West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1889-12-26

Mother" said Mat, ''Julius lost his
pocket-knife. lie looked all over the
house to find il, and it was under the
bureau in your room all the time. / was
glad he found it, because it had only one
broken blade, and Julius thought a great
deal Of it,"
stopped short, with the baby in my
arms.
"Under the bureau in my rooml" /
repeated; and then it came over me what
n fool j had been thus TO disregard my
husbands injunctions. The field indeed
had been quite clear for operations. Old
Julius had doubtless reaped a rich har-
vest. | went hurriedly to my bureau.
The key was still under the embroidered
cover, as had left il.
/ opened the upper drawer with trem-
bling hands. II was as 1 had supposed
the diamond ring hat had been my
mothers before me, and which / scarcely
ever wore, in this wild Western home,
was gone; so also was a small leathern
wallet, containing seventy dollars in bills
and papers of no little importance. A
chamois-leather bag of silver-table ware,
spoons, forks, butter knives, etc, had
also been distracted.
l was still standing, stricken dumb
with dismay and anger, when the sound
of horses heels rang on the road outside.
| rushed out, as ! supposed, to meet
my husband, and put him on the track
of the wretched old ~red-skinned thief.
But it was not Matthew. II was the
three equestrians, returning from Gnl's
Station, or from somewhere else.
MADAME, do not be alarmed" said
the big one, with ostentatious courtesy,
eve do not intend to hurt you or the
children, but it is essential that you allow
us to tie your hands"
ITO tie my hands" / gasped. "What
forl"
He shrugged his shoulders.
$50 that you will not interfere with
u.s." he said, quickly Selling both my
hands and skillfully winding one of my
own kitchen towels bandagcwisc over
them.
The baby set up a piteous wall. One
of the brigands took her, not unkindlv.
from me, and laid her in her wooden
cradle.
LET her cry!" said he. "SheIl soon
stop. Crying is good for the lungs"
And in less time than it takes to de
scribe this strange scene we were tied
hand and foot, little Mat and 1, and
locked into the sitting-room, whence we
could hear the steps of our unwelcome
visitors as they systematically went
through the house.
Little Mat looked at me with wide
open eyes of terror.
"Mother, said he, care they going to
kill us?"
"N6, Mat" I ans wered-"not if we
keep still. And it would do no good if
we hallooed our threats out. No one
could hear us but the birds and the
squirrels"
Little Mat uttered a choking sob.
"Oh, if father was only here with his
revolverl" said he. ooh, if was only
grown up"
And my heart echoed every one of his
words.
The baby, sensible little lass, had left
of crying, and now lay cooling in her
cradle, trying to catch a western sun
beam which lay, like a thread of gold,
across her patchwork quilt.
Mat and l were eagerly listening, when
once more the beat of horses hoofs
sounded on the road, and from the win
dow we saw the three men ride swiftly
away.
Once more we eyed each other in
mutual apprehension.
"And they've left us here, ted"
gasped the little fellow. "Oh, mother.
mother" remembering some story of
hideOus guerilla warfare that he had re-
Gently overheard, "do you suppose that
they have fired the house2'
mo, Nativity should they2 They
have taken what they wanted and gone.
We must wait here until somebody
passes, and then make them hear, if we
can"
''But the windows and doors are all
shut, and no one ever passes here after
shutdown. Oh, mother, il could only
get these strings unticdr"
And he gnawed fruitlessly at them
with his small, white teeth.
My heart sank as / recognized the
truth Of his words, but | struggled
bravely TO keep back the tears and sobs.
At that moment the bolt in the outside
staples was slid cautiously back. a
coarse, black mat Of hair was thrust
into the room.
"Oh," cried little Mat, with a gasp Of
delight, sits Indian Julius! Oh, Julius.
come and unite us ~
white squaw and papposo tied up"
grunted Julius. ''Me unite him. Me
cat knots with me knife. Old Julius
know they come. He hear talk; they
catch he listen. They hold pistol 10 he
ear, and make he promise, big swear.
nc no tell, or they skin he alive. Old
Julius no tell with u chuckle). emo
break big swear. But white souaws
wampum safe in Old Julius's pouch. Old
Julius be hid down in swamp he lie fat
behind log, and come back when man
al gone.
had shrunk at first from the bcady
glitter Of the Old mans eyes, but when +
realized the pacific nature Of his errand, ]
let him approach me with his knife and
cut asundcr the bonds which had been so
skilliully tied.
No sooner did he see me released than
he thrust his hand down into one Of the
reccsscs Of his dirty blanket, and brought
to light, first my diamond ring, safe and