, 1888-09-08
noise it wiz be worse for yo. Do you

EtAo0 ~ vi bO NOLoS " 1O- Nv 1Ou
mind that?"
He went softly into the hall.
Feeling that now was my opportunity,
I put my finger on the knob, and as
silently as possible sent my signal over
the wire, into the night, down to the
mills and Harry Randall.
Harry, are You therei'
In another instant | was leaning back
in my chair and moving an inkstand on
the table to make a noise. How my heart
was beating and my ear was strained to
goodness hope it-might possibly come
back to mel
Almost a minute-it seemed an age-I
listened, II my heart sank as no answer
ing signal was heard. Then-clickl clickl
clickl came the sounds, sweeter to my
ears han the sweetest music, and l knew
Harry was there. These sounds were to
some extent covered by the drumming of
my thimble, but to me were as plain as
spoken words.
Instantly l sent back my answer, two
excited words, u all together:
"Robbersl Helpr"
The total silence that followed assured
me, after a minutes anxious waiting,
that Harry had co~mprehended my mes
age, and hat doubtless he would come
at once to the house. Fortune had favored
me, for l had heard the man creeping up
the hall stairs, and thus l had escaped
the results of n suspicious he might
have had had he heard the clicking of the
instrument.
did not look at the clock and so cannot
say how long l sat there in silence. 1t
seemed to me that it was hours.
Then there was a sound of whispering
in the hall. The next moment there ap-
peared in the doorway a second stranger,
rougher and more desperate, if possible,
in appearance than the first, and close
behind him, to my great surprise and in
dignation, was our man Joseph. They
both advanced into the room, the one
looking angry and disappointed, and the
other with a sheepish air as he caught
my eye.
growled the second stranger, '"but all for
nothing. The money wasn't in it, and we
have looked high and low and can't find
it. But Joe here sticks to it that it's
somewhere in the house, and he thinks
looking fiercely at me, you know where.
It's no use, Miss -, we haven't II
time to spare and we won't have any non
sense. You know where the money is,
and you've got to tell"
He had advanced while he had been
speaking, and was now quite near. 1
arose from my chair, fearing he might
lay hands on me. And at that Instant
my ears painfully alert to any noise-I
was certain l caught the sound of a foot
fall outside of the window and 1 gained
fresh courage.
"And why have l got to tell?" 1 de-
manded, purposely raising my voice so it
could be heard outside the house. "What
right have you to break into this house
this Way
The man caught me by the wrist, ut
tering at the same time a fearful oath.
You make another sound above a
whisper" he cried in a voice hoarse with
rage, IAN mp
He did not finish his sentence. There
came a loud crash at both windows at
once, and the next moment Harry Randall,
with two watchmen from the mill, burst
into the room.
Tho rescue was complete so far as saw
ing our lives was concerned. The robbers
attempted no resistance.
In an instant, before a word could be
said or a blow struck, the man raised his
hand and dashed tho lamp from the table.
In the darkness and confusion the burg
lars, Joseph among them, made their es-
cape. And although every effort was made,
both then and after, to secure their ar.
rest, they never were taken.
However, rs 1 said, our lives and the
money that had been confded to my
keeping were safe, and we were thankful
for that.
And l may say again that 1 am very
glad that at that time at least the tele-
graph had not been superseded by the
telephone.-New York journal.