Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-02-24

the statue in the center of the floor.
turned out the gas. and with beating
heart he stole upstairs to his be,,roon,
where with his door bolted) he waited
allNlously for the arrival of his dreaded
deiiverers.
He scarcely knew how long he had
oeen there, for kind of waking dream
had come upoL him, in which he was
providing the statue with light refresh
hlent' III the shape of fancy pebbles
ana liquid cement, when the long. low
whistle fa1ntly heard from the back Of
The house, brought him back to his finn
senses.
The burglars had come! He unboitet1
'he door and stole out to the top OF the
crazy staircase. intending to rush back
and bolt himself in if he heard stems az
ending. and for some minutes he str,in-
Ell MS ears without being able TO baar
sound.
Al last he heard the mutiled creak OF
he window rs it was thrown I'D: thew
we're coming in. Would they or would
hey not be inhuman enough TO force
ihey were still in the saloon: he
cara them trampling about, moving
lie furniture with unnecessary violence.
ana addressing one another in tones
Ih;lt We're not careSsing. Now they
we're carrying the statue to the window.
He heard their laboring breath ana tha
SrNtnS OF eNCrtion under the burden
Anothe pause. He stole lower down
me staircase until he was outside his
stttinS-room and could hear better.
There: that was the thud us they leaned
out on the tagged yard. 4 second and
heavier thlld-the goddess. How wouId
'h"! get her over the wall? Had thcv
Drought steps ropes, or what? No mat
,;S: thry knew their own business, and
Wei" not likely to have forgotten any,
thing. But how long they were about
It. S.lpoSe 4 constable were to come
10y and see the cart!
iirfr were sounds At last: they were
sealing the 'Wall-dol,lt, ring appar-
ei'ty; and no wonder. With such a weight
10 MOST after them. More thudS. and
'hrn the steps OF men staggering SLOWLY
and painfully away. The steps echoed
louder from under the archway. and
then died away i'll silence.
1">ld they b. rcali, Gul.r? He dared
not hope So. and remained shiverinr in
his Sittlng-room for some llinutes until
gaining courage. he determined to 90
ioWn and shut the window to avoid
any suspicion. Although now that the
burglars We're safely off with thcr prize
even their capture could not impllcate
h'm. IL" rather hoped they would be
caught.
He took lighted candle and dnsccn,.
ed. AS n" entered the saloon Il gust
from the open window blew out the
light. He stood there i'll the dark and
and ICY draught: and beginning to grope
about i'll the dark Off tn, matches hs
brushed against something which was
soft and had a cloth-likc texture. 1T
Is Bi1hdle." he thought, and his blood
r:1 cold: ''or else he Countr' and he
called them both respectfully. There
was no reply; no sound of breathing,
oven.
lla! here WAS Il box of matches ut
Lust. He struck Il light in frvcriSh haste
and lit the nearest gas bracket For an
instance he could see nothing In the sud
den glare. but The next moment he fell
back against the wall with Il cry of hor-
ror and despair.
Tor there. in the corner of the dis
ordered room. stood not the Count:
not Braddle-but the statue, the mantle
thrown back from her arms: and those
arms ana the folds of the marble dra-
perry, spotted here and there with ss.lins
of dark crimson.