Chicago eagle., 1901-07-20
WHEN FEAR REIGNED

oil out. /. with my cousin, was In
" New York We had many friends
in the city. but being both of an indc-
pendent turn of character. we preferred
living by ourselves, SO we looked about
for a boarding house. The one we hit
upon was situated I'm the best part of
Fourteenth street. and was fine
brown stone building. with most pre-
tentious portico, and flight of some
twelve steps up to the entrance door.
Now. to understand what follows, 1t Is
necessary the reader should know the
position of the room we engaged.
As you entered the hall. the reception
parlOr. as II was called. lay on your
right hand. and was very fine room;
mt the end Of It were two doors which
slid back and led into the room which
we were to occupy. These said doors
were ground glass half way down. with
flowers on II, but SO thick as to exclude
any view of what was passing In the
other room. unless you pressed your
face against the glass, ana then 1t
would be but an imperfect vision. Our
apartment was large. ana had three
windows. two only halfway down. but
the third. n French one. opening on to
the wooden balcony that ran along the
back of the house. with a flight Of steps
down to a piece Of ground. Our room
had also another entrance. door lend
ing into little lobby, very convenient
for putting our trunks. dresses, ETC., In;
this had again another door into the
hall.
The dining room was situated In the
basement, on level with the kitchens,
rs were also the servants bedrooms,
three In number. The house was sew
eral stories high. ana either by chance,
| or because the purses Of the other
boarders were. like our own. not too
heavy. two or three floors above us
were Mt present unOccupied. and the
other boardcrs slept on the top of the
house. Thus we were cut of from
the rest Of the community by a lot
Of empty rooms; this did not trouble
us. and all went on well for some
weeks, but In the middle of November,
when the season was ut It's drcariest.
our landlady. who had not the best Of
tempers, fell out with her servants,
and they one and all left her ut days
notice. Now. as everybody knows, do.
mestics In New York are rather diff
cult to obtain. NO the reader can i'm.
aglne the dlsmay of the mistress Of the
house. For two days we managed In
some way or other; but the boarders
grumbled, and the merchant said he
must leave unless he got his meals
properly; NO, driven to her Wits end.
Mrs. Andrews engaged three servants
who applied for her place.
They had only just landed. they said,
to account for their having no charac-
ters, and. with the fear of losing her
boarders, It would not do to be too par
ticular, ana the women, who, by the
way. were all friends, entered ON their
duties. My cousin ana myself pos.
sessed several articles of fine jewelry;
these things l saw the new housemaid.
the day after her arrival. when tidying
up our room. examining very minutely.
I did not think much of It ut the time.
putting 1t down to curiosity. This
girls name was Margaret. ana I must
say a more unprepOssesslng-lO Ing
person l have seldom seen: not that
} she was ugly. but there was cum
ming light In her gray eyes, which she
never raised to give you n fair, honest
look, ana an evil expression In her face
that would have gone against her In
any court of justice; but II was nothing
to Inc. and, beyond remarking to my
cousin Bertha that the girl was moi
, pleasant looking, l dismissed her from
my mind.
The third day after the advent of the
new domestics we went to spend the
day with some friends who lived al
) Brooklyn; there the conversation turn
ed on the number of burglarles, nearly
always attended with murder, that had
lately taken place In New York, said
' to be committed by n gang of rutiians
who wore light linen masks, and who
e had managed to elude justice. This
: description made a great impression
l on me; the idea of waking ana seeing
a white mask bending over one haunt
| eV me All TIE why IloiiP' We NeTt
too late for anything To eat when W.
: arrived at our boarding house, for din
ncr was the last meal, ana that wal
) served at seven, now II was nearly ten
y so, feeling rather hungry. we got Mar
] garct to go out and get MS some rolls
= made n frugal meal, and then prepare,
= for bed
What induced me ! cannot tell, bu
for the first time since we had Occll
pied this room | examined the fasten
y !ngs of the shutters, and found then
l very frail. Much to the amusement O
my cousin, looking round the room 70
I something to place against the window
e my eyes fell on the iircrons, and |
e bright thought entered my head;
= would place the shovel against tn
o fastening of one window, and the tong
at the other, in such n way that
= should anyone open the windows from
g The outside, these things would fal
7 down with a crash. To the Frenc
window placed the head of our soft
bed, thus effectually barricading that
!, Bertha was much amused at my pro
! ceedings, but she let me do as please'