The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-10-27

NJ UudI UlOuIcAs COAESI1lIdsSu nJ
eyes.
It descended-the whole canopy, with
the fringe round 1t, came down-close
down; SO close that there was not room
now for me to squeeze my finger pc
tween the bed-top and the bed. l felt
at the sides, and discovered that what
had appeared to me from beneath 70
be the ordinary light canopy OF = FOUR
post bed was IN reality 2 thick, broad
mattress, the substance OF which was
concealed by the valance! and it's fringe.
In the middle Of the bed-top was q huge
wooden screw that had evidently
worked it down from a hole ! the
ceiling. The frightful apparatus moved
without making the slightest noise.
Amid q dead and awful g.
lence, I beheld before me-in
the nineteenth. century, and IN
the civilized capital of France-such q
machine for secret murder by sunoca-
ton as might have existed in the. worst
DAYS Of the Inquisition,o r inathe lonely
inns among the Hartz mountains. sun
as I looked on it, I could not move; !
could hardly breathe; and I began 10
recover the power Of thinking, and IN q
moment I discovered the murderous
conspiracy framed against me IN an
it's horror.
, NV coffee had been drugged, and
drugged too strongly. I had been saved
from being smothered by having taken
an overdose or some narcotic. low
many men, I wondered, winners IKE
me, had slept, rs I had proposed 70
sleep, in that bed, and never been seen
Or heard Of more! I shuddered as II
thought Of it.
But I was recalled from these
thoughts by the sight Of the murderous
canopy rising once more. The viilains
who worked it from above evidently
believed that their purpose was now
accomplished. Slowly and silently as
It had descended that horrible bed-top
rose to ward it's former place. Neither
hole nor screw could not be seen; II
was an ordinary bedstead, even to the
most suspicious eyes.
Now I began, for the first time,'.to
consider how I could escape. Ii l De-
trayed by the smallest noise that the
| attempt to ~suffocate meshad failed, 1
was certain to- be murdered. To think
| of escaping through the house, now
barred up for the night was sheer In"
| sanity. Only n chance was, left me
the window.
NV bedroom was on the first floor,
| and looked into a back street. I raised
| nv hand to open the window, knowing
that on that action hung, by the merest
| hairs breath, my chance Of safety. Ii
any part of the frame cracked-f the
| hinge c~reaked-I a a lost man. =
succeeded in doing it silently-in doing
it with all the dexterity Of q profession
| al housebreaker; and then looked down
| into the street. To jump was almost
| certain destruction! I looked round at
the sides of the house. Down n side
ran a thick water-pipe, passing close to
the outer edge of tn window. once
again my breath came freely; l was
saved! "'.
Without losing q moment I had al
ready got one leg ove the window-siu,
! when I remembered the handkerchief
filed with money under my pillow. I
could well have afforded to leave 1t be-
hind me, but but I was revengefully de
termined that the miscreants should
miss their plumber as well as their vic
tim. So I went back and tied the
heavy handkerchief at my back by my
cravat., The next moment I was on
the window-sil; and in less time than
It takes me to tell it I was in the street.
Immediately I set off at the top of
my speed to a branch prefecture of
police, which I knew was In the i'm
mediate neighborhood. A sub-perfect
and several picked men happened to be
up, to whom I addressed myself.
When i began my story, in a GREATNESS
hurry and In very bad French, I could
see that the sub-perfect suspected me
Of being q drunken Englishman, who
had robbed some one, but as I went ON
he became all attention, and, when /
had finished, ordered q file of gen.
darmes and desiring tools to be brought
necessary for breaking open doors and
ripping up floors, asked me to show
them the way.
We soon arrived at the house, and
sentinels were placed all around it.
Then came loud knocks and imperative
summons
Open In the name Of the law!'
Bolts ard locks gave way ut once,
and in 6 moment we were in the house.
Every man and women In the house
was secured. the 'old soldier the first.
Then I identified the bed In which I
had slept; and then we went into the
room above. No object that was at all
extraordinary appeared in any part of
1t, but the sub-perfect looked round.
commanded perfect silence, stamped
twice on the floor, examined carefully
the spot he had stamped on, and order
ed the flooring to be taken up.
This was done In no time, and We
saw a deep raftered cavity between
the floor Of this room and the ceiling Of
the oom beneath. Through this. cavi-
.ty there ran perpendicularly q sort OF
the case appeared the screw, which
coro noupfco TOD uu3fh Tho hod.tnn holnu,