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â€"â€" (Continued) I stood in the corner of the room. with my back against the wall and LU) hand on the cold rifle-barrel. Ihc table covered with my books: izly between me fluid the door, but for the first few min- utes after the lights Were out the darkness was so intense that nothing could be discerned at all. Then. very gradually. the outline of the room beâ€" came visible, and the frameWork of the windows began to shape itself dimly before my eyes. After a few minutes the door, its upper half of glass, and the two windows that looked out up- on the. front verandah, became. speci- ally distinct; and I was glad that this Was so, because if the Indians came up to the house I should be able to see their approach, and gather some- thing of their plans. Nor was I mis- taken, for there presently came to my ears the peculiar hollow sound of a canoe landing and being carefully dragged up over the rocks. The pad- dles I distinctly heard being placed underneath,andthe silence that ensued thereupon I rightly interpreted to mean that the Indians were stealthin approaching the house. While it would be absurd to claim that I was not. alarmedâ€"even fright- enedâ€"at the gravity of the situation and its possible outcome, I speak the whole truth when I say that 1 was not overwhelmingly afraid for myself. I was conscious that even at this stage of the night I was passing into a psychical condition in which my sen- satlons seemed no longer normal. Phy- srcal fear at no time entered into the nature of my feelings; and though I kept my hand upon my rifle the great- er part of the night, I was all the time conscious that its assistance could be of little avail against the terrors that I had to face. More than once [seemâ€" ed to feel most curiously that I was in no real sense a part of the proceed- ings, nor actually involved in them, but that I was playing the part of a spectatorâ€"a spector, moreover, on a psychic rather than on a material plan. Many of my sensations that night-were too vague for definite de- scription and analysis, but the main feeling that will stay with me to the end of my days is the awful horror of it all, and the miserable sensation that if the strain had lasted a little longer than was actually the case my mind must inevitably have given way. Meanwhile I stood still in my corner, and waited patiently for what was to come. The house was as still as the grave, but the inarticulate voices of the night sang in my ears, and I seem- ed_ to hear the blood running in my Wallis and dancing in my pulses. 1f the Indians came to the back of the house, they would find the kitch- en door and window securely fastened. They could not get in there without making considerable noise, which Iwas bound to hear. The only means of getting in was the door that faced me, and I kept my eyes glued on that door without taking them off for the smallest fraction of a second. My sight adapted itself every min- ute better to the darkness. I saw the table that nearly filled the room, and left only a narrow passage on each side. I could also make ~out the straight backs of the wooden chairs pressed against it, and could even dis- tinguish my papers and inkstand lyâ€" ing on the white oilcloth covering. I thought of the gay faces that had gathered round that table during the summer, and I longed for the sunlight as I had never longed for it before. Less than three feet to my left the plumage-way led to the kitchen, and the stairs leading to the bedrooms above commenced in this passage-way, but almost in the sittingâ€"room itself. Through the windows I could see the dim motionless outlines of the trees; not a leaf stirred, not a branch moved. A few moments of this awful silence, and then I was aware of a soft tread on the boards of the verandah, so stealthy it seemed an impression di- rectly on my brain rather than upon the nerves of hearing. Immediately afterwards it black figure darkened the glass door, and I perceived that aface was pressed against the upper panes. A lshiver ran down my back, and my hair was conscious of a tendency to rise and stand at right angles to my head It was the figure of an Indian, broad- shouldered and immense; indeed, the largest figure of a man I have ever seen outside of a circus hall. ly some power of light that seemed to generate itself in the brain, 1 saw the strong dark face with the acguiline’ nose and h-Lgh cheek-bones flattened against the glass. The direction of the gaze I could not determine, but faint gleams~ of light as the. big eyes rolled round and showed their whites, told are plainâ€" ly that no corner of the