The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-09-05

| SionuinOCHeT n10 Decu AU1OIiucu DIS
the true state of affairs they coul
scarcely have disposed themselves NOR
to Nancy's mind; for the former chance
to be in the cellar, whittier he had gon
to get pan of fall pippins for the ever
ing, while the latter was busy at til
loom upstairs. In trice the forbidde
volume was deposited under the feathe
bed on which she slept: and when, upo
coming out of the cellar, her father
ears were greeted with the steady hun
OF her wheel. his heart began to relent
and at shutdown he had tacitly forgiven
has erring daughter.
The next morning Nancy was not s
far from the truth Us she had expecte,
to be, in proclaiming herself unable t.
rise, for she had spent wakeful night
/ and during the midnight hours she ha.
resolved. not only to attend church a
usual, on the following day. but also t,
return the troublesome cause of hel
disquietude without allowing hersel
SO much as 4 glance between its covers
But things appear different in tn.
broad daylight from what they do il
| the uncanny hours Of the night, and s>
when morning came she was as cage,
to follow the fortunes of Crusoe as she
had been the previous day. In spite OF
her heavy eyes and pale cheeks. sc
rigidly did Capt Poundmaster main
tain that every member of his house.
hold should occupy their accustomed
places IN the sanctuary, Nancy half ex.
pected at any minute to be summoned
from the bed to prepare for church;
and it was not until she saw Speckled
jimmy cantering down the driveway,
bearing her father, with her grand
mother on a. pill;on behind h i'm, that
she dared breathe freely.
Washington had made some changes
In the line of march, of VIII ich Capt.
Poundmaster. who lived in sparsely
settled portion of the country, had not
been informed, and he had ridden away
without the slightest suspicion of the
close proximity of the British army.
81 wish it wasn't Saba day." unused
Nancy after she had made her simple
toilet and cautiously removed Robinson
Crusoe from its downy hiding place.
If it is so wicked to read novel on
week day, what dreadful SIM she
added, with slight shudder, 1T must
be to read one on the Lords dayr' But,
Notwithstanding her scruples, she soon
summoned the courage to resume the
fascinating chapter from which she
had been SO abruptly called on the pre-
vious day.
She was greatly amused at the de-
scription of the man Fridays antics
upon meeting with his long-lost IA
Their, and her nervous approximations
were rapidly wearing away when her
attention was suddenly arrested by the
sound of heavy footsteps on the front
porch. Immediately the door was
swung violently open, while above the
sound Of tramping feet in the adjoining
room arose the jargon of a strange Ian
guage.
THE Hessiansr' she gaspeG with
blanching cheeks; and at that moment
three powerfully built, bearded soldiers
burst into the kitchen
Something eatr' abruptly demand
ed the foremost of the party, with an
impudent stare which was accompanied
by a gesture intended to represent the
process of taking food.
Fairly quaking with fear Nancy led
the way to the cupboard, and opening
the door revealed tempting row of |
apple and pumpkin pies, besides !
heaping pan of doughnuts which she |
herself had fried the day before With |
IN air akin to disgust the men NUT
cred something which sounded to |
Nancy like mkt desus," while the |
eader, pointing to the cooking uten- !
Ills suspended over the fireplace, con-
her to prepare them warm
dinner.
Realizing her helplessness, for in that
neigh borhood there prob
lbly was not a single able-bodied
person nearer than the meeting |
house," four miles away, the terrified
'irl meekly proceeded to comply with
he demand. A brief conversation en-
ued between the marauders, and then
wo OF the men started upon an ex-
'loring expedition to the cellar, while
Sancy's self-appointed custodian fol-
owed her everywhere. Under the sur
of this greedy Hess;an she
Tas compelled to cut nearly whole
itch of bacon into slices: and while
hus engaged she could hear the men
loving a bout below. lifting the covers
rom barrels and jars. and smacking
heir lips over the preserves which
Tere her grandrnother's pride For the
rst time in his domestic history, Capt.
unwritten code: NO
ooking on these premises Saba day."
as infringed upon; and there was no
cling to what desperate measures he
hight have been driven if his olfactory
erves had been greeted with the odors
frying bacon and boiling cabbage
-hich presently proceeded from the
itchen.
The appetites of these rapacious for
gners were not in the least diminished =
the fact that Nancy prudently
rived the dinner on pewter plates,
laced on the bare kitchen table; for il
as not until they had devoured every
ing which she had prepared fbesides
)propriating the contents of the cup
oard) that their hunger showed any
gns of abatement.
When, finally, the dinner was over,
he men lawlessly assembled the stair
.se, and Nancy, under the jealous
OF her heartless keeper,
'uld hear them rumrnagirg through
lie chests and clothes-presses. while
lie made 4 pretence OF clearing thc
ble and washing the dishes But
hen they came down with their arms
il of bed-linen and pile Of her dead
others 1owered damasli fahlecloths,