Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1890-08-22
NEATLY TRAPPED.
A PRIMA DoNNA's ADVENTURE.

Madame Pauline Lucca usually resides
In the Victoria Strasse, Berlin. Last
spring, however, she occupied Temporal
rily, at some distance outside the city, a
country house consisting only of one
spacious rambling story, surrounded by a
verandah.
One night, about 10 o'clock, she was
sitting there in bedroom. Her chair
was placed before her toilet table, which
was lighted by wax taper on each side
of the glass. The two tapers were not
sufficient to illuminate the room very
brilliantly, and the farther end lay buried
in sort of semi-obscurity.
Madame Lucca was busy reading some
letters concerning engagements, when
suddenly she imagined she heard a noise.
She looked round, but. seeing nothing,
concluded she had made mistake, and
resumed the perusal of the letters. She
had forgotten the noise when she heard
it again.
This time, instead of looking round,
she happened, without moving her head,
merely to raise her eyes to the glass. She
beheld reflected in it the face of man
peering cautiously from out a cupboard
behind her.
At first she fancied she was dreaming.
She quietly looked again. No, it was
no dream. There was q man. whom
she now recognized as having been for
merly in her service. whence he had
been discharged for general bad be-
havior. She had also suspected him of
purloining several objects which she had
missed from time to time but not being
certain on that point, she had kept her
suspicious to herself. Yes, there he was,
there could be no mistake.
Madame Lucca's first impulse was to
start up and give the alarm. But there
was not another habitation within
mile or two, and she recollected that the
only person besides herself IN the house
was her maid, who, though a very good girl
and extremely attached to her mistress,
was by no means celebrated for her
nerve. The other servants, including
the gardener and coachman, had been
granted permission to attend a friends
wedding, some few miles off, and were
not to return until the next day.
1t flashed across her mind that the
man who, as she knew, had been loiter-
ing about the neighborhood for two or
three days, had learned that she would
be alone, and meant to rob the house,
and perhaps murder her, if his project
of robbery could not be executed with
out the preparation of the greater crime
What was to be done? Again she
glanced toward the mirror. The eyes
were still there, glazing on her through
the gloom. All at once she remembered
that revolver belonging to her husband,
the Baron Won Rhaden, ought to be
lying on shelf in the dining-room, but
she was not quite sure. eff it is there,
and I could only get it," she thought,
81 should not mind!" While she was
rejecting, a knock was heard on the
door of the room. She saw the dark
man instantly draw back into the cup
board and close it after him. She felt
relieved that those two horrible eyes
were taken off her; they seemed to
pierce her Ike daggers.
"Come in" she said. Her maid
entered.
'I thought you had gone to bed," Oh
served Madame Lucca, in tone Of un-
concern.
81 was going, please yogr ladyship-
but I-I-thought you might perhaps
want something"