The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-01-15
CHAPTER II.

/ ana more dGJTdCGlNe DIS lOunQinQ
place until finally the little man, who
had often slept out of doors in the
woods when he was a country bow.
ventured to be young again and spend
an occasional night in the hammock.
The first effort was quite successful,
but during the second night he was
aroused from an awful dream of an
anaconda gliding through the grass
near him, and causing rustic such as
any anaconda could be depended upon
to make. Starting up in alright be-
meath his low-hanging covert of boughs
he saw what at first seemed really a
huge serpent about to cross the fence
and enter the Maytham estate. Through
well-rubbed eyes, however, the monster
resolved itself into a ladder, evidently
brought from a house in course of
building not far away. Of course, the
ladder was not moving of its own Volt
ton; a man was under it.
ZenaS was at once as wide-awake as
if no such condition as sleep had ever
existed; he also was in abject terror, and
was conscious of the outbreak of the
cold sweat of which he often had heard,
but never before experienced. What
should he do? What could he do?
Pshaw! Perhaps the man was carpen-
ter who had been after bit of his own
property, to have it ready for use some
where else. But no, the clock of one
of the village churches struck two Just
then; it was impossible that any honest
mechanic could be going to work at
that time of night, brightly though the
moon shone. Maybe the fellow was
fruit-tree plunderer-Zenas had been
warned to gather his own early pears
if he did not wish the tree to be de-
nuded some moonlight night by unbid-
den gatherers Well, if the man was
bent on stealing fruit from the Maytham
place, let him steal; it was shame that
such things should be, but Zenas was
not one of the villages three policemen
and, as he would rather have his own
single pear tree stripped than attack a
midnight prowler, he could not be ex-
pected to protect his neighbours prop
erty-the property of a neighbor who
had called his family gang"
But, horrors! The man was no fruit
thief, for he had taken the ladder to-
ward the Maytham house-placed it in
the shadow cast by the moon, and stood
motionless a moment as if to rest. Evil
IDENTIFY he was burglar and knew his
business, for it was town talk that the
Maytham house was extensively fur
nished, and contained much solid silver
ware, besides great deal of bric-a- brac
worth its weight in gold. Probably the
windows, inside the blinds, were wide
open-all country windows were during
the dog days. Let that ladder once be
raised, and the thief at it's top, and
Zenas was sure that the frail blinds
would prove no obstacle to the fellows
wicked designs.
But what could the unsupported OBJ
server do? He could not move toward
his own house without being seen and
heard; even were he within his doors he
had no firearms, no telephone, no bur-
| glar alarm. He might slip out through
the shadows to his gate and thence to
the local police station, nearly mile
away, but before any officer could come
the robbery would be accomplished.
Worse still, the fellow, flushed with
success, might move the ladder across
the fence and enter the Bortley home.
/ True, Zenas owned no valuables ex-
cept his wife and children, but the
thought of the ruffian prowling about
his sanctuary was not to be endured for
an instant. Could he scare the fellow
away by making noise? Perhaps;
but he had heard of burglars who ran
right at noise instead of away from it.
Should the burglar attack him, there
would be nothing to do but give up the
ghost at once, for his heart was al
ready in his throat, and he felt unable
to move hand or foot. And his life was
insured for only a thousand dollars!
Terror and excitement had made him
so wild that exhaustion speedily fol-
lowed, with its consequent apathy,
Even his conscience followed the lead
of his will and became utterly democrat
lied. 1t was too bad, on general prin.
ciples, that a house should be robbed,
but that particular house, probably fur
nished with the wages of Maytham's
crime-well, the little man recalled
without bit of shame, and to his great
satisfaction, the infamous old saying
that "the second thief is the best
owner" And really-this as his con-
science attempted to rally-might not
spoliation be Judgment upon the
woman who had been SO blind, iusen-
safe and brutal as to call the Bortley
family--the larger and better part of it,
''gang?"
But why all this worry and terror?
Probably the man was after all only a
common fruit thief. Only few feet
from where the ladder had been
dropped was great tree of straw
berry" apples, which the Bortley chill
dren had been eying wistfully for a
fortnight. as the blush on the fruit had
deepened to crimson. Such apples com.
manded a high price as Bortley had
learned to his sorrow. Well, if the tree
were robbed his children would be de-
livered from farther temptation: such
trees were not safe when lie was a bow.
He recalled, with wicked chuckle
which was almost audible, how he once