The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-11-21

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much from that kind of tinidity whiC
may be described as might fear" In al
er years these feelings wore away;
during the first year 1 would often he.
my own heart humping hard and fast a.
my ears ringing, as stood still to Hste
and sniff the air.
A little after IL o'clock one evening AZ
unlocked the door Of one Of the weaE
rooms heard noise that sounded ike
pair Of small pincers or a pair Of shea
dropped 70 the floor down toward the fus
Their end Of the room. The sound car
very distinctly to ne, for the room was t.
still as tomb. Istopped short and listened
for fully minute and then said, who's
| theres"
There was no reply reflected that it
was probably pair of shears, left careless
ly lying on a loom by some one of the mill
girls, which had at length slid off to the
floor. walked slowly along the passage
between the looms, rapping on them with
my stick. 1t was quite a dark night in
August. Clouds had risen; and had once
or twice heard thunder, as If shower was
gathering over the town.
Thrust my stick in between the looms,
but detected nothing unusual. But just as
/
| fancied heard faint rustic among the
looms behind me- experienced sudden
sensation, too, as if there was some one
else in the room.
went back and passed entirely around
| the room and down the center, listening
and poking about with my stick, then
went out and locked the door.
| 1t began to rain, with few flashes of
lightning and a good deal of thunder
| growing in the heavens. This continued
| till after midnight. When | made my
! rounds between u and l o'clock, heard
nothing unusual in the weave room; but
| upon unlocking the door few minutes
past I, / again heard peculiar sound, like
the half sigh, half snore which some per-
sons make when partially walked from
sleep.
l. startled me even more than the first
noise l had heard, although the thought
came into my mind on the instant that it
might be from draught of wind. But |
called out again, loudly and plainly,
"Whos in here:" and added that whoever
was lurking there had better be getting
out in haste.
Then after moment / started down the
room, rapping pretty hard on the looms
and posts to keep up my courage; for al
though it seems little to tell of by day
light, my feelings in the dark were quite
another matter.
did not meet anything unusual, how
ever, and was returning from my circuit
OF the room, along the opposite side, when
/ again heard a rustic just across from
where / stood, and at the same instant saw
dark object pass one of the windows. I
knew then there was person in the room
"a thief or burglar, probably; and the idea
took possession of me that the rascal was
moving along to reach the door ahead Of
me, perhaps to wayiay me there. Moved
by sudden spasm of fear, / made a rush
for the door and, gaining it, turned and
shouted:
None of your triclisl I've seen you.
What are you doing here?"
got no answer; but as l strained my
eyes in the blackness, / saw the same dark,
shadowy object slowly pass another win
dow. 1t was moving stealthily toward
me. I was badly frightened, for had no
weapon save my stick, and l thought it
likely that the miscreant had a knife
l stood in the doorway, with my left
hand holding the door, ready to jump back
and shut il, if tie fellow made a charge on
me. ] felt sure that he was moving slow
ly toward me; yet l did not like to turn
and run away.
stop where you aren' shouted in as
savage q tone as / could utter. Answer
now, who are you and what are you doing
heYe?"
Even before my words were out | caught
glimpse of something or some one, APP
parently in light colored clothing from
head to foot not three yards from rle, and
was about to leap backward and shut the
door when, with piercing screech, wo-
man sprang against me to get past, and at
the same moment struck me in the face
with some sharp pointed instrument so
painful blow that l staggered and nearly
fell
The blood flowed pcofuse!y, and my as
sailant got past me, although in attempt
ing to seize her | retained portion of her
clothing in my hans. She ran down a
flight of stairs into an ante-room and es-
capped into the street. A Waterman on the /
canal bank, who had heard the scream, at
tempted In vain to stop her; and he, too,
received a blow in the face, dealt with |
what it was subsequently, ascertained was
pair of shears.
DOuiiu up but NOtlEN IN CDbSh anu !
remained on duty till morning,
The garment which had captured was /
a large white apron or skirt such as many 1
of the mill girls wore. and as it was then |
customary with them to place their names,
in stencil, upon the garments, the superin- I
tendent with whom l left my prize called .
the owner to an account next day
When hidden to explain her exploit the I
girl asserted that about balf-pRst the 4
previous evening she had stopped her looms /
to mend up, but that. being very tired, she |
had, while sitting on the floor between
them, fallen asleep, and had from this
cause remained in the mill when the rest
went ont at 6 O'Clock. Later she had
walked. but finding the room locked had
decided to remain quiet until morning.
When asked why she had not asked the
Waterman TO let her out, she declared that
/ "hOllered" and talked so terribly" that
she was afraid of me, and that finally,
when she found that had seen her, she
was lawful scared" and had run past me-
As the girl had never been caught in any
mischief previously her story was generally
accepted and the laugh was rather against
me. It was always my own opinion, how
ever. that the girl had staid in with her
shears for the purpose OF stealing some
factory cloth. z. Apgar in Youths
Companion.
A.