Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1899-11-02

|
a helmet and cloak loomed darkly upon
me, and | found my voice in the pres
ence Of constable Of the law
Yes; the house is full of gas and
they've gone. | might have been suf-
located Perhaps they wanted to suf-
locate me. | don't know-I"-
"Who've gone? What's their name?''
the constable interrupted abruptly.
"The landlady--the landlord-the
daughter l don't know their names,
but look here, constable" and l pro-
ceeded to give my late experience" to
him in wool of words.
The man evidently did not know
what Interpretation to place upon Ell
Their me or my story, and small won
der, hardly knew myself. but extin-
gushing his lantern proposed that we
research the house together. This we
did carefully and cautiously. At the
initial stage Of our exploration we
or rather he, discovered that the hall
gas burner was turned on full and the
gas issuing from 1t at high pressure
might have been blown out by the
draft" suggested the constable as he
turned into a sitting room, which
had already searched, and threw open
it's windows to sweeten the atmos-
phere. Eyes, 1t might" | assented,
Especially if it was left lighted, by
the hall door, which, by the by, was
unboitcd when | came down stairs"
But to make long story a short one,
there was nobody in the house. Not
living thing, with the exception of
dog chained up in the back yard, which
was surrounded, so far as we could
see, by high walls. This was the poor
brute whose mournful bowling had first
aroused me and that now seemed fran
tic with joy at the delusive prospects
Of social termination to his gloomy
reflections With the discovery of the
dog and the yard our search ended,
and the constable minated to me that
he should summon additional assist
ance. A shrill call on his whistle from
the hall door translated the decision
into action, and with the arrival Of
another constable upon the scene l
was called upon for a fresh explana-
ton. The second official head threw
no more light upon the case than the
first. but offered suggestion. Lets
knock up the neighbors, p'raps they
know summat about it."
To the right and back and then to
the left went that constable Rata
tat, tat-a-tat. went the knockers. Up
went windows; out came heads.
who's there" "What dye want?'
"What dye say-who's my neighbor?
What neighbor-what dye meanY
And then doors opened, and other
doors caught the infection, and they
opened. In short, there was pretty
"to do" and half dressed crowd soon
shivered around the steps of No lib.
was quite harried with their ques-
tons. I had no sooner arrived at the
end Of one series than l was plunged
into another. had no sooner satiated
one individuals desire for knowledge
than | was called upon to feed some
enc else. Whether my brain and my
temper would have stood the strain for
very long can't say, but | may add
tHdt lulo ~ Il ullHCult Queslloh W pIo-
pound even to myself. Happily was
eXtrcated from the unpleasant situa-
ton by being led off to the nearest po-
lice station. to be detained there pend
ing further inquiries. as the result Of
those just made showed the existence
Of local caste feeling which took no
note of the existence of the occupants
of No. 113. and it appeared well to the
"force" under these circumstances to
hold me fast for the present.
At the station told the inspector |
on duty all about myself quite like a
little boy. But he did not appear sat
istied and muttered some word to him
self that sounded to me like "sus- !
picious" and which resulted in my Sc
clusion. 1t was but temporary. as the |
result Of the further inquiries proved |
me, that is to say. |
This was what they proved: That my |
my landlord and their daugh-
left it in the night; that they had left
it in the night because they were in
debt for their furniture (Which was
hired) and for their rent and because,
and by the evidence Of GER
tain tradesmen, they possessed no
money to settle those vulgar claims.
To them my half crown, paid in
advance. had been half crown, at
least so it was presumed, for their
whereabouts was never traced
Speaker.