The herald., 1896-04-26
click o: a pistol arl l shivered-not from

click o: pistol, arG l shivered-not from
cold
"And a: G or T. or whenever he does wake"
continued the voice, tell him you picked hin,
up drunk in the street and carried him in
Ea.e out OF compassion for safely, and yob
will easily convince him that he was robbed
out o: doo.s. But mind, have done my part
In plying him with drink and IN decoying
him here see thar you do yours in gracefully
relieving the poor fool of his hundred dollars"
Here step on the stairs warned me to
close the door, and l got back to bed Hsar-
ing the knob Of the door turn, 1 began 10
breathe heavily after the fashion of drunken
man, and the next instant, shading the candle
with his hand. there appeared the form of
d strange man, who was soon psering fiycdly
into my tace.
Satisfied apparently with his examination.
my visitor searched lEy pockets. pounced upon
the gold, OF course, and quickly transferred
it from its erstwhilo resting place to--where
do you guess? Ho went to a bird cage, which
now, for the first time. | observed hanging
up, drew out its slide, and-undressed and lay
down beside me. lie was soon asleep, and
hope sprang up within NE; but, alas! Of all the
light sleepers, ho was the lightest l ever knew.
Whenever l moved he appeared TO be on the
alert; it wac impossible TO crawl out of bed
without his being conscious of the tact. Be-
sides, under his pillow. l knew, was the pis-
on as calm and unconcerned as l possibly
could.
All wakeful, I passed that horrible night,
and the slow hours dragged on intcrminably.
But at length a project presented Itself 20 my
now sharponed senses, which project 1 put
into execution when O'Clock struck
.Failure," said TO myself. "means simply
DEATH success means saved reputation with
Inv employers and q vow Of stricest So
briefly"
Everything being perfectly quiet. smu-
lated a gradual waking UP, and my first yawn
opened The eyes of my bedfelow. The second
had the effect Of raising him from his re-
cumbent pog.tlon in the bed, and when l slow
ly and painfully awoke he was bending over
me. all solicitude.
Daylight was now stealing into the room.
"My poor fellow" exclaimed the assduous
one, 'how do you feel now? You will wonder,
no doubt, at being in my bed, but the fact is
you were i'll last night. were You not?''
'Ill?" 1 said, 'ill?" and put my hand
mechanically to my head. "Weli, l think
must have been; my head does ache so!'
He smiled, and replied: 'Well my dear fell
low, not to put too fine point upon 1t,
found you late last night in the gutter, just
a little bit the worse for liquor. and two
somewhat disreputable looking men who were
with yop asked ME if could manage to look
after you for the night" ,...,
l expressed my profound thanks to my good
friend for his unselfsh kindness. but he
modestly waved them aside, saying depre-
catingly: -
"Duty, sir dutyl cannot neglect a genu-
inc case of human suffering or danger without
some attempt, however slight at. suecor.
l thanked him again.
II am ill., l said.s II had too MUCH brandy
yesterday. must have a hair OF the dog that
bit me: l must have a nip now 1t is the
only thing which will put me right If you
have any brandy in the house. for heavens
sake, sir, bring me drop"
He hesitated q moment, and then rejoned:
Certainly; lie there, and I'll be back with
it In a moment" and disappeared.
Much quicker than I can relate 1t, sprang
up, went to the bird cage, drew the sliding
tray, transferred all the contents into my
handkerchief and thence into my coatpooket,
finally replacing the tray. Not moment too
soon was back between the sheets, for in
an instant my good Samaritan arrived with the