room escaped their searching. For what seemed fully fifty minutes the dark figure stood there, with the huge shoulders bent forward so as to bring the dead down to the level of the glass; while behind him, though not nearly so large, swayed to and fro like a bent tree the shadowy form of the other Indian. While I waited in an agony of suspense and agitation for their next movement, little currents of icy sensation ran up and down my spine, and my heart seemed alternately to stop beating, and then start off again with terrifying rapidity. They must have heard its thumping and the singing of the blood in my head! Moreâ€" over, I was conscious, as I felt a cold stream of perspiration trickle down my face, of a desire to scream, to shout, to hang the walls like a child, to make. a noise, or do anything that would relieve the suspense and bring things to a speedy climax. It was probably this lnclination that led me to another discovery, for when I tried to bring my rifle from behind my back to raise it and have it pointâ€" ed at the. door ready to fire, I found that I was powerless to move. The muscles, paralysed by this strange fear, refused to obey the will. indeed was a terrifying complication! O 0 BI ‘ O 0 There was a faint sound of rattling at the brass knob, and the door was rubbed 011011 a Couple. of inches. A pause of a few seconds, and it was pushed open still farther. \\'ithout a sound of footsteps that. was apprecrâ€" lble to my ears, the two figures glided into the room. and the man behind gene rly clOsed the door after him, They were alone with me between the four walls. Could they see me standing there. so still and straight in my corner? Had they, perhaps, al~ ready seen me! My blood surged and sang like the roll of drums in an orchâ€" estra; and though I did my best to suppress my breathing, it sounded like the rushing of wind through a pneuâ€" matic tube. My suspense as to the next move. was soon at an endâ€"only, however, to give place to a new and keener alarm. The men had hitherto exchanged no words and no signs. but there Wcrc general in- dications of a movement allI‘OSs‘ the room and whichever way they went they would have to pass the table. If they came my way they would have. to pass within six inches of my person. While I was considering this very disagreeable possibility, I percl-ived that thesmallor Indian smaller by comparisou- sud- dcnly raised his arm and pointed to the ceiling. The bigr fellow raised his head and followed the direction of his companions arm. I began to under- stand at last. They were going upstairs, and the. room directly over- head to which they pointed had boon until this night mg» wdroom. It was the mom in which I had experienced that very morning so strange a son- sation of fear. and but for which‘l should then have been lying asleep in the narrow bed against the window. The Indians then began to move silently around the room; ‘ going upstairs, and they were. coming round my side of the table. So steal- thy Were their movements that, but for the abnormally Sensitive state (if the nervels, I should never have heard them. As it was, their cat-like tread was distinctly audible. Like. twu mun- strous black cats they came. round the talllc toward me, and for the first time- I perceived that the smaller of the two dragged something along the, floor behind him. As it trailed along over the floor with a soft, sweeping sound, I somehow got the impression that it was a large dead thing Wllh outstretched wings, or a large spread- ing cedar branch. Whatevur it was, I was unable to see it even in out- line, and I was too terrified, even had I possessed the power over my. mus- cles to carry my neck forward in the effort to determine its nature. Nearer and nearer they came. The leader rested a giant hand upon the table as he moved. My lips were glu- ed together, and the air seemed to burl: Ln my nostrils. I tried to close my eyes, so that I might not see as they passed me; but my eyelLds had stiffened, and refused to obey. \Vould they never get by me ‘l Sensation seemed also to have left my legs, and it was as if I were standing on more supports of wood or stone. \\ o'rsc still, I was Conscious that I was luslng the power of balance, the power to stand upright, or even to lean back- wards against the, wall. b‘ome force was drawing [115 forward, and a dizzy terror seized me that I should toe my balance, and topple forward against the Indians just as they were in the act. 01 passing me. liven moments drawn out into hours must come to an end some. tune, and almost before I knew it the figures hau passed me and had their feet upon the lower step of the stairs leading to the upper bedrooms. There cannot have been six inches between us, and yet I was conscious only of a current of cold air that follchd them. They had not touched me, and l was con- vinced that they had not seen‘me. Even the trailing thing on the floor behind them had not touched my feet, lbs I had dreaded it would, and on such an occasion as this I was grateful evt n for the smallest mercies. The absence of the Indians from my immediate neighborhood brought little sense of relief. I stood shivering and shuddering in my corner, and, beyond being able to breathe more true y, I fell no whit less uncomfortable. 