The true northerner., 1895-10-25

with him, and wa sat down To good meal
admirably cooked by the French valet, .
silent. respectful servant. who never open
ed his lips. but seemed 10 anticipate our
every want.
Supper over, the watching began, and
we made a nice little party, drawing round
a cozy. fire on the great landing, an ad-
vantagcous spot, as we could hear there
any noise or attempt on the house. As
for myself l knew that I was aoout 90
make fine haul and. lighting q big
cigar, l said:
"You old fool, Benz Whatever were you
thinking about TO blab like thatS"
It was midnight, and all the lights In
the lower part of the house were out.
The French valet slept or pretended to
sleep, for we had told him to keep his ears
open in the buffers pantry by the kitchen.
The rest of US huddled round the fire.
speaking In whispers, smoking like chin
neys, listening TO every sound. to every
moan of the wintry breeze
They'll try the library window for q
certainty" whispered Mr.. Bellweather
to me as the clock struck the quarter past.
but 1 said; Hardly The pantry win
dow is the more likely" And with that
we fell TO listening again, and all was
silence.
As waited and watched became anx-
ious and still more anxious about those
lower windows, and descended the stairs
twice TO make sure that no one was trying
the pantry, yet each time was reassured
by the appearance of the valet who came
up from below as was about to go down,
and remarked in very bad English, "Ver'
right" He was faithful fellow, that
valet, and he watched WELL
When the hour of o'clock came. we
were nearly all asleep-that is to say, the
rest of them were nodding in their chairs,
and Mr. Bellweather was absolutely snor-
ing. 1 alone was possessed of my full
wakeful powers, and as the wind lulled
for moment, and the deep bell of the big
clock struck the quarter past, alone heard
a faint scratching noise coming from be-
low
"Hist, what's that?"
The dreamers were awake in a second.
My comrades pulled out their revolvers
and cooked them. Mr.. Bellweather went
on tiptoe to the head of the stairs and
listened. The scratching sound became
louder and louder. We heard the splinter
ing of wood My heart beat wildly. Oh,
that old fooi Ben
comrades in a whisper when we were quite
sure that a door was being forced, and 1
said: "Let them enter and seize them as
they come to the top of the stairs. hope
that valet will keep quiet
"He'll be all right said Mr.. Bell
weather under his breath, adding as II
a thought came to him, "I'll slip out on
to the balcony window and see what
they re up to-
He had left us before could stop him,
and in another moment 1 heard the bal
cony window open. The scratching still
went on, though, and just as real crash
came and the window must have been
forced open the loud voice of the French
valet was heard crying: "Robbairesl
T'ievesl' while the shrill sound of po-
liceman's whistle fell on the night air.
AT that moment Mr.. Bellweather re-
turned from the balcony They're
alarmed, " he cried land are running for
the small garden gate. After them, for
your lives!''
Determined not to lose Ben at any risk,
I rushed out, my comrades following me,
and as we emerged we were met by two
policemen, who had been watching near
the house. Mr.. Bellweather alone seemed
able to discern the whereabouts of the rob-
bers, and he cried loudly: "Dowr there
by the garden gate After theml Go
alongl'
The pursuit became general in an in
slant. The two policemen madly blew
their whistles; my two comrades, swift
runners, went their best pace. l found
myself last of all at the end of a minute,
and my companion was Mr.. Bellweather.
We were neither of us good runners and
he cried "Stop! We're leaving the front
of the house unguarded."
His words were very true and worthy of
thoughtful man. / stopped instantly,
gasping for breath and crying: Come
back, come back There may be some of
them out in the gardens" with which idea
turned round to run the other way, when
an extraordinary thing happened Some
how or other Mr.. Bellweather's legs got
mixed up with mine, and fell heavily to
the earth At that moment gag was
showed into my mouth and pistol was at
my head 1t was held there by Mr.. Bell
weather
Move a muscle" he Missed, land I
blow your brains outr' I endeavored to
rise, but he struck me heavily on the head
with the pistol. and half unconscious l
felt myself being bound Then heard the
sound of wheels and knew that the robbers
were being driven rapidly away, and so
lost consciousness.
They told me all about it next day Mr.
Bellweather had never returned from Ger
many at all The telegram calling the
man William to Dover was false one
The thieves had entered the house in the
afternoon and packed the valuables, get.
ting them into the cart during the false
chase of supposed thief. Mr.. Bellweather
was sham; his valet was Ben And
was donel Yes sir, done by burglar for
the first and last tim2 in my life.-Tit-
Bits.