Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-02-23

my EcCORnlClOuiOI THIS iaCCD Dut puCCStu-
ed in sufficiently impressing them with
hecontentmentwhich my own petty en-
pigments afforded me Il am never idle
even in other persons houses) or them
to spare me the harassment of their al
ternate and forced visits which in their
present mood and mine promised little
in the way of increased knowledge Of
their purposes and much in the way OF
distraction and the loss of that nerve
upon which / calculated for successful
issue out of the possible difficulties OF
this night. !,
Had been like most women I would
have sounded three premonitory notes
upon my whistle before blowing out my
candle, but while | am not lacking,
hope. in mary Of the finer feminine
qualities which link me to my sex
have but few of it's weaknesses and
none of is instructive reliance upon
others which leads it SO often to
neglect it's own resources. Till saw
good reason to summon the police l
should not summon them, a premature
alarm being in their eyes, as knew
from my many talks with Mr.. Gryce,
the one thing suggestive of a timid and
inexperienced mind. ser ~ Cr ..
Hannah had brought me delicious
cup of tea at 10, the influence Of which
was to make me very drowsy at ] /, but
shook the weakness off and began my
nights watch in state of stern COM
posure which verify believe would
have awakened Mr.. Gryce's admiration
had it been consonant with the proprie-
ties for him to have seen it, Indeed the
very seriousness of the occasion was
such that could not have trembled if
| would, every nerve and faculty being
strained to it's utmost to make the
most of every sound which might arise
in the now silent and discreetly dark
ened house r.,
The precaution which took the night
before Of pushing my bed against the
door Of my room omitted, being anx-
its threshold at the least alarm. That
his would come felt positive, for Han
nah in leaving my room had taken pains
to say, in unconscious imitation of what
Miss Knollys had remarked the night
before: r,
Don't let any queer sounds you may
hear disturb you, Miss Butterworth.
There's nothing to hurt you in this
house; nothing at all. =" An admonition
which am sure that her young mis-,
tresses, after all that had passed between
us this day, would not have allowed her
to utter if they had been made acquaint-
ed with her intention. ."E7 .D' '"n
But though in state of high expec-
tation and listening, as supposed, with
every faculty alert, the sounds appre-.
hended delayed so long that I began aft
er an hour or two unaccountably to nod
in my chair, and before l knew it l was
asleep, with the whistle in my hand
and my feet pressed against the panels
of the door / had set myself to guard.
How deep that sleep was or how long !
can only judge from the state Of emo
tion in which found myself when
suddenly woke. Twas sitting there still,
olent tremble and found it difficult to
stir, much more to speak. Some one or
something was at my door
An instant and my powerful nature
would have asserted itself, but before
this could happen-Hannah having con
fessed to me afterward that she had put
few harmless grains Of morphine into
my tea--the stealthy step drew nearer
and heard the quiet, almost noiseless,
insertion of a key into the lock and the
quick turn which made me prisoner.
This, with the indignation it caused,
brought me quickly to myself. So the
door had a key after all, and this was the
use it was reserved for. Rising quickly
to my feet, shouted out the names of
Loreen, Lucetta and William, but re-
ceived no other response than the rapid
withdrawal of feet down the corridor.
Then felt for the whistle, which had
somehow slipped from my hand, but
: failed to find it in the darkness, nor
when / went to search for the matches
to relight the candle had left standing
on table near by could 1 by any means
succeed in lighting one, SO that found
myself shut up in my room, with no
means of communicating with the world
} outside and with no light to render the
sltudGlOA tOlerdDle. iulS was having UO6
tables turned upon me with vengeance
; and in a way for which could not ac-
count. l could understand why they
} had locked me in the room and why
they had not needed my cry of indigna-
ton and appeal, but could not COM
prehend how my whistle came to be
gone nor why the matches which were
; plentiful enough in the safe refused one
and all to perform their duty. n.@'
On these points must be satisfied
before proceeded to invent some way
} out Of my difficulties. So, dropping ON
my knees by the chair in which I had
been sitting, I began quiet search for
the petty obj-ct upon which, neverthe-
less, hung not my safety perhaps, but all
t chances Of success in an undertaking.
i which was every moment growing more
serious. did not find it, but did find
where it had gone. In the floor near the
, door my hand encountered after awhile
hole which had been covered up by a
, rug, which 1 distinctly remembered
, having pushed aside with my feet when
took my seat there. 1t was not large,
but il was deem so deem that NV hand