'Al‘o [was aware that a certain light, which, without apparent source or rays, had enabled me to follow their every gesture and movement, had gone. out of the room \VLlh lhclr de- parture. An unnatural darkness now filled the room, an 1 pervaded its every corner, so that I could barely make out. the positions of the windows and the glass doors. All I said before, my condition was evidently an abnormal one, The capa- city for feeling surprise seemed, as in dreams, to be wholly abscnl. My senses recorded with unusual accuracy eVery smallest occurrence, but I “an able to draw only the simplest dcduc- tions The Indians soon reached the top of the stairs, and there they halted for a moment. I had not the faintest clue as to their next movement. They ap- peared to hesitate. They were listen: ing attentively. Then I heard one or them, who, by the. weight of his soft tread, must have been the giant, cross the narrow corridor and enter the l'UU‘H‘. directly overheadémy own lit- tlc bedroom. But for the insistence of that unaccountable dread I had exâ€" perienced there in the morning, I should at that very moment have been lying in the bed With the big Indian in the room standing beside me. For the spwice of a hundred seconds there was silence, such as might have existed before the birth of sound. It was followed by a long, quivering shiiek of terror, which rang out Into the. night, and ended in a short gulp before it hzld run its full course. At the same time the other Indian left his place at the head of the stalls. .nd joined his companion in the bed room. I heard the “thing” trailing b.- llind him along the floor. A thud fol- lowed, as of something heavy falling, and then all became as still and all it is before. It was at this point that the at nos- fii'l't' 1 they were . phere. surcharged all day with the ~lectricity of a fierce storm, found re- iief in a dancing lash of brilliant lightning SlnlllllitnL‘l‘USiy with a Crush of loudest thunder. For five seconds nvery article in the room was visible lo me with amazing distillt'lness. and through the windows I saw the lite trunks standing in Solemn rows. The thunder pealcd and echoed across the l‘lkt‘, and among the distant islands, .lnd the flood-gates of heaven then opened and let out their ruin lll streaming torrents. Tlll drops fell with a sw:ft rusliinur Sound upon the still waters of the like, which leaped up to meet them. and pattered with the rattle of sh‘d on the leaves of the maples, and the roof of the cottage. .A moment later, and another flush, even more bril- liant and of longer duration than the first, lit up the sky from zenith to horizon, and bathed the. room momvnlâ€" arily in (l-lzzling whiteness. I could sm' the rain glistening on the leaves and branches outside. The wind rose suddenly, and in less than a minute the storm that had been gathering all day burst forth in its full fury. Above. all the noisy voices of the elements, the slightest sounds in the ltbrn! overhead made. themselves heard and in the. few seconds of deep silence th-rt follnwml the shriek of terror and min I was aware. that the movements had commanle again. The, men were, leaving the room and approaching the. top of the stairs. A short pause, and they began to descend. Behind them, tumbling from step to step, I could hear that trailing "thing" being dra- gml along. It had bemime ponder- cast I awaited their approach with a de- grcv of calmness, almost of apathy. which Was only explicable on the. ground that after a certain point Na- turc applies her own anaesthetlc, and a merciful condition of numbness supâ€" ervenes. On they came, step by step, nearer and nearer, with the shuffling sound of the. burden behind growing louder as they approached. They were alrerdy half-way down the stairs when I was galvanized afresh into a condition of terror by the consideration of a new and hor- rible pussiliiltiy. It was the reflecâ€" tion that if another vivid flash of lightning were. to (a- me, when the sha- dowy procession was in the room, per- haps