The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-10

cult to imagine. To wait until this
person had gone to bed and then, when
he seemed to be sleeping, to crawl to
the door, unlock it and bolt headlOng
for the balcony, seemed the only posi-
bic thing to do Would it be possible
to jump from the balcony? The danger
of it, When he thought of the chances
against him, Mr.. Ledbetter despaired
He was within an ace of thrusting
forth his head beside the gentleman's
legs, coughing if necessary to attract
his attention, and then smiling, apollo
giving and explaining his unfortunate
intrusion by well-chosen sentences.
But he found these sentences hard to
choose. No doubt, sir. my appear
will pardon my somewhat ambiguous
appearance from beneath you" was
about as much as he could get.
Grave possibilities forced themselves
on his attention. Suppose they did not
believe him, what would they do to
him? Would his unblemished high char
acter count for nothing? Technically
he was a burglar beyond dispute. Fol-
lowing out this train of thought he
was composing lucid apology for this
technical crime I have committed" to
be delivered before sentence in the dock,
when the stout gentleman got up and
began walking about the room. He
locked and unlocked drawers, and Mr..
Ledbetter had transient hope that he
might be undressing. But MOI he seated
himself at the writing table and began
to write and tear up documents. Pres
emily the smell of burning cream-laid
paper mingled with the odor of cigars
in Mr.. Ledbetter's 1lostrils.
THE position l had assumed said
Mr.. Ledbetter when he told me of these
things. was in many respects an i'll
advised one. A transverse bar beneath
the bed depressed my head unduly and
threw dlspropOrtionate share of my
weight upon my hands. After time 1
experienced what is called, 1 believe,
crick in the neck. The pressure of my
hand on the coarsely-stitched carpet
speedily became painful. My knees.
too, were painful, my trousers being
drawn tightly over them. AT that time
wore rather higher collars than l do
now-two and a half inches, in fact
and | discovered what l had not re-
marked before, that the edge of the
one / wore was frayed slightly under
the chin But much wore than these
things was an itching in my face
which / could only relieve by violent
grimacing-I tried to raise my hand
but the rustic of the sleeve alarmed
me. After time 1 had to desst from
this relief also because-happily in time
tons were shifting my glasses down
my nose. Their fall would, of course
have exposed me, and as it was, they
came to rest in an oblique position of
by no means stable equilibrium. In adj
dition, | had a slight cold and an inter-
mittent desire to sneeze or sniff caused
me inconvenience. In fact, quite apart
from the extreme anxiety of my posi-
ton, my physical discomfort became in
short time very considerable indeed.
But l had to stay there motiOnless,
nevertheless.
After an interminable time there be-
gan a chinking sound. This deepened
into a rythm, chink chink, chink-25
chinks-a rap on the writing table and
a grunt from the owner of the stout
legs. 1t dawned upon Mr.. Ledbetter
that this thinking was the thinking of
gold. He became incredulously curious
as 1t went on. His curiosity grew. AL
ready, II that was the case, this extra
ordinary man must have counted some
hundreds of pounds At last MI Led
better could resist it no longer, and he
began very cautiously to fold his arms
and lower his head TO the level of the
floor, in the hope of peeping under the
valance. He moved his feet and one
made slight scraping on the floor.
Suddenly the chinking ceased. Mr..
Ledbetter became rigid. After awhile
the climbing was resumed. Then it
ceased again, and everything was still
except Mr. Ledbetter's heart That
organ seemed to him 10 be beating like
a drum.