The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1901-06-22

oHHus came the OCCASIONAL NSSh OF u
lantern. In moment ,seG;rlce was
on the alert. OF Il sudden It dawnsd
upon her that instead of Il ,morous
mock burglar the unfortunate in. j.
might have to deal with gang OF
hardened criminals, ard tae probable
i'ssn'. or such an encounter would 80
uss'; arrangements that Mary would
III future thank her to leave her a!-
fairs None. So the little Joke had de-
'cloped into Il huge tragedy, and Jac..
must not be sacrificed. Even in the
hour of danger she could not rcpress
smile us she thought how the papers
would make such u sensation OF the
affair. No; Beatrice dec,.ed that it
should not be. And so Jack slept on.
unconscious of the opportunities for
distinction that awaited him down
stairs.
In the meantime, the enterprising
young lady with the smudgy face and
ragged clothes had seized an old duel
ing pistol and intrenched herself in
the rear OF the sofa, from which she
could obtain an uninterrupted view of
the proceedings within the room.
There she propped herself up. with
one arm extending over the back of
the sofa pointing an un!onded pistol
in II menGcinE manner. Ind there sh6
meant to fight and die. ns she had
heard her uncle tell Of brave men in
the trenches, for il was n desperate
matter now, and it was scarcely real
liable that such a terrible plight could
ever have originated in harmless lit
tie joke.
A man crcpt stealthily into the
room through the half-open window
and cast the light of his lantern in all
directions. Then, upon sign that all
was right another long-legged villain
followed. and the two conferred in
muffied tones. Then they carefully
shut the window, closed the shutters,
lit the gas and Pounced upon the safe.
That was Beats opportunity.
"IIands up!"
If an electric wire had been connect
ed with the automatic figures, and .
button had been pressed, the upper
limbs could not have responded more
promptly than did the hands OF those
two desperate burglars. Scared and
bafaed AS they were. they staggered
round on their heels, to discover the
source of that sudden command. and
encountered the frowniug muzzle OF y
pistol. 1t was enough. The younger
man gronrrd and the older one said
beneath his breath.
Five minutes passed, and no. word
was spol:cn. Two pairs of hands still
moved aloft and two pairs of cowed
eyes ftarfu!!y watched the muzzle of
the pistol But II never moved. The
aim wa. deadly!
"'Urry up. guv'nor!" At last groaned
the younger man. Ring for the serv-
ants. or what yer like, only don't let
~ get cold in our armpits!"
In support of which the older man
aEain xwore. but the victorious one
said nothing. Only the pistol contin-
ned TO frown Overwhelmingly.
Two inprr minutes that SEEMED Hike
hours to the captured men passed by.
and the oder burglar commenced to
swear mare loudly. The younger man
also began TO Indignantly assert his
rights TO humane treatment. and mat
tiers were jus: Incoming strained when
the door opened, and n poker. followed
by the white face of Jack Winchfe.d,
appeared upon the scene.
II was the first time Jack had taken
IN active part in a burglary case. and
be was considerably nonplussed to find
two hari-fsa:ured villnins straining
heir arms 10 the ceiling at sight of
q common domestic poker. But he
InI L. 4 L..
among snch gentry, and his face re-
gained come of its color as he took
the cord from his dressing-gown and
one of the men to hold down
his hands to he bound, which he did
with grateful glance. A curtain cord
Ierved for the other. and the two soon
'tood side by side, trussed like cock
.rels.
"Now. then. guv'nor. tel! the bloke
,ehind the sofy to shift that pistol
don't like NJ" exclaimed one.
"Pistol? What pistol?'
Jack looked round in the direction
Indicated. and staggered back as he
the frowning muzzle. The
dea suddenly occurred to him that
his was another burglar in hiding. and
hat he had been outfanked, as the
olonel would probably have called it.
But As he moved. the pistol held stead
sstly in its place, and at .nst he ma
leuvered round and discovered slight
orm, dressed in ragged mems clothes,
md propped up with cushions and
hairs.
"Now, young 'un. put up that gun.
Is all over. Why. look here! Great
|cott! It's Beatrice! And she's
ainted!" s.
Painted" echoed the two trussed
1en in chorus. Tainted? tainted?
Ere. guv'nor. let us loose to kick our
elves. and wet! so quiet"
"A smart capture. Jack, and a bold
enture on your part" said the colonel.
You ought to have been soldier.