The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-11-11

Pete had taken but q few minutes to
light the candle, but in that brief in
terval his grizzled wig and his bending
form had vanished, and he stood bsfore
me the young, magnificent brute that he
was. 30 srinned. and, looking down
from bis splendid height upon me IS ]
seated myself, he asked:
II s'pose 70 am s'prised, amt yo'f'
"Not at all. When you lit your pipe,
saw you were not what you pretend
ed. You are wise in Disgusting your
self when making these little excur-
sions through the country"
He grinned more broadly than before
and said:
II s'pose yo' am hungry"
"NQt 70 much as I am tired. I ate a
meal last evening and would as lief
wait the regular time for my breakfast
What I want more than anything is
Sleep"
He sat down on one Of the stools,
which he had evidently made for him.
self, with the candle between ~. De,
spite bis superb physical appearance,
there was something In his broad black
face which ! did not like. more than
suspected he was bad man.
"What time am itT'
Looking at my watch, I replied that
1t was between q and In the morning.
Cant glib 20 a kind OBJ bed dat
yo'll brag oh, boss, but I'll do de bestest
dat I kin. II yo'll climb dem ladder
ders, yo'll find blanket dat yo' kin
lay down on"
"What are you going to do!''
"sleep heah on do floor. I'm used to
II. OATS my spare ROOM" added Pete,
with grin, as ho rolled his shiny eyes
upward.
"Do you think there's any danger Of
those people visiting your home before
daylight"
He shook his head.
II amt sartin dey'll be heah at all.
Leastways dey won't come till de sun
am shinin. Yo' kin sleep till I wokes
yo'."
Truth to tell, ! was 80 drowsy that I
could hardly keep my eyes open. I had
been under an intense nervous strain for
hours, and now, when the immediate
peril seemed to be removed, reaction
came So ! bade my dusky host good
night and climbed tho few rungs Of the
ladder to the loft. He offered me the
candle, but I replied that did not need
1t. As substitute I struck a match
from my pocket safe and held 1t in front
Of my face until I got my bearings. All
that caught my eye was q blanket in
one corner. struck another match and
stopped to prevent humping my head
against the primitive rafters, and, throw.
ing myself down, dropped into a sound
slumber.
1t is easy for almost any one to awak-
en at the time desired by fixing bis
thoughts upon that time before going to
sleep. 1t was my wish to be astir at
sunrise, aud I should have done 10 but
for my mistake in relying upon Pete.
He had promised to call me early, and
I was in too sleepy . mood to give an.
lience to my misgivings Of him. The
was that my slumber lasted
beyond the time at which
| wished to awake.
Although there was no window to
light the loft, there were plenty Of ohinks
and orevices between the logs as we'll as
The opening through which tho ladder
projected. These told me the sun had
risen, and look at my watch made
Known the fact that 1t was later than
lad supposed.
"This 10 serious" I reflected, hur-
'iedly rising to my feet, for I had not I
aiken the trouble 10 remove my cloth.
ng. listened, but did not hear any
me moving below the stairs. The con-
'iotion that something was wrong was
when descended the lad.
Ter and found Pete was absent from the
abin.
He's up to some deviltry," NUT
cred, preparing myself for mischief.