Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-01-08
A Winter Niglt;;
OR,
Found in a SnoW-Drift.
OR,
CHAPTER vi. CONTINUED.

Dorothy looked on the floor, all over the
room, in the corridor, and still 1t was not to
be found.
Then she rang the bell sharply. Old Ag-
mes came to answer It q little sulkily; all
the maids were out, and 1t made her breath
short to mount the stairs.
~ can't find the key Of my door, has any
enc removed it?7
"Why should they' The keys in this
house are rarely touched; we can trust ono
another, Miss Snow"
Yes, Of course, but am accustome d to
lock my door, and l can't sleep unless 1t is"
I'm very sorry, but it Is no fault of mine.
| Put a chair against the door; no one will in
terfere with you-why should they? never
! locked my bedroom door in my life. What
should do in case of fire?'
Unlock 1t and get out IL you value your
| life, suppose. l am annoyed. The key
was here this morning. Well, l suppose 1
must get TO bed, but l don't believe l shall
sleep"
II don't suppose you will, It is not ten
o'clock. Shall ] bring you a little negus%
"Yes, please, wish you would. l feel
tired and nervous"
Old Agnes went down again, and got the
hot wine-and-water, grum0ling as she did
so about the loss Of the key; 1t was SO
strange, she could not account for 1t, and II
worried her.
After seeing Dorothy drink her wine in
bed, and turning the gas down to faint
glmmer, old Agnes said goodnight and left
her, closing the door securely behind her,
and went down to wait up for the maids.
Dorothy went to sleep after laying awake
some time; little Ally slept serenely by her
side, but Dorothy dreamt someone was
dragging the child away from her to de-
stroy.
The dream was horribly realistic, and she
fancied someone was lifting Ally above her
while she sank lower, overpowered by a
sickening odor that seemed to saffOcate
her.
She made desperate effort to break this
spell Of horror and awoke to find herself in
total darkness except where the moon made
light just where the window cleaned q
glimmering square.
A handkerchief that had covered her face
she had torn away just in time to see little
Ally lifted from her side by dull dark
shape with plume of feathers on its head
Ike hearse.
Weak, sick, and faint felt Dorothy, but
her promise to protect the child was vivid
In her mind. No enc should take her away
while she had power to prevent it.
"Who are you? What are you doing with
that child?" cried Dorothy, sprlnglg out Of
bed, and pulling at the bell-rope-it only
hung by a thread and gave way at her
touch.
Dorothy screamed with terror, and took
hold Of Ally to wrench her out of the
strange wOman's arms.
She might as well have tried to move n
marble column.
"Silence, you fool, or by the Heaven, I'll
kill, you'll only take my own. Keep of,
or shall do you deadly harm"
The low fierce voice never failed. In vain
Dorothy tried to rescue the child, hand Of
iron grasped her throat
She tore frantically at the hand; the lace
ut the wrist came away, the silk gave way to
her maddened grasp, but she could not
loosen the cruel fingers.
With horrid thud she was thrown
against the bed-post and rolled over, he avi-
ly stunned.
Then the woman, spurning the PROSTATE
form with her foot as il she had been a
loathsome reptile, picked up Dorothy's fur
lined cloak from the foot Of the bed,
wrapped the still sleeping child in it, and
went silently away like night shadow that
many may dread but few grasp.