ON GUARD.
The sisters Perkinpine always retired early, and, candle in hand, they
made the round of the windows and doors on the first floor.
When they came to the window from which the nail had been removed, Fred
told them he had seen the tramp take it out, and he was sure he would
try and enter there.
This served to add to the uneasiness of the sisters, but they had great
confidence in the security of the house, which had never been disturbed
by burglars, so far as they knew, in all its long history.
"The chest where we keep the silver and what little money we have,"
said Lizzie, "is up-stairs, next to the spare bed-room."
"Leave the door open and let me sleep there," said Fred, stoutly.
"Gracious alive, what can you do if they should come?" was the amazed
inquiry.
"I don't know as I can do anything, but I can try; I want that old
musket that's over the fire-place, too."
"Why, it will go off and kill you."
Fred insisted so strongly, however, that he was allowed to climb upon
a chair and take down the antiquated weapon, covered with rust and dust.
When he came to examine it he found that the description he had heard
was correct--the ancient flintlock was good for nothing, and the
barrel, when last discharged, must have exploded at the breach, for it
was twisted and split open, so that a load of powder could only injure
the one who might fire it, were such a feat possible.
The sisters showed as much fear of it when it was taken down as though
it were in good order, primed and cocked, and they begged the lad to
restore it to its place as quickly as possible.
But he seemed to think he had charge of the business for the evening,
and, bidding them good-night, he took his candle and went to his room,
which he had occupied once or twice before.
It may well be asked what young Fred Sheldon expected to do with such a
useless musket, should emergency arise demanding a weapon.
Indeed, the boy would have found it hard to tell himself, excepting
that he hoped to scare the man or men away by the pretence of a power
which he did not possess.
Now that the young hero was finally left alone, he felt that he had a
most serious duty to perform.
The spare bedroom which was placed at his disposal was a large,
old-fashioned apartment, with two windows front and rear, with a door
opening into the next room, somewhat smaller in size, both being
carpeted, while the smaller contained nothing but a few chairs and
a large chest, in which were silver and money worth several thousand
dollars.
"I'll set the candle in there on the chest," concluded Fred, "and I'll
stay in here with the gun. If he comes up-stairs and gets into the room
I'll try and make him believe I've got a loaded rifle to shoot him
with."
The door opening outward from each apartment had nothing but the
old-style iron latch, large and strong, and fastened in place by
turning down a small iron tongue.
It would take much effort to force such a door, but Fred had no doubt
any burglar could do it, even though it were ten times as strong. He
piled chairs against both, and then made an examination of the windows.
To his consternation, the covered porch extending along the front of
the house, passed beneath every window, and was so low that it would be
a very easy thing to step from the hypostyle to the entrance.
The room occupied by the ladies was in another part of the building,
and much more inaccessible.
Young as Fred Sheldon was, he could not help wondering how it was that
where everything was so inviting to burglars they had not visited these
credulous and trusting sisters before.
"If that tramp, that I don't believe is a tramp, tries to get into the
house he'll do it by one of the windows, for that one is fastened down
stairs, and all he has to do is to climb up the portico and crawl in
here."
The night was so warm that Fred thought he would smother when he had
fastened all the windows down, and he finally compromised by raising
one of those at the back of the house, where he was sure there was the
least danger of any one entering.
This being done, he sat down in a chair, with the rusty musket in his
hand, and began his watch.
From his position he could see the broad, flat candlestick standing
on the chest, with the dip already burned so low that it was doubtful
whether it could last an hour longer.
"What's the use of that burning, anyway?" he asked himself; "that
fellow isn't afraid to come in, and the candle will only serve to show
him the way."
Acting under the impulse, he walked softly through the door to where
the yellow light was burning, and with one puff extinguished it.
The wick glowed several minutes longer, sending out a strong odor,
which pervaded both rooms. Fred watched it until all became darkness,
and then he was not sure he had done a wise thing after all.
The trees on both sides of the house were so dense that their leaves
shut out nearly all the moonlight which otherwise would have entered
the room. Only a few rays came through the window of the other
apartment, and these, striking the large, square chest showed its dim
outlines, with the phantom-like candlestick on top.
Where Fred himself sat it was dark and gloomy, and his situation, we
are sure all will admit, was enough to try the nerves of the strongest
man, even if furnished with a good weapon of offence and defence.
"I hope the ladies will sleep," was the unselfish thought of the little
hero, "for there isn't any use of their being disturbed when they can't
do anything but scream, and a robber don't care for that."
One of the hardest things is to keep awake when exhausted by some
unusual effort of the bodily or mental powers, and we all know under
how many conditions it is utterly impossible.
