Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-03-24

she stlll considered him n reproduction Of
her departed husband
"Morc than ever aid the widow; 'and
when look on yon an Exile standing there
together I Kin scarcely believe that YOU
amt brother and sister
| when bedtime came Barker wns con.
Quoted 10 y chamber lcadihg on from the
room where the widow kept her safe and
account books lie went on 10 sleep very
easily In spite u ihe fact thai he was In
ca.ed IN n strange nigii-hiri. one Of the
late lamentc'l's. and. " he had not hcen
disturbed, wunld have oontiuucd sleeping
TN morning Asit was he wns awakened
little after midnight by noise In the next
room. Listening he he.rd what seemed
to h. blows upon some hard substance.
Instantly he thought u the safe. The next
instant he aid quietly out Of bed and started
upon tour Of Investigation.
| lie moved noiseiossly toward the door
connecting ~. room with the outer cham
her and stood upon the threshold q num-
lrr Of seconds. watching what was tran.
| apirlnR In tho outer room, before tho
psrsons who wers working there were
aware Of hi. presence. H. saw two men,
| one Of whom wa. gray whiskcred and APP
| parunfiy No years old. onlDge'i with ham.
mer and chisel upon the safe. The gray
whiskercd man Wa the iirzt 10 take cog
nlsanoa Of barker, and he no sooner saw
him than. with loud shriek, he threw
down bis tool. aud started on the run for
the door leading Into the halt
Quick, joel be called back to bis
younger mate. "Qnlck, Joe; don't you -re
RUFF iIaley's ghost there In the dourwayff
The younger man ran after the elder one.
and after the two ran BARKER stlll Ia hi,
..l..lsaN.las al oil
carrying one of the burglars hammer In
one hand aud their lamp Ia the other. lie
followed the men down stairs aud Into the
sitting room, but h. dill not leap after them
ont Of the window Probably he would
not have done that under any circum-
stances. clad ~ he was, but there was ona
overpowcring circumstance In the case
which made him understand that the
sphere Of his duty was inside the house.
Something which he Jaw after he had en-
tered the sitting room stopped him short
In hl- pursuit Of the burglars, aud for n
second or two rivetcl him motlonlcss 10 tho
floor.
lie saw three beigowned, bare ioci wo.
mep sitting In row Of chairs placed
agspst side Of the room, bound hand
aud FOOT and made mutes of by something
crnmmrd Into their mouths each staring
at him with widely dlstendcd cy,s. Barker
recognized In the thrce women the widow.
the widows daughter and the woman who
had sralded him with her pudding gravy.
His first Impulse WIS Immediately 10 set
the three women loose. aud acting under
this impulse he plac,yl hammer aud lamp
upon the floor aud moved toward tho
bandagcd group .
but he quickly changed hla 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 10 imperative that he would b. jusil-
fed In answering It while he WIS 40 Scantl.
ly clothed.
pardon me. ladies. " ho said. II was not
awar that you were In this room or 1
should not have followed those gentlemen
In here. II you will excuse me for mo-
msnt wiil-'sce you later"
lilo whisked out u tho room. rushed mp
the stair, three at - time. diyci into his
bcdchAmber. grabbed his truuser.. got
Into them Truman fashion on the way
down stairs, and within minute from tho
time Of hi. departure from the room wherc
the women were he had returned 10 Il. aud
was ready TO bcgin the work Of emanclpa-
tion. When he had finished Il he rrilrcsl
TO complete his toilet. promising to rcturn
very soon.
When he rcappearcd he found the widow
alone, no, not alone. for she was sitting
with a double barrvled gun over her
shoulder. gazing nxcily at tho windows
through which tho burglars had made their
exits.
"Ididn't know but that they might come
back ag'in." she said
~ guess not" said Barker. "lut give
me the gun and go TO bed yourself III lilo
down here on the lounge and keep guard,
and II any burglar tries 20 enter hero IN
blow hi. head on"
III can get near enough 10 hit him."
he added sotto voce, calling 10 mind tho
fact that he had never frcd gun In his
life "lint whcrs were the hired mcn" hs
asked. after pause. "Or did thuy Lii tho
hired men outhghtW
"rhe hired men," answered the widow,
"the hlrrd men u over 10 Eliot To wed.
din. That's why W. women was left
alone"
"weddlnes arr bad thlng-," said Barker
lmpfcSsively.
hut OF course he spoke joklngly, for no
knew that he himself was To be married
the very next week 10 my daughter. lie
told the widow the followingdAy about the
approaching wedding She had Just sug-
gestod 10 him the possibility " union
with her daughter.
I'm sudden sort OF woman" she
had said. II Amt ona Of them who be-
licyes In dellbcratln' an prayln'. I make
up my mind shot OF where want to 70,
an git there IA quick ns kin. l only
knowed my husband twenty-four hours
before was married TO him, and didn't
make no mistake nuther. Now, l want
~ ask You n question: How would you like
to marry my daughterf'
The average man, IN Birker's place,
would have hccn stunned by u proposition
Ike this, but Barker answered 20 Il with.
out the least hesitation.
Nothing would suit me BETTER no
said. "but I've been pre-emptel by another
woman, and she takes possession Of mo
next Friday"
Barker In all human probability will
never see the lialeys again. but he has GER
talnly made an Impression upon their
minds which Is destined ~ last. Neither
mother nor daughter ever looks at the
photograph of tho lata lamcnted Rufus
Haley without recalling that another man
QUE dny stood Ia front of IL, who, though |
$50 far "a they knew ha had not drop Of
Haley blood in him, was Rufus Haley all
over again. New York Times.
s======-=
His wife.