when it was actually passing In from of me. 1 should see everything in detail, and worse, be seen mySelf! I could only hold my breath and wait â€"-\v:lit while the minutes lengthened inlu hours. and the procession mllde its slow progress round the room. The Indians had reached the foot of the staircase. The form of the huge. leader loomed in the doorway of the passage, and the burden with an timin- ous thud had dropped from the last step to the floor. There was a moment’s pause while I saw the In- dian turn and stoop to assist, his com- panion. Then the procession moved forward again, entered the room close on my left, and began to move slowly round my side of the table. The leader was already beyond me, and his companion, dragging on the floor behind him the burden, whose confused outline I could dimly make out, was exactly in front of me, when the cay- alcade came to a dead halt. At the same moment, with the strange sunlâ€" denness of thunderstorms, the splash of the rain ceased altogether, and the Wind died away into utter silcn"e. For the space of five seconds my heart seemed to stop beating, and then the worst came. A double flush of lightning lit up the room and its contents with merciless vividness. The huge Indian leader stood a few feet past me on my right. One leg was stretched forwxrd in the act of taking a step. Ills immense shoulders were. turned toward his complnion, and in all their magnificenl fiercenl-ss ‘I Saw the outline of his features. His gaze was directed upon the, burden his companion was dragging along the floor; but his profile, with the. big aquiline nose, high cheek-bone, straight black hair and bold chin, burnt itself in that brief instant into my brnln never again to fade. . Dwarflsh, compared to this gigantic figure appeared the proportions of the other Indian, who, within twelve inches of my face, was stooping over the thing he was dragging in a position that lent to his person the additional horror of deformity. And the burden, ly'ng up- on a swucping cedlr branch which he held and draggcl by a long stern, was the body of a white. man. The, scalp had been neatly lifted, and blood lay in a broad smear upon the cheeks and forehead. . Then for the first time that night the. terror that had paralysed my musâ€" cles, and my will lifted its unholy sp-cll from my soul. With a loud cry I stretched out my arms to seize the big Ilnlian by the throat, and. grasp lug only air, lunlbllnl forward uni-on- scious \Ipnn the ground. I had recognised thc body, fat-e \Vas my own! It was bright daylight, when anl‘ln's voice recalled me to consciousness. I was lying where I had fallen, and the farmer was standing in the, room with the loaves of [Held in his hands. The horror of the lllglll' was still in my heart, and as the, bluff settler helped me to my feet and picked up the rifle which had fallen with me, with many questions and expressions of condol- ence, I imagine my brief replies were neither selfâ€"explanatory nor even in,- telligihle. That day, after a thorough and fruit- less search of the house, I left the is- land, and went over to spend my last ten days with the farmer; and when the time came for me to leave, the neâ€" cessary re'lding had been accomplished, ar 1 my nerves had completely recover- 6 their balance. 0n the day of my departure the far- lner started early in his big boat with my belongings to row to the point. twelue miles distant, where a little steamer ran twice a week for the acâ€" commodation of hunters. Late in the afternoon I went off in another direc- tion in my canoe. wishing to see the island once agiin where I had been the vir-tim of so strange an experience. In due course I arrived there, and and the made a tour of the island. I also made a search of the little house, and it was not without a curious sensation in my heart that I entered the lllllt‘ up- stairs bedroom. There set-med nothing unusual. Just after I reâ€"embarked, I saw a canoe gliding ahead of me around the curve of the island. A camue was an unusual sight at this time of the year, and this one seemed to ha.Ve sprung from nowhere. Altering my course a little, [watched it disappear around the next projecting point of rock. It had high curving bows, and thero were, two Indians in it. I lingered \\ till 5 rme excitement .to see if it \\'I)lllll appear «gain round the. other Slllt' of, the isâ€" land; and in less than five minules it came, info View. There wl-rv less than two hundred yards lJt'l .veell us, and the Indians, sitting on then ll'lllllClleS, were paddling swiftly in my direction. I never paddled faster in my life [ban I llitl in those ncxt few minutes. When I