Alpena argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909, 1893-03-22

certain death To attempt IL. weigh
but one hundred and ten, my perse-
cutter would turn two hundred. L
glanced at the window, twas barred,
and dare not turn to unfasten it.
| sat and watched my tomentor.
Thoughts of home and my quiet
fireside in the East flashed through
my brain. My past life glided be-
fore my vision as to "a drowning
man; must ] give up all hope?
Could l, by keeping quiet, keep her
at bay until help came? Could |
coax her? endeavored to smile.
The moment tried | knew had
miserably failed, my smile must
have approached the grin of a hyena.
The fiend seemed to be agitated
by it; she shook her head in
threatening manner, snarled and
snapped her teeth together, raised
her heigh, of six feet erect, and APP
preached the fire.
shut my eyes, and hope winged
her flight from my soul. sat with
closed eyes for five minutes or so
awaiting the expected blow. 1t did
not fall. | ventured to look about
again, cautiously. She had returned
to her stool, and was passing her
right hand rapidly around her limbs
from right to left, bowling like
wolf, while her cleaning eyes
saught each corner of the room in
succession, to finally rest upon me.
"Hush!'' said she.
Of course | hushed; in fact | had
been pretty effectually hushed for
the preceding half hour; twas an
unnecessary injunction, and she
ought to have known it, had she
had her reason prehaps she would.
She Quilted herself at this, and ap-
peared to be listening also, and |
distinctly heard in the wall, or on
the outside of the logs, grating
noise like the rasping of file.
Oh, God! ! see it all now It's
daylight clear; | had fallen into a
den of thieves, who kept this she
tiger to destroy their victims, the
lost sheep was ruse, the band was
close at hand, and the noise was a
signal for her to finish her bloody
work.
The mysterious movement of her
hands, her wild startled look around
the room was repeated, and she
shook her scanty night-dress fierce
ly, and trotted her limbs up and
down as though she stood on hot
iron, moaning and bowling at times,
threatening me at times by look
and gesture.
How long could ! endure this?
| began to wish it over, to welcome
even death to this suspese. Ten
minutes more-it seemed an age
| felt as though years had passed
since | stopped at that house. My
hair had turned prematurely gray,
most assuredly; | watched her with
the intentness of extreme fear.
She seemed making up her mind, to
some new deviltry, she stood up,
nodded her head, advanced to the
wall, opened a small door that had
heretofore escaped my notice, app
pearing to search for something
and finally drew out knife, most
murderous looking weapon, and
brandished it aloft with wild, ex-
ultant shout of triumph. 1t was
all over at last, my time had come;
a satisfied chuckle and she turned
upon me; a million menacing fires
shot from her eye. felt my reason
giving away; was reconciled to
my fate, when the rapid galloping
of horse was heard outside, and a
moment after my hostess appeared
at the door.
The maniac settled down on the
bed and hid the knife under the
clothes, running her hands round
her feet in the old, unacountable
manner.
To say it was the happiest moment
of my life, when the hostess appear
ed at the door, would be a faint ex-
preston of my feelings at that
time. could have kissed her with
joy.
Shaking the (snow from her
clothes, she turned to the old woman
with what / could plainly perceive
was an anxious and relieved look,
said, "have the rats been troubling
Granny again? Well, we'll set
trap and catch them, that we will.
With a cunning and fiendish leer
at me she replied, RATS are more
dangerous than mice, and kittens
may get hurt" She stretched her
length on the bed, hauled the bed
covering over her head, and dis
appeared forever from my sight.