Year: 1875

eu MN III an agony or suspense lie pro
ceeded with all the deliberation Of mer
chant in his counting room, and carefully
examined every paper and package, till
at last he found the money. Untying the
tape that bound the thick paper envelope
he looked over the contents The investi
CATION was evidently satisfactory, for he
tied up the package carefully again anc
placed it in the breast pocket Of his coat
coolly remarking:


money received on deposit; interest
paid on balances"


The sight Of this airy villain, robbing
US OF such sums Of money, made my blood
fairly boil. The loss would cause US great
inconvenience. if not serious embarrass-
ment. My visions of the happy summer
faded, Tor my marriage would have to be
postponed indefinitely said to myself:
"My fine fellow, if once | had my fingers
at your throat, you'd be less prodigal Of
your quips"


l thought over every possible means to
clrcumvent him, but found nothing availa-
bic. tie would not for second be off his
guard, but watched me like lynx, and at
every motion Of mine | saw the everready
revolver pointed at me. l looked to old
Nishnu and wished he would turn to silva
the Destroyer, and become incarnate fol
q moment, and practice on my merry gen
tleman yonder. Once, when he bent over
to take something out of the safe, | thought
the wished-tor opportunity had arrived
swiftly secured the god, determined to
suddenly hurl it at the robbers head |
knew that if one of the sharp elbows OF
the deity should strike him on the skull it
would make deadly hole in it. Before |
could rise my hand he arose, and looking
at me with one OF his deyiish smiles,
said:


You seem to be uneasy, my frisky
gent. ii you get nervous | shall have to
clasp the darbies on you, but think I'll
favor you with specimen of my marks
manship. Let me knock that pen from
behind your ear"


He was about twelve feet from me- Be-
fore | could make movement, there was
the sharp crack of the pistol, and away
went the pen on the floor. | confess felt
nervous at the nearness of the shot


Ibid it tickle you?n said he How
neatly | clipped off chaps nose once in
Melbourne The bloke was a beauty
after that And he chuckle at the re-



My case began to look desperate. l
could hear the wind blowing and the sleet
rattling outside There was no chance OF
the slight sound Of the pistol being heard.
There were but few persons for blocks
around, and there We're but two or three
policemen, and the janitors of some of
the larger buildings, who were fast asleep
by this time away up to the top stories. |
saw very plainly that this man could kill
me if he chose, and knew he would not
scruple to do so if l should interfere with
his plans. | could only sit still and see
the work of spoliation going on, remem-
Der that every nerve was strung as tensely
as a fiddle-string, and every sense on the
alert | noticed a hundred things that
never saw before. A picture on the wall
was one-slded, the stove-plpe was crooked,
and my eye, running along the shelves
and the overhanging cornice, | observed
that a heavy stone jar OF Extract of Hen
bane was SO carelessly placed that slight
touch would throw il off | saw that many
articles were in the wrong places, and
determined to take the clerks to task for
it tomorrow. Catharine, too, claimed
my attentions she had taken refuge on the
cornice and was moving about among the
bottles and Jars, her eyes cleaning in the



friend OF the firm in Trieste had sent us
a box Of MaraschinO, and I; bottle Of it
stood on a counter. My visitor picked it
up eXclaiming:


"Ah Maraschino Pretty good but
there's no body to it, as the topper said Of
water" He poured some into two Wine
glasses that We're near, and placed one be
fore me, saying:


Drink you'll need some retreshment
to sustain YOU till morning. Here's sue
cess to trade II


| coolly took Up the glass, and, slipping
the cordial, said:


MAY you break Your neck before morn
ing -


Don't 1atter yourself, " he answered.


"A man that's born to be hanged Will
never be drowned A wicked look came
into his face as | said this, and | thought
perhaps had better lett it unuttered.


"Now, as have thoroughly investigat-
ed your money matters, | will turn my at
tention to your more portable merchan-
disc Our most precious articles were
kept in The safe, and these he proceeded
to overhaul


"Atropia :" he exclaimed, as he took out
a package worth more than its weight in
gold. lie dropped it into his bag-fully
a thousand dollars worth '|Nhile YOU
are writing, you had better drop a line to
your correspondent at Darmstadt, asking
him to hurry up another lot, as there has
been quite brisk demand lately"


Course your impudence" " exclaimed


Don't; you hurt my feelings, Altar Of
Roses !" he continued, taking out flask ;
'and pure Turkish no doubt, as a respect
able house like yours would keep no other
Sweets to the sweet !" He took all we
had of this precious oil, amounting in
value to fully another thousand dollars.


"Ah, now We come to something nice,
Ylang- \ iang!'


This is an oil that is distilled from an
East Indian orchid of delicate perfume
1t was very valuable, and he showed his
Of it by leaving none After
extracting everything desirable from the
safe, he turned his attention to the shelves,
and walked outside the otfice-railing. but
never failing in his watch over me-


here laCHdflle, VINO was on lne cOrnlCe
above, evidently not liking his appearance,
uttered a feline sibllation, and arched her
back He looked up at her tiercely, and
said:


Your don't like me- Nor you. I'll
attend to your case, madame, when | get
I'll roast you on the Goals"


had made up my mind that this villain
should not leave the house with so much
money and valuables without a fight with
me. The chances would be against me,
and most likely should be killed but |
should do my duty, and take the risk. My
assumed submission was to throw him off
his guard, if possible. l should not fear a
hand-to-hand struggle, but that deadly
aim, perhaps, would not give me the
chance. His vigilance never relaxed for
an instant. The chances were one hundred
to one against me, for in the twenty feet
that lay between us was almost certain
death. | shrank from the encounter.
would wait till he attempted to handcuff
me, which would be soon. | tenderly
thought of the anguish of one dear woman
when she should know of my bloody
death


The red handed robber locked his satch-