turned to look again, the In- dians h'lfl altered their course, and were again circling the island. The sun was sinking behind the for- ests on the mainland, and the crimson- Coluurcll clouds of SUIIVt‘l were reflect- ed in the. waters of the. lake, when I looked round for the last time, and saw the big bark canoe and its two dusky occupants still going round the. island. Then the shadows deepened rap- idly; the lake. grew black, and the night wind blew its first breath in my face, as I turned acorncr. and a projecting bluff of rock hid from my View both island can canoeâ€"Algernon Tllarkwood, in Pall Mall Gazette. The End. J4 THE RETIRED BURGLAR. â€"â€" "0 Does a Man a flood I'm-u. as in S T':‘\II* Illlly I‘Olllltl. But Gets No Favor la! n- so". "Going along a hall in the second storey of a house one night," said the retired burglar, "I thing wet, But it wasn‘t blood, in- dicating some terrible murder or suiâ€" cide, or something of that sort; it was just plain, simple, common, ordinary water, and when I throwed my lamp on it and folloWed it up why I saw that it was coming out. into the hall over the dnorsill of a room that Iknew must be the bathroom, and so it was. "The floor of the bathroom afloat and the water was just flowing silently in a very thin sheet over the edge. of the overflowing tub. Someâ€" body had left the plug in the bottom, and then turned on the. water and gone away, this being, I have no doubt, ex- actly the reverse of what the per- son that did it had intended to do. "But I stopped it. I pulled the plug first and th 11 I stopped the water, and in just no time the water in the tub dropped below the and stopped running over; so whatever damage lllz: water no ght have done it Wouldn‘t do any moreâ€"I’d stopped that; but I didn't wake anybody up to ask ’em to thank me; was just simply what anybody ll have done, an orlliniry duty. But I l(0ke(.l around thc house and gathered in \Vh.tl. I could find, which was pooty slim. I suppose I might have got together there stuff that cost $51), but I DIDN’” GET FIVE. FOR; IT; and that’s about the. usual proportion of 1.. ..t on the run of stuff that you pick up around. You read in the pa- pers that the house of Mr. o‘câ€"andâ€"so was entered last night by burglars, who carried off goods to the value of .‘pqu. Maybe the owner of ’em did value lhc things at $050, and maybe they cost tum that, but dont for one minute let yourself [hulk that the man that took 'eln ever got that for uni; if he got {EMU he (lltl well. The fact is, as I lhlnk I must have said to you before, lull when you conic to take into account the personal risk ln- volved; the difficulties of the work; the irregular hours, and the, general inconvenllncc or the Work in every Way, the often smlll returns flu m dan- gcf‘ous Work and the necessity of tak- ing what you can get for stuff that you do get; the time. lost, now and then, amounting, maybe, to years at a stretch, and so greatly reducing the actual amount of rim; devoted to laâ€" bor, why, bless us! burglary is a miserable business; a man can't earn decent wages at it. There's a fascina- tion about the work, of course, same as there is in any strange or unusual pursuit; just as there is to you in newspaper work, for instance; some.â€" lhillg different and stranger and unâ€" expected all tho time. but, my! I‘m out of it now, but if I had my life to liva over again I ncverd go into the burglary businc>s. But I guess I'm kind 0’ Wantering off, ain t I, and re- peating what I’ve told you before. Let's get back to that house with the overflowing bathtub. “You know, in stopping that water and saving 'em maybe from hundreds of dollars of damage I did only th: simplest sort of duly, as I told you, what one man owes to another, but. in this case I had given them much greater actual value than I had got myself, and while I never'd a dream. ed, of course, of asking those. folks to thank me, even, I think I must have sort of felt that they owed me some- thing after all, and that I had a right to collect. it when Icould, because I always kind 0‘ felt that that was a reâ€" serve that I could draw on when I wanted to. And the next time. [was in that town I Went; to the house exâ€" pecting to w.lk right in with perfect '35,". Id been there before, and I knew tht- way, but do you know they had a burglar alarm on every door and winâ€" dow? They did for a fact, and I couldn’t get within a rod of ‘em anyâ€" where, and that always seemed to me to be. kind 0’ ungrateful." \VRS stepped in some-. level of the rim, what I‘d done‘ .TEMS OF INTEREST ABOUT THE BUSY YANKEE. .