San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-04-29

But" objected Bas Ecr. Il can't 90
around in my shirt sleeves"
"WOuld you be willn'," asked the
widow, TO wear one OF Rufus cUats?"
Certainly, madam" said Barker.
The widow hustled of up stairs and was
soon back again, holding out a long tailed
shiny black coat. Barker took the coat,
and after regarding il for little while as
it hung suspended from his thumb and
forefinger by the back of its neck put it on
and finished his dinner. He was still wear
ing the coat an hour later, when the wild
owls daughter Effie arrived home from
North Berwick.
Now, it happened that this coat was the
very one which the late lamented wore
when the photograph was taken of which
mention has been made, and clad in it
Barker looked more like his prototype in
the picture than before. When the widow
presented him TO her daughter the Young
woman caught the resemblance as quickly
as her mother had, although she had no
recollection of her father, and only knew
how he looked by having familiarized her
self with his face in the big photograph.
Barker, on his side, did not fail to mark a
similarity between the daughters features
and his own; but, seeing that the widow
was looking at him inquiringly and eX
pectantly, it occurred to him to ask her if
she still considered him reproduction of
her departed husband.
More than ever" said the widow; "and
when look Oh you an Effie standing there
together | kin scarcely believe that you
amt brother and sister"
When bedtime came Barker was con-
Quoted to u chamber leading off from the
room where the widow kept her safe and
account books. He went off to sleep very
easily in spite of the fact that he was in
cased in a strange nightShirt, one of the
late lameuted's, and, if he had not been
disturbed, would have continued sleeping
till morning As il was he was awakened
little after midnight by noise i'll the next
ROOM Listening, he heard what seemed
to be blows upon some hard substance
Instantly he thought of the safe. The next
instant he slid quietly out of bed and started
upon IA tour of investigation.
He moved noiselessly toward the door
connecting his room with the outer cham
Der and stood upon the threshold a num-
Der of seconds, watching what was tran
spring in the outer room, before the
persons who were working there were
aware of his presence. He saw two men,
one of whom was gray whiskered and APP
parently 80 years old, engaged with ham
mer anil cLisel upon the safe. The gray
whiskered man was the first to take cog
nizance of Barker, and he no sooner saw
him than, with Il loud shrek, he threw
down his tools and started on the run for
the door leading into the hall.
Quick. Joe he called back to his
younger mate "QUiCk, Joe; don't you see
Rufe Haley's ghost there in the doorway
The younger man ran after the elder one,
and after the two ran Barker, still in his
borrowed nightshirt and nothing else,
carrying one of the burglars hammers in
one hand and their lamp in the other. He
followed the men down stairs and into the
sitting room, but he did not leap after them
out of the window. Probably he would
not have done that under any CirCum-
stances, clad as he was, but there was one
overpowering circumstance in the case
which made him understand that the
sphere OF his duty was inside the house.
Something which he saw after he had en-
tered the sitting room stopped him short
IN his pursuit of the burglars, and for a
second or tworiveted him motionless to the
foor
He saw three bedgowned, bare toed wo-
men sitting in a row of chairs placed
against side of the room, bound hand
and foot and made mutes of by something
crammed into their mouths, each staring
at him with widely distended eyes. Barker
recognized in the three women the widow,
the widows daughter and the woman who
had scalded him with her pudding gravy
His first impulse was Immediately to set
the three women loose, and acting under
this impulse he placed hammer and lamp
upon the floor and moved toward the
bandaged group
But he quickly changed his mind, the
thought suddenly occurring to him that
he was not confronted by life or death
condition, and that the call upon him was
not so imperative that he would be justi-
fled in answering it while he was so scanti-
ly clothed.
Pardon me, ladies'" he said, 81 was not
aware that you were in this room or
should not have followed those gentlemen
in here If you will excuse me for a mo-
ment will-'see you later"
He whisked out of the room, rushed up
the stairs, three at a time, dived into his
bedchamber, grabbed his trousers, got
into them fireman fashion on the way
down stairs, and within a minute from the
time of his departure from the room where
the women were he had returned to it, and
was ready to begin the work of emancipa-
ton. When he had finished it he retired
to complete his toilet, promising to return
very soon.
When he reappeared he found the widow
alone; no, not alone, for she was sitting
with a double barreled gun over her
shoulder, gazing fixedlY at the windows
through which the burglars had made their