Evening journal., 1890-02-04

more pleasant for you.n
But / only shook my head the more.
'Didyou ever see SIGH stubbornnessT' NUT |
tered the fellow, tying up my mouth again.
Il am afeerd / shall have to make you speak
directly. But never like to be unkind to the
ladies, unless they drive me to ito neverp
Saying this, he began an examination Of
the apartment, proceeding in what, as / sup
pose, would be described by professional
as the ''best stylem any way. his movements
were characterized by extraordinary celebrity.
Within few minutes he had gone to the bot
tom of every drawer and box in the room,
and also turned out the sofa bedstead where
Ted slept at night A pretty litter be made
of it ALI But he had not yet discovered the
secret Of my footstool. Can any one imagine
what endured as / sat there. helpless as a
poor little Chinese ''joss," the cold perspira-
ton Of fear on my forehead, WHILE asked
myself; What will the fellow do nextg'
He turned round while proceeding with his
search, and looking at me said:
"Hallo, Poppet, how pale you arel Amt
going to faint, are youg O don't faint, for /
shall want you to talk to me bit. Ill open
the window and give you mouthful Of fresh
air This room is precious Close
He went to the window the window which
morning -unfastened the catch and would
have let down the upper part, but he was
saved the trouble for, the cord being broken,
down quick as a shot came the window, and,
as luck would have it, caught his eight fin
gers tight between the upper and middle
frames.
Tee pain and the shock must have been
dreadful, the window frame being wide and
very heavy one. He uttered a howl, then
kicked frantically; but all was in vain
There he stood, with both hands held aloft,
caught in as nice a trap as could have been
devised for an evil doer.
Then he glanced at me, and the sight OF
me, ''picter of good behavior that / was,
must have filed his soul with remorse since
through his own act | was rendered power
less to assist him. He whined, however:
Cant you help met"
AS it was impossible for me willingly to
look on while a fellow creature suffered such
anguish as knew he must be enduring, |
used every effort to get free, but vainly. He
had tied me too firmly for that He took To
kicking again and began to swear horribly.
May never again hear such language as
was forced to listen to that afternoon.
His hands soon swelled, and ] saw some
drops of blood triclzle slowly down the panes
the rings he wore on his dirty fingers having
been forced into the flesh. The piercing all
which rushed in freely through the wide
aperture must have greatly aggravated biz
suffering. / know was nearly frozen. And
| all this time the clock on the mantelpiect
kept ticking off the moments TRANQUILITY, a
though to assure me that time could not bS
hurried into a quicker pace by any censidera
tion of human distress.
.-tA..
meant for both Of lIsl Two hoursi / THAI
the poor wretch at the window tainted; but
| the horrible dragging OF his body on his poor
manned hand reused him directly Trembling
with cold and administration, sat watching
him, the tears rolling down my cheeks. o
why had refused Ted's kind proposal to send
Cousin Milly to mel Why had been g
captious about her dear little babyl Better
a room full Of babies, all doing their worst
/ than
But here swooned, and fell, chair and all
/ on the rug before the cold CRATE, the fire hav
ing died out long since.
Just on the hour of 3 became conscious OF
a dun thud below, which / knew to be q
knock at the street door. / lay listening, bui
rather wondering vaguely what would hap
| pen next, than taking any interest in thing
| of this life, from which seemed in a man
ner to have fioated away.
After an interval l heard steps plodding
up the stairs, and loud CHEEKY voice, which
/ recognized as that of our old friend, Mr..
Joy, the carpenter, called out:
"Hulloa! Anybody at homer
Coming TO our room door, he knocked
then turned the handle, but of course found
it locked. Being unable to speak, yet tried
to groan, and made some inarticulate noises,
but l could hardly hope the old man heard
them, as he was somewhat deaf As for my
companion in misfortune, one would suppose
he would gladly have hailed a prison as al
escape from such a plight as he was in, and
50, no doubt, he would, only be had no choice
at that moment, having gone off again in {
heavy swoon.
heard the carpenter go down stairs, and
hopes Of relief died away in my breast.
Joy, Joy, why did you come to mock me
thusl Two more hours probably before Ted
viii be homel Shall l be alive by then
My bound and aching limbs were on the racl
Of pain; lay and sobbed miserably But
bark A shout from the back gardenl
"What the dickens is all thisln
Again heard the voice of Joy.
1t appeared that the carpenter, on trying
our room door and finding it fastened, con
|
the back Of the house "to have look at that
windern which my brother had sent him K
mend-of course not expecting to find it con
verted into man trap. He had noticed
while knocking at the street door, that tn,
parlor window was unfastened, and, think
ing it unsafe, especially as Mrs Brown wa
out, lie had used his privilege as our ok
friend and hers to get through and fasten i
before coming upstairs. No doubt the THE
had entered the house by that way.
1t was not long before help came, and tn
door was broken OPEN when our misery wa
ended dare say, since prisons were frs
built, there never was a culprit who walkes
into Jail more meekly than did the one VIII
had intended to rob my brother
They say the poor fellows hands win neve
be right again; amputation may be necessary
as erysipelas is getting in. Wen, all cal
ray is, freely forgive him for the suffering
mental and bodily, he caused me.
was in bed for fortnight. but eventual
got all right again. Dear Ted says / am
brick, but that may be his partiaiity. ANY
how, my footstool proved to be very effec
tive safe To this hour no one knows about
but you, Ted and myself. True Flag.
Cooperative Criticism.