The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1888-04-19
glance around the room, s1lppeu IN
and locked the door, saying:

not a bit OF it! But, you see.
Stop that" he growlei; for. as he ap-
preached me, ! recovered myself
little, and gave good loud scream.
Quick as thought he had his hand
over my mouth, holding my chin and
nose in such a manner that / was
nearly suffocated, then he gave me
shake, saying:
'If you do that again, I'll pay you
out, you little fool There-she is 60
ing to be nice and quiet now, amt
she? A picter OF good behavior, Icalls
her!"
Talking thus, he gagged me dexter
ously with some OF my work which,
however, was pleasanter than his hand
ugh, that ugly grimy hand!-on my
mouth, and then producing some cord
from his pocket, and in a minute or
two | was-poor feeble thing-bound
hand and foot in my chair.
He grinned at me as he remarked:
"Now, you know, ducky, | wouldn't
have served you so if you'd have the
sense to Keep quiet. | never could
bear to be rough to the ladies-never!
But time is short, and you might have
been hard to persuade; SO perhaps it
is the best way, after all.
While speaking thus, the fippant
rascal kept running his eyes around
our neat little room. / read disdain
in his glance, and at that moment
suspicion darted into my mind that
he had come with the object of steal
ing some of Ned's work-perhaps the
ieweled bracelets which then were un-
der my feet. With this thought there
came to me q firm resolve to save my
brother such loss, if fIpossibly could;
ay, even though | had to endure tor
lures. would not speak. | set my
teeth hard and watched the man. His
wandering glances soon reverted to me.
Look here. dear, if loosen this
cloth a bit, and you take breath, will
you speak to me nicely? Only don't
scream again. 1t makes me quite
nervous to hear you scream, and can't
do no good.' How well | knew that,
in a back room in a quiet street!
''There, amt it much more comfort
able?"-loosening the cloth. Tell me
now, popsy, your brothers got some
valuables here, amt he?"
l shook my head.
ooh, but he has, so you needn't jog
your noodle like that. Better tell me
where he's put them. 1t will save lots
of time, and be more pleasant for
you
But only shook my head the more
"Did you ever see sich stubborness?"
muttered the fellow, tying up my
mouth again. 81 am afeerd | shall
have to make you speak directly. But
| never like to be unkind to the ladies,
unless they drive ME to it-oh, never"
Saying this he began an examination
OF the apartment, proceeding IN what,
as suppose, would be described by a
professional as the "best style"
anyway, his movements were charac-
terized by extraordinary celebrity.
Within a few minutes he had gone to
the bottom of every drawer and box
in the room, and also turned out the
sofa bedstead where Ned slept at night.
A pretty litter he made OF it all. But
he had not yet discovered the secret
of my footstool. Can any one imag-
inc what Iendured as sat there, help
less as poor little Chinese ''joss,"
the cold perspiration of fear on my
forehead, while l Iasked myself: What
will the fellow do next"
He turned round while proceeding
with the search and, looking at me,
said:
Halo, Poppet, how pale you are
Amt going to faint, are you? Oh.
don't faint, for l shall want you to
talk to me bit. I'll open the win
dow and give you mouthiul of fresh
air. This room is precious close
He went to the window-the window
which dear Ted had cautioned me not
to touch that nlng-unfastened the
catch and would have let down the
upper part; but he was saved the
trouble, for, the cord being broken,
down, quick as shot, came the win
dow, and, as luck would haveit, caught
his eight fingers tight between the up
per and middle frames.
The pain and the shock must have
been dreadful, the window-f frame being
a wide and very heavy one. Heuttered
a howl, then kicked frantically; but
all was in vain. There he stood, with
hands held aloft, caught in as nice n
trap as could have been devised for an
evll-doOr.
Then he glanced at me, and, the
sight of me. "picter Of good behavior"
that / was, must have filled his. soul
with remorse, since through his own
act was rendered powerless to assist
him. He whined, however.
Cant you help me?"
As it was impossible for me willingly
to look on while a fellow-creature
suffered such anguish as l knew he
must be enduring, used every effort
to get free, but vainly. He had tied
me too firmly for that. He took to
kicking again, and began to swear
horribly. May | never again hear
such language as | was forced to
listen to that afternoon,
His hands soon swelled, and I saw
some drops of blood trickle slowly
down the panes, the rings he wore on
his dirty fingers having been forced In
to his flesh. The piercing air, which
rushed in freely through the
wide apartment, must have greatly
aggravated his suffering. know Twas
nearly frozen. And all this time the
American clock on the mantelpiece
kept ticking Off the moments tram
gully, as though to assure mo that
time could not be hurried into quick
er pace by any consideration of human
distress.
Imagine what two hours in such a
situation meant for both of us! l
think the poor wretch at the window
but the horrible dragging OF
his body on his poor manned hands
reused him directly. Trembling with
cold and commiseration, sat watch
ing him, the tears rolling down my
cheeks. Oh, why had refused Ted's
kind proposal to send Cousin Milly to
met Why had been so captious
about her dear little baby? Better a
room full of babies, all doing their
worst, than
But here swooned, and fell, chair
and all, OH the rug before the cold
crate, the fire having died out long
since.
T,,o& ~, %La ho,,r 80 &Lro> Loo.-..