News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1891-03-05
TERMS $I.5O.

fault case Sam run erway, m / ent tell
no lies, nudder De oberseer am all
crook up en- de bald wild he toes en- he
mouf."
There, Sally that viii do. You're
not going to be punished nor scolded.
unless ! find you've told a story"
'N' dat des what | gwine ter fine
out. cried Aunt Susey. Use gwine
straigt ter de quarters N disvestergate
Massa Simpsons legs n toes, N come
back n tole yer de trufe bout 'en
Miss Nan"
mo, don't do that, Aunt Sukey
Recollect your rheumatism. If you gel
caught in the rain your legs and toe.
viii he worse off than Mr.. Simpsons.
i Just see-if he's really SICK, and il not,
ask him to come up and sleep at the
house tonight. I'm not afraid, but it's
lonesome with no one for company but
baby und Sally"
With an emphatic sniff and 'Huh !
better off 'dout her comp'ny!" Aunt
Sukey departed.
Minute after minute passed and she
did not return. Night and the storm
drew rapidly nearer, but neither Aunt
Sukey nor the overseer appeared.
At last | gave them up. concluding
she had found Mr.. Simpson really sick,
and had not chosen to run the risk of
getting wet just to say so.
l fastened the doors and windows,
and when all was made secure l di-
rected Sally to spread her pallet on the
floor of my room, and sat down to while
away the lonely hours as best ! could.
My boy slept soundly, undisturbed by
the now continual thunder and light
ming, and his nurse seemed soon to fol
low his example.
! As for me, / never felt less like sleep
ing in my life. Whether it was the
effect of the electricity in the atmos-
| phere l am not scientist enough to say,
! but every nerve in me seemed unpleas-
antly alive, quivering to the lightest
| touch or sound. | was not afraid,
had no sense of danger, but an eerie
feeling of utter and helpless isolation
! possessed me.
However, | was the last person to
! give way to such fancieS, and taking
up little frock | was embroidering
for my boy l seated myself by the lamp,
determined to find in steady employ
ment a sedative for my excited nerves.
Everything in the house was pro
foundly still Outside the thunder had
gradually died away, and only the
steady pour of the rain broke the
silence of night. Suddenly another
sound caught my ear-very slight
scarcely perceptible, but l heard it
Something inside the room had moved
Without looking round or otherwis
stirring l raised my eyes to an opposit
mirror and watched the girl Sally.
When Inakiug her bed for the nigl
she lad spread it close to the back doc
of my room. That door l had myse
locked when securing the house for I'll
night, yet | now saw it slowly IN
cautiously open and the girl slip quiet
ly through.
This door did not open on the yard
but into n sort of inclosed gallery tina
ran back of my room and the dining
room. What could she want in there
L was on the point OF calling to ash
her when Aunt Suzey's warning flashed
across my mind.
Could it be possible that her hus-
band, the negro desperate she had SO
determined to marry, lay hidden there
The place was seldom entered at night,
being used as q linen and china closet.
She could easily have slipped him in
there at dusk and concealed him in one
of the numerous presses.
And with what obiectl That ques-
ton was easily answered. There were
quantities of silver plate stored there,
much oft handed down by distant for
bears from colonial times, and not yet
become the spoil of war. This was in.
deed q tempting prize. If they could
escape with it to the Yankee lines riches
and freedom would reward their sue
cessful robbery and evasion.
But would robbery be alll Would
not murder be sure to followl
There was no outdoor to the gallery,
no window, nothing but solid walls
lined with presses. The door leading
into the dining room was locked within.
Their only egress was through my room,
and if they intended me no harm would
not they have waited until l was asleep
and tried to slip off with their plumber
without my lnowledge9
Yes, they meant me mischief; l was
sure of it, The man was one of tho
very worst types of his race; he owed
me a grudge for having opposed his
marriage, and my father bitter hatred
! for severe though well merited punish
ment My life and perhaps my child's
would be taken. Even sudden and
violent death might not be the worst
fate in store for me.
And what could do2 Alone in the
house. incumbered with an infant, at
the mercy of those two miscreants, not
even q closed door between me and
them! Well, something must do. If
| perished it should not be through my
own cowardice. My nerves steadied,
and my old bold spirit rose to the emer-
gency.
1t has taken long to tell these
thoughts but they whirled through my
Erain with the velocity of light, and in
less than two minutes after Sally crept
from the room was ready to act.
l folded up my boys little frock de-
liberately-ahl would he ever wear it ?
placed work, scissors and thimble in
my sewing basket, yawning aloud as l
did so, set back the basket against the
wall, and with another yawn sauntered
leisurely across the room to the bureau
and commenced taking down my hair.
The bureau was on the same side of
the room as the back door, and not
two yards from it. With every sense
on the alert, l distinguished a low,
shuffling noise in the gallery, not, rs it
seemed to me, very near the door, but
coming from the middle of the floor.
My treacherous maid had released her
husband from his hiding place, and
they were stealthily approaching my
room.
With one bound was at the door
1t was slammed, locked and bolted in
breath Not a moment too soon. As
the bolt shot n heavy weight dashed
against it, and a volley of curses
poured out in the unmistallable linz
of plantation darzy.
l had not II second to lose. How
long the door would resist their attack
was q question of minutes. Even now
it was quivcring and crealling under
Sans powerful blows. i snatchod up