The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-06-21

began to stir at the roots and | had Il sus-
plcion that 1t was turning gray. But Lou
was getting interested She had raked out
an old dark lantern and had borrowed six
shooter from one of her uncleS. She gave
me these and her blessing. and / perceived
that nothing but square backdown won d
save me from night in Judge Aliens
house.
The thunder-clOuds had risen, and The
lightning was flashing as l took my way
toward the scene OF my tial. l regretted
this exceedingly, because it interfered with
my plan, which was to hide in an obscure
corner Of the Judges veranda till morn
ing; but If this lightning kept blazing
away the burglars might discover me aud
stain Their souls with my blood. In this
view of the case the inside of the house
seemed safer than the outside. | had
brought big bunch of keys with me, and
l operated on the back door Of the Judges
house with trembling hands. Almost the
first key tried turned back the bolt, and
entered.
Ipassed through hall and entered the
dn!ng-roOm. Was it my excited fancy?
Surely not. Somebody hastily left the apart
ment as | entered it. | could hear him in
the adjoining room, and a minute later on
The stairs.
was somewhat unfamiliar with the in
terror OF the Judges house, and could not
at once decide what part of it would be-
safest in such an emergency. Ii L lad
known where there was a closet with re-
liable lock on the inside of the door, L
should have lost no time in getting into It
As it was, | stood trembling, and every time
crash of thunder came, L supposed that
was shot
BY and by it seemed as if / could hear
somebody breathing in the room. 1t was
impossible TO endure the suspense of this
thought. l had hitherto kept my dark lam
tern covered for fear CLEAN from it would
DetraV hut I 1ntartnlna1 tn turn If
loose and explore the room, even if | made
target of myself by doing it, In my ner-
vousness dropped it ON the floor, but it
did not break. It's rays struggled family
out and showed me figure, dim and indis-
tlnct, but facing me menacingly. L could
see the glimmer of weapon in its hand
With hOarse cry | raised my own pistol.
The figure did the same. We fired stimuli
taneously, and l lodged unhurt; but my
adversary had persisted in the wreck OF
large mirror, worth about $50.
did not realize that L had fired at my
own image. was too scared to understand
what the crash of the glass meant. | sim
ply fed. In the darkness | lost my bear
lngS and tipped over tables and chairs,
sending showers of yaluables and fragile
objects down upon the floor. At length my
band touched some curtains L pulled
them aside and as did so n flash and crash,
right in my face. made me certain that the
entire top of nay head had been shot of. In
reality L had pulled the curtain away from
a window, and what had supposed was a
pistol shot had been fash OF lightning at
close range. But took it for an enemy and
blazed away, blowing several large paneS of
glass to fragments
BY this time my nerves were totally un-
hinged. l had no idea but flight; and, per-
ceiving by a lightning fash the door which
led to the main hall | darted through it,
leaped up the front stairs and lodged
through the first door that l could find. 1t
led into closet and there was somebody
in it when | arrived. We discovered each
other simultaneously and we both fell on
our knees and surrendered.
1t was Charley AlertOn An hour later,
when he had ventured downstairs ard had
restored our courage by recourse 70 the
judges sidebGard, he told me his story.
He had "gone broke" in New York, and
had had nothing to fall back upon but
ticket to BuggsbUTO. He had come out on
the evening train expecting to sleep in the
house and make raise in the morning. 1t
was he who had been trying to get into the
window, and he had mistaken me for bur
glar, not perceiying that there was a lady
with me. After had gone away he bad
ventured in, making an entrance by the
window because he couldn't find his key
We agreed to cover up the calamities of
the night in as dark a secrecy as possible
L supplied the funds to replace the broken
glass and furniture, and after figuring it all
up discovered that the cost of establishing
to about $500. / still have the reputation,
but never want to see another chance to use
il. HOWARD FIELDING.
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