The sentinel on the outpost or the watch on deck fights off his
drowsiness by steadily pacing back and forth. If he sits down for a few
minutes he is sure to succumb.
When Fremont, the pathfinder, was lost with his command in the Rocky
Mountains, and was subjected to such arctic rigors in the dead of
winter as befell the crew of the Jeannette in the ice-resounding oceans
of the far north the professor, who accompanied the expedition for the
purpose of making scientific investigations, warned all that their
greatest peril lay in yielding to the drowsiness which the extreme cold
would be sure to bring upon them. He begged them to resist it with all
the energy of their natures, for in no other way could they escape with
their lives.
And yet this same professor was the first one of the party to give up
and to lie down for his last long sleep, from which it was all Fremont
could do to arouse him.
Fred Sheldon felt that everything depended on him, and with the
exaggerated fears that come to a youngster at such a time he was sure
that if he fell asleep the evil man would enter the room, take all the
money and plate and then sacrifice him.
"I could keep awake a week," he muttered, as he tipped his chair back
against the wall, so as to rest easier, while he leaned the musket
along side of him, in such position that it could be seized at a
moment's warning.
The night remained solemn and still. Far in the distance he could hear
the flow of the river, and from the forest, less than a mile away,
seemed to come a murmur, like the "voice of silence" itself.
Now and then the crowing of a cock was answered by another a long
distance off, and occasionally the soft night wind stirred the
vegetation surrounding the house.
But among them all was no sound which the excited imagination could
torture into such as would be made by a stealthy entrance into the
house.
In short, everything was of the nature to induce sleep, and it was not
yet ten o'clock when Fred began to wink, very slowly and solemnly, his
grasp on the ruined weapon relaxed, his head bobbed forward several
times and at last he was asleep.
As his mind had been so intensely occupied by thoughts of burglars and
their evil doings, his dreams were naturally of the same unpleasant
personages.
In his fancy he was sitting on the treasure-chest, unable to move,
while an ogre-like creature climbed into the window, slowly raised an
immense club and then brought it down on the head of the boy with a
terrific crash.
With an exclamation of terror Fred awoke, and found that he had fallen
forward on his face, sprawling on the floor at full length, while the
jar tipped the musket over so that it fell across him.
In his dream it had seemed that the burglar was a full hour climbing
upon the roof and through the window, and yet the whole vision began
and ended during the second or two occupied in falling from his chair.
In the confusion of the moment Fred was sure the man he dreaded was
in the room, but when he had got back into the chair he was gratified
beyond measure to find his mistake.
"I'm a pretty fellow to keep watch," he muttered, rubbing his eyes; "I
don't suppose that I was awake more than a half hour. It must be past
midnight, so I've had enough sleep to last me without any more of it
before to-morrow night."
He resumed his seat, never more wide awake in all his life. It was not
as late as he supposed, but the hour had come when it was all-important
that he should keep his senses about him.
Hearing nothing unusual he rose to his feet and walked to the rear
window and looked out. It was somewhat cooler and a gentle breeze felt
very pleasant on his fevered face. The same stillness held reign, and
he moved to the front, where he took a similar view.
So far as could be told, everything was right and he resumed his seat.
But at this juncture Fred was startled by a sound, the meaning of which
he well knew.
Some one was trying hard to raise the dining-room window--the rattling
being such that there was no mistake about it.
"It's that tramp!" exclaimed the boy, all excitement, stepping softly
into the next room and listening at the head of the stairs, "and he's
trying the window that he took the nail out of."
The noise continued several minutes--long after the time, indeed, when
the tramp must have learned that his trick had been discovered--and
then all became still.
This window was the front, and Fred, in the hope of scaring the fellow
away, raised the sash, and, leaning out, peered into the darkness and
called out:
"Halloo, down there! What do you want?"
As may be supposed, there was no answer, and after waiting a minute or
two, Fred concluded to give a warning.
"If I hear anything more of you, I'll try and shoot; I've got a gun
here and we're ready for you!"
This threat ought to have frightened an ordinary person away, and the
boy was not without a strong hope that it had served that purpose with
the tramp whom he dreaded so much.
He thought he could discern his dark figure among the trees, but it was
probably fancy, for the gloom was too great for his eyes to be of any
use in that respect.
Fred listened a considerable while longer, and then, drawing his head
within, said:
"I shouldn't wonder if I had scared him off----"
Just then a soft step roused him, and turning his head, he saw that
the very tramp of whom he was thinking and of whom he believed he was
happily rid, had entered the room, and was standing within a few feet
of him.