Wichita eagle., 1889-09-14
ghe aaiehta Daily EaYle Saturday gon sepmber a. 1888

street is quiet one, and said to Noble that
there WAS some excitement without He IN
stantly connected it with our experiment. I
believed he was right, but attached little i'm
poatance to the matter Nevertheless, we re-
paired TO another apartment, one window OF
which projected slightly over the street at a
height of perhaps twenty feet from the
ground. In this we could watch unob-
served.
AT l o'clock there were two men lounging
On the opposite side of the street. The crowd
Of twenty had first seen had dispersed. The
two were presently joined by three or four
others, who, passing, had stopped TO joke
with them, and had staid like men who ex-
pect some small spectacle and stop TO catch
glimpse of it. if they happen to be in no
haste Occasionally one would start on. The
group continued 10 grow slowly. At lis
there was again a score. About this time
glanced up and down the street, and counted
a dozen more in doorways. Turning my
eyes a-ain to the original group, Twas sur
prised to see it had been augmented by
half hundred. The gathering now became
rapid. At 1:20 there may have been hun
dred people in sight; five minutes doubled the
number. From every quarter mersand wo-
of our door, but 10 ore approached it. It
was plain, Noble observed, they all came as
spectators merely The attention Of the
crowd was divided between our house and u
neighboring steeple clock Two O'Clock was
approaching. As for our house, it stood be-
fore the crowd, a large, plain stone structure,
every curtain drawn and no sign Of life
within.
The third quarter struck Then on every
hand the crowd broke into rush for posi-
tions before the door They instantly lost
the appearance of spectators aud became
mass Of eager men struggling for first places.
Noble and l looked into each others eyes; in
stantly, with that moment, we saw the ami
hilation of our fortunes. / clasped my
friends hand; it was cold as ice. Together
we went TO the library. Without a word
Noble wheeied table into the middle of the
floor, seated himself, took out check book
and laid it open before him. / made a quick
calculation, from my best knowledge of the
amount of our joint fortunes, handed it TO
him, and, gathering the servants, gave them
some brief instructions When got back
to my seat at the window the crowd had
grown till its limits could not be seen. Fill
ing the street, not long one, it reached
from end to end and from wall to wall, and
l judged by the sounds that more were gath
ering around the corners and in the adjacent
thoroughfares.
You may have seen throng before lot
terry wheel, impatient, excited. Some such
an aspect had the mob before our door, save
that IL was far more immense, far more ex-
cited. There was occasional laughter, such
as we hear from drunken men. Every man
acted as one partially deranged it was ap-
parent that the stranyeness OF the situation
had its effect ON the crowd. Two eSslock
struck The first stroke of the bell was hard
ly heard for the murmur and excitement;
the second stroke fell upon the throng as
still as though that second every man had
been turned into a corpse. Every eye was
upon the door. Not a motion was visible
about the house. The door was unlocked,
and servant stood behind it, but made no
sound, not curtain stirred.
| had expected, when little time had
passed, and it was seen that the door was not
to be thrown open, that there would be a
rush, and it would be pushed in. So pres
emily l observed that those far back now be
gan to push forward. Those nearest the door,
too, crowded upon the stoop; but there every
to the door, but none did it. Then terror
seized them and ran back through the peo-
pie, and they fell back Then arose a great
cry. could not make out what it was, but
in the midst of it the first quarter struck
Then there was silence, and for long time
they did nothing but wait, each for the other,
the crowd behind upbraiding those in 'front.' for
not pushing in. Our quiet house terrified
N h.,
Again those in the rear and on all sides
began crowding forward. After two or three
starts they surged forward, but only for a
few feet, those in front Immediately pushing
back. This wave like movement was repeated
several times, the last time the reacting surge
placing those in front farther back than ever
They stood thus for moment when the half
struck. Then they crowded again forward,
but no man put hand on the door. Up to
this time there had been an appearance Of
good nature and raillery, though underneath
it was an intense earnestneSs; but now they
broke out into quarreling. Blows were ex-
changed, and dark looks were everywhere
but nothing was done beyond an occasional
surge for the door and sweep back.
Three,euarters past, and it was almost 8,
when single man assembled the steps and
knocked. The moo was breathless. The door
was silently opened the man went in or was
pulled in. and all was as before Then what
"a cry went upl And what silence follow
ed! But no second man offered to 20 in The
first would be out presently, and would tell
what he had seen. But ten, fifteen, twenty
minutes elapsed, and he did not reappear
The silence was profound. Half past 8 and
still no sign. A shiver passed through the
throng. Not many but thought OF possible
tragedy on the other side of that mysterious
door. The truth is the man had been usher
ed into the library, where he saw sedate
gentleman of 80 sitting behind table, who
asked him simply if he brought a statement
of his debts. For a repfy he presented Il.
The amount was small, and the gentleman
laid aside his check book end handed MIN the
sum in gold. He was taen invited to pass
into the adjoining parlor and 10 be seated
he was requested kindly 70 remain till /
O'Clock, or until the cEsyd dispersed. and
/. watching at the wifs.ow, realized that the
slightest variation in(the temper Of the mob
would sweep away every psnny Of our fam
lies wealth, for both Noble and | would
have died before we would have allowed O
demand 10 60 unhonoTed while aDytL-ng re
manned.
1t was evident that we had been mistaken
when we supposed that the lnsl and universal
verdict had been that our notice vas hoax
We had not walked out the last night, it
being Sunday. II We had done 50, II = iikeIy
we would have learned there had been a
change. While al-1esr al, l afterward
lzArred. had continued 20 ridlcuie the thing
and pronounce IL huHbug, tbere had been
q secret preparing Of statements and q deter