Year: 1876

Mr.. Posonby, while busy in bis Office,


was surprised by the entrance OF Mrs.


Posonby, who came in to say that she


was going to take tea with Mrs. Bill


derback and would not be home until


nine O'Clock, but she would leave the


key under the mat at the front door 60


that he could let himself in when he


went home, and he had better get his


supper down town. Their son, Herbert,


would accompany her.


Now, it 80 chanced that while Mrs.


Posonby was thus explaining matters to


her husband her hopeful son was max


ing desperate efforts, assisted by all the
dogs he could whistle up from the entire
neighborhood, to get at rat he had
seen run under the front porch. Master


Posonby punched with long pole and
scraped and dug with hoe, and the
nine dogs deployed at irregular inter-
walls around the porch and along the YER
bena bed, scratched with might and
main, yelping hystsrically as they
scratched, and pausing from their la
bors now and then to fight over the
question which had dug the deepest
hole, to the immeasurable delight of
Master Posonby. But as the sun went
down and the soft Light Of sunlight fad
ed into the misty cleaning, he remem-
bered that ho had been told to lock up
and join his ma at her friends. he put
the key under the door mat, and then
with his head still set on capturing that
rat, he brought around an oldsteel trap,
wicked as dynamite, and having baited
it iberally, set it on the porch for the
benefit of the rat when it should come
out. Then he carefully dismissed his
allies. and stoned them in different d.
rections lest they should 60 back to re.
sumo the siege and fall into his torpedo
pit. .........


Mr.. Posonby did not come home un.
til quite late, not until his wife and son
had returned and retired, tired Of wait
ing for him. As the house was quite
dark and quiet when he approached it,
he naturally supposed his spouse had
been detained later than she expected.
he felt under the door mat for the key,
but as that useful little "open sesame
was in the lock on the inside of the door,
he couldn't find it. he felt further un-
der the mat, and then thinking he might
have pushed it away, began to feel
around the porch for it, sweeping his
hand out in circling swoops. accompany
ing these erratic movements with sun
dry ordinations and mutterings. In
one of these vigorous sweeps be thrust
his hand into something that lifted him
to his feet. A terrible, cold, vicious
something that shut down on his hand
like wild beast and just raised him up
until only his tip toes touched the porch
floor. The wall that broke from bis pal
lid lips silenced all the dogs in the ward,
and woke up private night watchman
who was pacing his vigilant beat on top
of salt barrel just around the corner
with his eyes shut. It wakened his son,
who thrust his head out of the window
and shouted "fre p in the most stento-
rian tones that youth of eleven years
can command. 1t reused his wife from
her peaceful slumbers, who thrust her
head outof another window and screamed
" thieves!" with all the full piercing Wig.
or of her womanly voice. It waxened
his neighbors in both directions, who
leaned out of their windows and shot at
Mr.. Posonby, who stood on the porch,
dancing about in an ecstasy of agony,
at every jump. In moment
be became calm enough to investigate
be removed the trap, explained and was
admitted to the house. He explained
to Mrs. Posenby, as she bsndaged his
hand, that he thought sure it
was Snakes" and when that good lady
ridiculed the idea, and said there were
no snakes about here, he shook his head
wearily, and looked at her out OF the cor
ner of his eyes with sweet, sad smile.