St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-08

l. lie lost no time. Directing his steps
toward the Italian cabinet, he care
fully examined the room with a survey
ing look. Now came his hardest work,
for he found the drawers securely
locked. Key after key passed through
his hands; lock after lock was tried but
none of them yielded. His last resort
consisted III the use Of flexible skeleton
| key. A strong piece of iron was used
for the purpose. As minutes passed by
! it took all possible kinds of shapes. But
| the minutes became hours. and although
the Precipitation hung in heavy drops in
jules face, not q single drawer was yet
opened. Already the night was less
black; already the clock had sounded
three-no result yet.
JULES BECAME DESPERATE.
He thought of breaking into the cab
| met to have at last, after so much eX-
ertion, the long-desired fortune. But
there was danger in that. He would at
once invite ayenging justice on his
track. He made last attempt and.
oh joy, chance mad favored him at last!
His heart, accelerated its rhythm
as his staring eyes glanced
| over the contents OF the eX-
posed drawer. Amidst quantity of
| papers appeared a heavy sack. Jules
| lifted it mp, and, although the coins
were tightly packed, the peculiar noise
of friction betrayed the noble metal.
His heart was full of joy, for i'll his
/ he could afford to be honest. Suddenly
he is aroused from his reflections. 1t
seems to him he hears approaching
steps.
Sure enough, he has heard right.
Quickly pushing back the drawer, he
tries to escape with the heavy bag Of
gold. He has already crossed the ROOM.
and thinks himself secure, when a pc
cuiiar grinding sound almost para
lyzes him with fright. Somebody has
introduced a key into the lock and is
about to open the door. An indescriba-
bic Anxiety arrests his breath. He is
horror-Stricken, but his presence of
| mind does not abandon him. Nothing
but quick and clever action can save
him. Before he knows himself eX-
actly why lie conceals his treasure be-
low the pillow in the coffin. A second
later he finds himself under the bier,
where the black cloth hanging down
upon the floor protects him from
view. To make precautions complete
his muscular arms draw
HIS BODY UP AGAINS THE COFFIN,
while his feet, resting upon one Of the
croSsbars, sustain his heavy weight.
With the opening of the door he is
safely and securely hidden from indis-
Greet eyes.
Immediately after in steps an old SER
want of the count. Jules knows him
we'll from former days. For years he
has been the leader of the household of
his childlesS master. During the long
time of servitude profound attach
| ment has formed itself between the two
old men, and the tears of the old ser
want arc the expression of genuine
grief. He walks up to the coffin, and
there arresting his steps gaZes with in
finite sorrow upon the dear old face of
his benefactOr. A few sobs are followed
by all almost incessant flow of tears.
The old fellow hardly seems to be aware
of the progress OF time, for he stands
immovabIe like statue, while the
neighboring church-bells announce in
regular intervals Of fifteen minutes its
everlasting flight.
Meanwhile Jules had been suffering
in his exhausting position. He hardly
dared to breathe for fear Of being dis
covered. During the first few seconds
feeling of satisfaction over his pres
ence of mind made him forget the
strain of his muscles. Soon, however,
nature asserted her authority. A pecu-
liar sensation like that of a member
asleep ushered iii the approaching
fatigue. AS minutes passed by he dis
tinctly realized cramp-like pain. His
face became red under the severe
strain. He CRASHED his teeth to better
tolerate his pain, but unrelcntingly eX-
hauStion drew nearer and nearer. Al
ready the muscles Of his back made his
| body SILVER, already his calves were
thrown into spasmS and almost forcing
| the poor fellow to scream with pain.
Still
HE CHUNG TO THE WOOD
! like grim death. He was determined to
gain or to die. At last his nerves be-
came blunted. His suffering, while
| still extremely severe, was no more SO
acute. Though the sense of exhaustion
| was complete, it seemed to him that he
was making less effort to maintain his
| position. In fact, it seemed as though
| he was kept there by continued spasm
| of his muscular system. 1t acted with
| out his will. So independent of him
seemed to DE this peculiar state that he
WIS unable to produce the contraction
of muscle. to change his position in
the least detail, in spite of his most en-
ergetic efforts.
Suddenly some violent disputing was
| heard in one of the rooms below. EX-
element seemed to 90 high, for the
voices Wereleud and the sentences short
and broken. 1t was impossible to un-
derstand, but,Jules OWNED some mis-
chief. The old servant rapidly left his
| place. The idea of a quarrel among the
| servants while his master was lying
dead in the house had made him SO in
| dignant that he did not notice how he
slammed the door as he left the death
| chamber.
Jules burst into a sigh of relief. His
time had come. He tried to get up. but
! how astoniShed was he at the effort he
had to make
TO UELAN HIS EXHAUSTED ARMS.
Every movement went through him
| like the blade of knife. A mere still
implied a hell of suffering. But the
thought of his money made him forget
| his physical exhaustion. The noise be-
| low him became louder: more voices
mingled themselves III the chaos OF
| words. He must make haste. Taking
| the bag from below the pillow, he
crossed both rooms as quietly and quick
| ly as he could. After descending the
steps he stopped for moment before
entering the yard. A surveying look
through the key-hole discovered nothing
alarming, but the commotlon within
seemed to come nearer. He boldly
filings open the door, to make his way
across the yard, but alas! his plans are
ended abruptly.
'Here is the theft" cries out the
coarse voice of a servant. A short
struggle for, liberty, and the ex-secre
tary is captured by quickly collecting
crowd.