The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1890-11-06

carpet lag; hut yet he did not know
what sort OF faculty his stranger
roommate might have for getting up
and walking off in the night.
Ofcourse | granted him his re-
quest, and he put his carpet bag un-
der nv bed, nnd then sat down by
my stove, and we CEstted socially
enough for halt an hour or more
without once abiding to the BUSH
ness which had brought the pair of
us to Wiltonburg. His converse
tion was pleasant, and really come
to like the fellow; and l thought to
myself thas / had been predjudiced
against him without cause. At
length he arose, and babe me good
night, and went away, and shortly
afterward retired. had been in
bed but a little while, when another
rap upon my door disturbed me;
and to my demand OF what was
wanted l received answer from La
ban Shaw. He bade me not to
light u lamp. He had only come
for his niGhtgown. He could get it
in the dark. / arose and unlocked
my door, and his apologies were
many and earnest. He always slept,
in winter, in a flannel nightgown,
and he had thoughtlessly LETT it in
his carpet bag. He was sorry-very
sorry. He had thought to try to
sleep without it rather than disturb
me, but his room was cold and
l cut him short. and told him there
was no need OF fur ther apology; and
while he fumbled over his bag l went
to the stove to make double assur-
ance that the fire was all right. /
offered to light match for him,
but he said he had got his dress and
all was right. He then went out,
and I closed and locked the door
after him, and then got back into
bed.
But l was not to sleep. had
been very sleepy when Shaw
disturbed me, but an en-
tirely different feeling possessed me
now. First came q nervous witch
ing in my limbs-a "craWly" feeling,
as some express it-that sensation
which induces gaping and yawning,
but which no amount OF yawning
could now subdue. BY and by q
sense of nightmare stole over me;
and, though awake, a sense as OF i'm
pending danger possessed me. At
length, SO uncomfortable did / be-
come in my recumbent position, that
l arose and lighted my lamp, re-
solved to replenish my fire, and dress
myself, and see if l could read away
my nervous fit.
My lamp was lighted, and as re-
turned to the bedside for my slippers
my attention was attracted BY q
string which 10y upon the carpet-a
string leading from the bed to the
door. I stopped to examine it and
found it fast at both ends. brought
the lamp and took a more careful
survey. The string was fine silken
trout line, new and strong, one end
Of which disappeared beneath the bed
and the other beneath the door. In
my then present condition was sus-
picious OF evil, and my senses were
painfully keen. Raising the hanging
edge of the coverlet, I looked under
the bed. The carpet bag which
Laban Shaw had left lay there, partly
open. with the silken line leading out
from it. What could it mean? Had
the man accidently carried the end
OF the line away with his night dress
without noticing it? Tdrew the beg
out from beneath the bed, and as |
held it's jaws apart [ saw within a
double barreled pistol. both hammers
cooked, bright percussion caps gleam-
ing upon the tubes, while the silken
line, with double end, was made fast
TO the triggers! And | saw that the
muzzles of the pistol barrels were in
serted into the end OF an oblong box
or case of galvanized iron. And l
comprehended, too, that a very slight
pull upon that string might have dis
charged the pistols, and, furthermore,
that man outside ofmy door might
have done that thing!
For u little time my hands trem-
bled SO that l dared not touch the
Internal continuance; but at length J
composed myself. and went at work
First, cut the string with my knife;
and then, as carefully as possible, |
eased down the hammers of the pis-
tol, after which l drew it from the
iron case. had just done this when
/ heard q step in the hall outside my
door. Quick as thought l sprang
up, and turned the key, and threw
the door open, and before me, re-
vealed by the light ofthe lamp, stood
Laban Shaw. He was frightened
whea he saw me, and trembled like
an aspen. Twas stronger than he 1T
any time, and now he was as a child
in my hands. grasped him by the
collar, and dragged him into my
room; and I pointed the double-bar-
relied pistol at his breast, and told
him ! would shoot him as I would
shoot dog if he gave me occasion.
He was abject and terrified. Like
whipped cur he crawled at my feet,
and begged for mercy. His master
had hired him to do it with promise
of great reward. 1t had transpired
that my testimony before the jury
would be conclusive ofButterworth' g
guilt, and Butterworth had taken
this means to get rid of me. In his
great terror, the poor accomplish
made clear confession, and when
he told all / released my grasp. He
begged that / would let him go, but
| dared not-my duty would not al
low it. / rang my bell, and in time,
the hostler, who slept in the Office,
z"swere't NV summons. I sent him