, listening intcntly.
About twelve feet from whore we stood,
a door in the hall opened upon strip
Of lawn between the main building and
conservatory. just beyond the con
serVatorN, and underneath the stairway
used by the servants, the safe was built
which contained the Potter plate and
other vauables. We could see light
glimmcring under the mountaineering
1t was safe to assume that tho door
opening upon the short hall leading
into the dining-room was open. The
light we saw would otherwise have
been concealed While we were
whispering to each other in the hall, n
figure glded down the stairway
silently, and Mrs. Pottcr's hand was
laid on my arm lightly As she listened
to the sounds that were now loud
enough to be heard in any part of the
house. The audacity of the burglar or
burglars amused us.
II think there must be moro than
one said MAY berry.
"Thcrc may be three or four, " / re-
piled, II will 90 ont of the hall door
on the right to the kitchen or dining
room. They got in from the rear; 50
much is plain. You and Blythe will en-
ter this door when you hear me
whistle
Here was interrupted by Mrs. Pot
ter who in the meantime had been
joined by the dear girls, who, terrified
beyond measure, could not remain
longer in suspense in the upper hall.
II fear something may happen, Mr..
Adair, if you 90 around to the kitchen.
A shot aimed at robbcr may hit one
of our defenders,
My companions stood beside me as
placed my hand on the knob of the
upli. nv lOOi pl'NlNi llpiN'l'0niN
We could hear the grating sound our
ears are accustomed 10 in daily life
The fellow, or fellows, were cutting
the door OF the safe open.
Once more signalcd TO my com
panions, grasped the pistol in my right
hand, and seeing both were prepared
for the onset, suddenly opened the
door between us and the burglar.
"WrllPn
A face knew well we had seen the
man a score of times in the vicinity of
Pottcr's Point the face of a man up
ward of sixty, was turned up to us
His torn straw hat was pushed back
from his forehead. His struggling
gray locks fell upon his open wrinkled
shirt collar. The strong leather sus-
pcnders supporting his faded blue
overalls were polished by long wear.
lie held in his right hand a carpenters
chiscl. while his left grasped Il window
sash, from which three panes had been
removed. As he looked at us Che was
on his knecs). a merry twinkle lit up
his eyes. He moved his lower jaw
rapidly. squirting stream of tobacco
iuitc into a spittoon beside him, and
again exclaimed;
"Wcll?"
The Colonel's wife Immediately
rushed into the breach.
"Jrrry, these gentlemen did not
know you were here. They are re-
hearsing little play"
God bless the Colonel's wife. | will
always believe the other boys and am
indebted 10 her tact for taking the
ridiculous edge on the affair,
NO? We'll, | don't reckon You
knew. But the Colonel lowed these
lights ort to be put in fore the next
rain. IN hcin' rs how I've got 10 20 70
town fer dav or two, he gin me the
KEY to git in the back way fus' thing in
the morning, sos not TO disturb you.
I'm nigh throo.
Another stream Of tobacco juice
punctuated his peculiar speech, and we
retrcated i'm good order. Thanks TO the
Colonels extraordinary forethought
and the "man in the house" we were
all. including Stowbridgc, who to this
day persists in looking at the whim-
steal side of the picture, up early and
prepared for the fishing excursion when
The Colonel returned on the early morn
ing train.
The Colonel Graves fairly years.. for
another war lie says he knows sast
where TO put his hand on three brave
men. paeM L0wrg in hitsbnTgb