The Delta independent., 1890-05-27

and let hlm camp down before the fire,
but this design was altered with his
opinion of the mans antecedents, and
SO he finally lighted him to decent
bed up stairs under the roof, and then
he and the family retired for the night,
occupying two rooms on the ground
floor. While these things were taking
place inside of that lonely farmhouse,
some things were occurring outside
that vitality concerned the parties we
have introduced. Two met in the
road few rods from the dwelling.
"Hi, Samw said one.
"Ho, Ben!" replied the other.
Then they came together, and spoke
in low, guarded tones.
"Well?" quericd Ben.
"All right" answered Sam. "He's
home and got the money with him.
There are S1,7OO l know about, that l
know he brought away with him for
sure, and that ought to pay us for
the venture, if VIC don't get any more"
CAN right, then. When shall we
begin?"
Mreckon between 12 and 1 O'Clock
will be the best time. He's been
home about long enough to get his
supper and turn in, and after the long,
hard day and night he's had of it, we
must give him chance to get sound
asleep.
The plotters got under o shed and
waited till the time fixed upon for their
burglarious work. There were no shut
tiers to the windows-only fastenings
on the inside. With diamond the
burglars cut the glass close to the
frame in which it was held, but in spite
of their endeavors to get hold tit, the
glass fell with crash on the inside.
There was faint murmur of "What
is that" in tone that showed he was
asleep again by the time the words
were fairly uttered. Then the two
burglars, their faces concealed by black
masks, worked their way into the
room, each assisting the other, and
flashed light all around them from
the bulbs eye of the lantern they car
ried. To their surprise they found the
door of the young mans sleeping room
partly open instead of being shut and
locked, and they were disposed to take
alarm at it till they heard his steady,
heavy breathing. Then both, after
another sharp sweep of the light around
them, noiselessly advanced to the bed
of the sleeper-one prepared with the
chloroform to seal up his senses,
but both ready to murder him rather
than fail in their purpose. just at
that critical point of time an
other human figure, unseen by
them, came silently gliding through
the darkness and stealing up behind
them. 1t was the tramp. In his hand
he held rope with moose at one end,
not unlike a lasso. He stopped SO
near the two midnight prowlers that
he could have touched them, and pois-
ed the hand that held the rope, while
every nerve secretly quivered with in
tense excitement. 1t was moment
big with fate for all concerned. A sin
gle mistake, the slightest error, might
cost his own and other human lives.
The robbers, both intent upon their
evil design, did not look behind them.
They stopped close to the bed of the
sleeping man, one looking over the
shoulder of the other. The forward
one held handkerchief in one hand
saturated with chloroform, and in the
other hand the lantern whose light he
streamed full upon the face of the
sleeper.
just as he reached forward to press
the handkerchief to the nostrils of
their intended victim, the second rob-
Der, armed with knife and revolver,
prepared for deadly assault, brought
his head up close to his companions,
the better to note the slightest move
ment-at that moment the tramp skill
fully threw his moose over the heads
of both. Then, with a vigorous back
ward spring, he tightened the moose
around the necks of both and jerked
them down-stumbling, foundering,
crashing-surprised, terrified, almost
strangled.
"Surrender and throw down your
weapons or I'll beat out your brains!"
cried the tramp, as he jerked and pulled
upon the rope, in order to strangle the
robbers into submission. The answer
was three pistol shots from the man
who held the revolver, neither of
which hit the tramp, but one of which
entered the brain of his companion and
ended his wicked work for this world.
The noise aroused the sleeper, who