â€" x'elghborly Interest In His Doingsâ€"Matter. of Moment and Flirth Gathered from His Dally Record. The Boston Jacobites recently ob- served with gl‘e'lt solemniiy the anni- versary of the death of King Charles 1.. of England. Ll'vi Z. Loner mado his first money in mining, nearly $4,000,000, by mak- ing an int‘t‘slm‘r'ut of $50,000 in the famous Iron b'ilvcr mine, which he long mistrusted. Rev. B. A. Bryant, a prominent Christian Church minister at Fayette- ville, Tenn, cut his throat, dying inâ€" stantly. He had been arrested, charg- ed with having his house burned to get thi- insurance. Sumter Hoar, while speaking, con- stantly jingles a bunch of keys; Sena- 10 J n15, «f Arkanms, twiils a key ahai‘h-d to a bit of tape; Senator Till- mill jungles his glaSses and Senator Chilton keeps his glasses on his fore- head above his eyes. As the Amnricans push into the in- terior of Cuba they are, struck by the fact that there are no young children in many districts. Children unden 3 years of. age are rarely seen. The ex- planation is that they, nearly all died during the hardships imposed by the revolution. :(othing angers Senator Hoar so much as any attention which implies deference to his advancing years. Emâ€" lployes at the capital carefully respcct this danger line, and even street car conductors never think of offering the distinguish-d M'ssai-huselts man any help when he is getting on or off cars. H-nry \Vatterson, the Kentucky edi- tor, is one of the ables: champagne in the. world. He. always elders one particular brand, and new): ask; any questions about the specimen off-red. He simply examines the cork ,wlih great care, and if‘ it meets with his approbation he knows that the tune is drinkable. General Marcus P. Miller, who com- m nded th* 10 ces that captured Halo, will reach the age limit March 17. He .bears th: honour of haVlng recoived five brevets for gallant and meritori- ous conduct in actlve serviceâ€"three in thr; civil war and two in Indian cam- ;1).llgns. General Miller was born in ‘ M issachusetts. Col. Funston, of the Kansas regi‘ m nt‘ that recently distinguished itself in th‘ Phillppin -s is only 28ycars old. It is Sllil lhflb “he has been areporter, foughl IlllliJni, explored Death Valley, been assistant secretary of the Topeka, ck Saute I‘e Rlilload, 581‘th under Collr‘z lu Cuba in twenty-three fights, been \XOiIl'lr‘Ll and was sick for ten ‘IllUilth wi. h the fever." Count d- Cassini. the Czar’s Ambas- sador to 1h.- United States, is said to b- ihe m0~l democratic. of all the dip- lomatic ivpl‘floent‘dllves at Washing- ton. Unlike the chiefs :mbassr :s o; legat'lorls, he has no office": ho us, and will sse anyone who calls or bu.~ln *sS whenever he is in the hoase. Count Cassini speaks excell- ent English, and is most pleasant in his manner. “Uncle” Edmund Parker's successor as a guard of the tomb of \Vashington is Thomas Bushl'od, another venerable negro, who for the last eight years has been sexton of Pohick church in Fair- fax County, V3... with which \Vashing- too was soclosely identified. Bushrod was born in 18:5 near Washington, Fauquler County, and was a slavel of th: Fllzhlgh family from 1847, when his home-.was changed to a plantation inar Ioillck thurch, where he. has since lived. A peculiar instance of philanthropy the esrablishment of a home for L1}; widows and orphans of outlaws by “Jim” Jenkins, a noted hunter of des- plradoss in the south-west. Jenkins spent lozty years as a scout, and ac- cumulated $30le0 in, rewards for turn robbers and other bandits. 'I‘he J:lm:s toys, “Bob” li‘ord, "Bill" Dal- ton, “Blll” Cook and "Cherokee Bill" were among his picturesque. quarries. 1h). home is to be particularly for those dependent upon the men he him- self ran to earth. It is to be situated tiara 5,000â€"acres farm near Pryor Creek is GRAINS OF GOLD Kindness out of season destroys au- thornyâ€"Sandi. Avarice is the vice of declining years. â€"(xeorgc Bancroft. ' Curiosin is one. of the forms of fern- lllne braveryâ€"Victor Hugo. Behavior is a mirror in which every one. displays his imageâ€"Goethe. The last plelsure in life is the sense of discharglng our dulyâ€"Hazlitt. They that will not be counseled can- not be helpedâ€"Benjamin Franklin. Life is not so short, but that there is always time enough for courtesy.â€" Emerson. Fine sense and exalted sense are not: half so useful as common senseâ€"Ah exander Pope. He that overvalues himself will un- dervalue others, and he that under- values others will oppress them.â€"Johnâ€" son. No man is the wiser for his learning. It may administer ma tier to Work in, or objects to work upon; but wit and \Visduln are born with a maneâ€"John l Selden. i ' it, judges of- of other/l