Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1893-11-17
TRAPPED.

TRAPPED.
Most men have q hobby, and Silas Bland
OF The Beeches. In the fair county Of Surrey,
was no exception to the rule.
Asa matter Of fact, he dabbled in every
thing q chemistry, photography, geology,
numtsMatics. mechanics, nlesmerism-all
had their attractions for him, bnt Of recent
years the inventions OF Edison, the famous
electr rcian, had absorbed the greater part
Of his attention. IS
A complete set Of electric. burglar alarms
attached to every door and window on the
ground door had hitherto Afforded him Ina.
munity from noctnral visitors, but as he
contemplated shutting up the house for q
month or 10 whils he sought . change Of
scene II behooyed him to think OF some
method Of nbduing burglar who, know
Ing 10 was In m empty and isolated house,
might defy the noisy demonstrations Of the
bells and proceed With his looting. s
Now. Silas Bland very latest s'pet'' was
an improved Edison phonograph which he
had managed TO smuggle Into the country
% dehancs Of the patent dghts supposed to
be held by an English syndicate.
g Here, then, was 6i1as Bland.s opportunity
TO defend his hearth md home during his
absence and that of The setvants.
HeFinyited an actor friend ia dinner one
evening, and afterward got him to deliver
certain carefully prepared sentences In .
,stentordan voice and In . most realistic
styletnto the photograph. s@5 ca .;.E
S. q prisi showed thaS the EFFORT WAS most
successlu!, and M. Bland. soon afterward
oompleted hts little arrangements, shut up
:nis MOUSE ana dePareed on MS holiday with
ngnss neafs and . curtously self satisfied
smlie' ~ 49, -. s..
NOV, y happened that soon after Stlas
biana;s departure, one OF these poor op-
pressed and downtrodden knights OF the
rmMy, commonly known as Bill Mae,
being IN the neighhorhood of The Beeches
one Gay on business, cast an envious eye
upon the apparently deserted mansion.
Wnham feit particularly low just then,
a. ms OLD and tried pal, Augustus Mont.
gomery. had just been sentenced by q pes
samlstlo judge to "18 months hard" for
some alleged trihing inaccuracy on the part
or Monty" as Bill a6ectiOnate1y called
him.
Bill had made It a rule never to work
single handed, but this looked like q safe
thing, and In any case needs must when
the devil drives" and Bill wanted money
badly.
Guarded inquiries in the neighborhood
satisfied him that the house was absolutely
unoccupied. Rumors were indeed current
that extraordinary precautions had been
taken with regard to window fasteninps,
etc, but given q dark night and an unin-
habitedk and isolated house what true bur-
glar gives thought to such trifess
: A survey Of tho premises led him to the
conclusion that the library was the weak
est point of attack. On the ground floor,
with double French windows leading d.
rectly on to the lawn and easy of approach,
there would be no difficulty in cutting a
hole in the thick glass and undoing the
bolts or catches.
Now, by strange coincidence. Mr. Silas
Bland had arrived at a similar conclusion
in regard to the point of attack and had
made his arrangements accordingly. So
when one dark evening Mr.. William Nc
Namara had effectively used his diamond
cutter upon the library pane, had undone
with, as little noise as possible the folding
glass doors and had carefully slipped into
the room, this was the sort Of reception he
met with:
There was no fussy alarm of bells as he
had half expected, but as he felt his way
along the wall before displaying the light
or his lantern, a gentle whirring. sound
caught his ear which he attributed to q
dissipateds moth having followed him into,
the room. -
Thea he received q severe shock as q
STRONG hearty voice from out the darkness
broke upon his ear with the remark:
= ''Ha, 20 you've come along then! Glad
TO see you. Been expecting you for some
time, Got you covered all right with both
barrels, SO take my advice and don't move.
These express bullets make a nasty hole.
Now just drop that revolver on the floor,
and AMI would you2 bangp
william thought bis last hour had come
g q shot, SO close was he to the spread of
tne poWaer' nearly oi,nded him: He had
maae movement as s + 70 use his pistol,
sna tnis was ttne result de was on his
AnSeS ,.1sl m ne an Instant crying out:
fG1 heaven sakesguV nor don't shoot:
am iamD, am. Starvation druv me to
u. ule Me ~ cn,arRe, put spare my life.
AnoVe us piteone s appeals the command
ing zones Of ,tne voice were heard:
49, now snen, 20 s'that chair, double
QUICK, turn your lace to the wall. Dare as
much as TO move an inch or wink an eye,
ana ~ blow you into small pieces !
shan,t talk to you any more, but just you
recoi1ect} thatl am behind you, and that
the slightest movement W mt means eternity for
YOU"
; William realized that sooner OF later in
reaponse to that shot assistance would an.
pear, and he resolved after many internal