Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-05-20
LOCKED IN A VAULT.
The Unpleasant Result of a Young HUI,
bands Vanity

The Unpleasant Result of q Young Hus-
bands Vanity.
In Chicago some years ago an actor
and actress-husband and wife-who
had grown tired of hotel living, and
who were booked for stay of several
| weeks in that city, resolved to take a
suite of furnished rooms and get their
meals when and where their inclina-
/ tons might direct. They arrived in
| Chicago on Sunday, and, after some
tiresome searching, found on Dearborn
street what they sought
| Evidently the building had been in
tended originally for Office uses, as in
the bedroom was a large safe or vault
OF the most massive construction. In
stead of being used to hold securities of
! priceless value, 1t was devoted to the
number duty of receiving clothing.
Inc heavy steel door, some FIVE inches
thick, was supplied with a com bination
| lock-
This was a novelty to the wife, who
as soon as she had bestowed of her
wraps in the safe, began a superficial
study of the mechanism. She could not.
of course, make out much about it. and
her lord and master offered, in his SUI
Y.
'Al you have to do" he said, sis to
think of a word, shut the door, then
spell the word on this dial; turn the
handle, and then no one can open it who
doesn't know the combination. Now.
step In for moment; / will lock you in
on the word open and let you out again
in an instant
The wife, who had not been married
long enough to discover, that her hus-
band was not as clever as he thought,
gayly stepped into the vault.
1t will be awfully dark and stuffv in
here with the door closed" she ex-
claimed
Don't be afraid Gear; I'll let you out
again before you have time to think"
lie turned the handle, worked the
combination to open" worked it back
again, pulled at the door, but there was
no sign OF its yielding. Frantically he
again ran the Indicator over the letters
making the word, but still the door
would not bulge. He shouted encour-
aglngly to his wife, but it was evident
that she could not hear him.
"Was she already dead for want of
ARP was the Grst awful thought, but
he remembered that the vault was at
least six feet square, and even if per-
fectly air tight, must contaia enough
air to support life for some little time.
But for how long? 1t was Sunday. It
might be hours before he could find a
locksmith and even chen it might take
more hours to open that dreadful door.
His darling might be dead. He would
be her slayer! Perhaps the law would
call it murder.
These thoughts flashed through his
mind in less time than it takes to read
them. After shouting some reassuring
words he rushed up to the landlady's
room on the floor above, and breath
lessly and almost uninteiligibly told
something of the trouble.
You're the second fool who's got in
to mess meddling with that safe" was
the old woman's comforting comment
Never mind that" he cried Can
you get her out before she dies?"
Yes, l can. l don't have things
about | don't understand; and if | did
find them l wouldn't NEEDLE with
them
Never mind that, my good woman;
only come and open the door"
, Its easy to see you amt been long
married" was her grumbling comment,
! as she waddled after him down the
stairs. She gave a few turns to the
handle and threw the door open. The
wife was discovered in a dead faint. but
evidently still alive
A good many dollars spent in doctors
fees and a present to the landlady to
some extent repaired the damages of
the husbands experiment. but nothing
could repair his eternally damaged rep
utation for knowing it all.
A day or two after the occurrence he
said to the landlady: "How is it the
door wouldn't open on the combination
l used?"
Because" she answered, you must
release the lock from one combination
before you cap set it on another You
men don't know everything, though you
generally think you do."-N. Y.
Romance