Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1906-04-13
A MIDNIGHT RUN.
By
Erie Waters.

In the dim light l glanced hastily
4 to see well dilated pupil in the pale
] blue eyes. To say that | was fright
ened would be to put it mildly. was
l perfectly terrifed-ghosts and COLLINS
were in the very air. If ghosts could
see they could hear-I dared not speak.
Once more / raised the candle which
had relighted. Had been dreaming?
The eyes in the portrait were dark
browni
What I had seen, had seen, but how
was to convince father of the fact.
He, meantime, had repacked the valise,
leaving it on the table. Going behind
the bed where the eyes could not fol-
low, l wrote rapidly on a bit of paper
Again pretending to catch moth
called father. The moment he saw
my CHASTITY face he realized that some
thing serious had happened. But for
the money he might have laughed at
my fears, but he was superstitious and
confessed afterward that he had expe-
rienced the same sensation of pres
ence in the room He scrubbed a few
lines, telling me to watch him and
wait
We heard voices below; a door shut,
and then silence fell. We blew out the
lights and pretended to retire. Then
father got up quietly, took everything
out Of my bag, which, you remember,
was the duplicate of his, and stuffed
it with heavy bedding, locking AID
strapping it and putting it on the ta
BILE. Cramming everything in the
precious valise, he put 1t in the bed.
We were dressed except for our boots.
We left the French window ajar and
got into bed. The moon came up and
shone into the room.
Good night, Jim; pleasant Dreams"
came in sleepy voice from father and
presently loud snores could be heard
from his side Of the bed. An hour
passed. | kept shivering and seemed
to see mother watching us anxiously;
would we never see her dear face
again? Suddenly we heard stealthy
steps and nudged each other. The
snoring became louder. Peeping
through half-shut lids, we saw a
shadowy form creeping in the window,
and a hand stretched out to the valise
on the table Then cautiously and
noiselessly man and bag disappeared.
Father argued that the men would
take their plumber to a distant room
to open it, and that If they found them
selves tricled our fate would be seal
ed Signing me to follow, father Slip
ped out Of bed. Carrying our boots.
and the valise we gained the veranda,.
going down the ladder, which creaked
under our weight. Great heavens! il
1T should fall!
We touched the ground safely.
Moving in the shadow Of the building
we reached the barn; hiding behind it
Horrorsl what did we hear! l clutch
ed fathers arm and we covered down
in the high, rank burdocks. The door
opened. and four men came out, laden
with trunks and bags. They fastened
to wagon already loaded. The poor
old stage horses were harnessed to it.
1t was evidently fitting" There
was not time. to examine their spoils
They'll not wake till morning."
the blue-eyed man whispered hoarsely.
'The old one is snoring like rusty
saw"
To our unspeakable relief they jump
ed in and drove rapidly toward Oak
ton, evidently to catch an early train.
When they disappeared we ran rapidly
down the road At last we reached a
house. Waking the inmates we told
our story One by one the family hur-
ried down, and little brown-haired
girl was greatly excited, watching US
curiously.
I'VE thought them suspicious charac-
ters," the farmer said, land only to-
night a hint was given me that they
were a gang of counterfeiters, their
chief being the blue-eyed man with the
broken nose. The authorities were
prepared to search the place tomor-
row."
Neighbors were collected, horses
brought out, and we started in pursuit.
And here may as we'll say they were
never captured.
At daylight the constables from the
village went with us to the haunted
house, where were found evidences of
counterfeiters work and signs of a
hasty departure. They had probably
been warned of the intended raid, and
fathers journey with the money and
had delayed their fitting in order to
secure it, in both cases causing the
breaking down of the stage. We
thought with glee how enraged they
must have been when they opened the
bag.
In examining the house they found
the secret of the blue eyes. In an adj
joining room hung a picture. Taking
i it down we saw that the plaster had
ben removed and the canvas exposed.
Over the eyes were cleverly arranged
slides. Moving them, one could by
pressing the face closely to the yield
ing canvas, look into the next room
The man with the broken nose could
do so more easily. Thus I saw his
eyes as he watched father stow away
| the money.
That nights adventure gave me the
chance Of finding treasure, for the
little girl whom l met for the first
time that night is now my wife. She
declares, however, that 1t was not
case of love at first sight" That
more grotesque little figure she never
saw, with staring eyes, hair standing
on end, clothes covered with burrs,
and a red peektie neatly tied under
one Michigan Farmer.
Secrets Of Happiness
The desire for happiness is natural
] If we come to God for hanninAss He