Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1902-02-13
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THE LAST OF THE BLIND MA y


THE LAST OF THE BLIND MAN.
My curiosity, in n sense, was strong
er than my fear; for could not Aemain
whore ! was, but crent back to the
| bank again. whence. shctering my
4 head behind q bush of broom | might
command the road before the door
| was scarcely i'm position ere my en-
eimies began to arrive, seven or eight
/ OF them, running hard. their feet beat
ing out of time along the road, and the
man with the lantern some PAGES in
/ front. Three men ran together. hand
in hand and | made out, even through
/ the mist, that the middle man of this
! trio was the blind beggar The next
| moment his voice showed me that L
/ was right.
Down with the door" he cried.
''Ay, ay, sir answered two or three
and u rush was made upon the Adj
mir;,l Iacnbnv, the lantern bearer fol-
/ lowing; aud then j could see them
pause and hear Speeches passed in ~
4 lower key, as " they were surprised to
4 find the door open. But the pause was
/ brief, and the blind man again issued
his commands. His voice sounded
louder and higher, as If he were aflre
/ with eagerness and rage.
IN in in,' he shouted. and cursed
| them for their delay
-Four on five of them obeyed at once,
/ two remaining on the road with the
] formidable beggar. There was Il pause
then cry of surprise and then voice
shouting from the house:
'Eill's dead"
But the blind man swore at them
/ again for their delay.
Search him, some OF you Sinking
/ lubbers. and the rest of you aloft and
get the chest" he cried
| could hear their feet rattIittr nm o,1I.
old stairs, so that the house must have
shaken, With II. Promptly afterwards.
fresh sounds OF establishment arose
/ the window of the captains room was
4 thrown open with (; SLAM and Il Jingle
/ of broken glass; a man leaned out into
] the moonlight, head and shoulders. and
addressed the blind beggar on the road
bclog him.
1 Pew" he cried they've been be
I fore us. Some ones turned the chest
! out allow and aloft'
is it there" roared Pew
''Ihc moneys there
The blind man cursed the money.
"Flints fist. 1 mean" he cried.
we don't see 1t here nohow," re-
turned the man.
Here, you below here. is 1t on Bill %
cried the blind man again.
Al that another fellow, probably he
! who had remained below to search the
4 captains body came to the door of
4 the inn. "l3ills been overhauled
4 already" said he, "nothlr left"
Its these people of the limits
that boy. ! wish j had put his eyes
OUT ciied the blind man, Pew. They
were mere no time ago-t they had the
door bo!ted when | tried it. Scatter,
lads. and find en-.
Sure enough. they left their glim
4 mere. said the fellow from the window
Scatter ana find EN-. Rout the
house OUT" reiterated Pew. striking
1 with his stick upon the road.
Then there followed Il great to-do
through all our old inn, heavy feet
pounding to and fro, furniture all
thrown over. doors kicked in, until the
very rocks Teechoed, and the men came
out again. one after another, on the
road, and declared that we were no
where to be found. And just then the
same whistle that had alarmed my
mother and myself over the dead cap
tain's money was once more clearly
audible through the night, but this
time tiwce repeated. l had thought 1t
to be the blind mans trumphet, so to
speak. sumnoning his crew to the as
sault; but ] now found that it was a
signal from the hillside toward the
hamlet and, from its effect upon the
buccaneers. Il signal to warn them of
approaching danger.
There's Dirk again." said one.
"Twice! Well have to bulge, mates.
"Budge, you sulk." cried Pew.
Dirk was fool and coward fron, tie
drst-you wouldn't mind him. They