"Everything is all right," I said in a loud, distinct voice, intended
to assure my wife that there was no necessity for caution or alarm. "I
will be with you presently."
"I am glad to hear that nothing is the matter," said Aunt Martha, now
for the first time opening her door. "I was afraid something had
happened."
But I had business to attend to before I could go upstairs. In thinking
over and arranging this plan for the capture of burglars, I had
carefully considered its various processes, and had provided against all
the contingencies I could think of; therefore I was not now obliged to
deliberate what I should do. "Keep your eye on them," said I to David,
"and if one of them moves be ready for him. The first thing to do is to
tie them hand and foot."
I quickly lighted a lamp, and then took from another shelf of the closet
a large coil of strong cotton rope, which I had provided for such an
occasion as the present.
"Now," said I to David, "I will tie them while you stand by to knock
over any one of them who attempts to get up."
The instrument with which David was prepared to carry out my orders was
a formidable one. In the days of my youth my family was very fond of
"Maryland biscuit," which owes much of its delicacy to the fact that
before baking it is pounded and beaten by a piece of heavy iron. Some
people used one kind of a beater and some another, but we had had made
for the purpose a heavy iron club a little over a foot long, large and
heavy at one end and a handle at the other. In my present household
Maryland biscuits were never made, but I had preserved this iron beater
as a memento of my boyhood, and when the burglaries began in our
vicinity I gave it to David to keep in his room, to be used as a weapon
if necessary. I did not allow him to have a pistol, having a regard for
my own safety in a sudden night alarm, and nothing could be more
formidable in a hand-to-hand encounter than this skull-crushing club.
I began with the tall man, and rapidly tied his feet together with many
twists of the rope and as many knots. I then turned him over and tied
his elbows behind him in the same secure way. I had given so much
thought to the best method of securing a man by cords, that I do not
think this fellow could possibly have released himself when I had
finished with him.
David was obeying my orders and keeping a strict watch on the prostrate
men; but his emotions of amazement were so great that he could not keep
them down.
"What is the matter with them, sir?" he said. "How did they come so?"
"There is no time for talking now," I answered. "I will tell you all
about it when the men have been secured." I now turned my attention to
the man who was partly resting against the lounge. I first tied his
feet, and before letting him down to the floor, so as to get to his
arms, I removed his hat and his mask, which was made of black muslin. I
was surprised to see the beardless face of a young and very good-looking
man. He was well dressed, and had the general appearance of a person
belonging to theatrical circles. When his arms had been tied, I told
David he might lay down his biscuit-beater, and help me with the third
man, who was badly mixed up with the _débris_ of the refreshments. We
hauled him out and tied him up. He was rather a short man, but very
heavy, and I could see no signs of his having been hurt by the smash-up
he made in falling.
We now proceeded to search the insensible burglars for arms. Upon the
tall man we found a large revolver, a heavy billy, which seemed as if it
had seen service, and a long-bladed knife. The stout man carried two
double-barrelled pistols, and upon one of the fingers of his right hand
wore a brass ring with a murderous-looking iron protuberance upon it,
which, when driven forward by his powerful arm, was probably more
dangerous than a billy. Upon the younger man we found no arms at all,
and his hip pocket contained nothing but a small handbook on civil
engineering.
I now briefly explained to David the nature of the trap which had caught
the burglars. He gazed upon me with a face glowing with amazed
admiration.
"What a head you have got, sir!" he exclaimed. "I don't believe there is
another man in this State who would have thought of that. And what are
you going to do with them now, sir; hang 'em? That's what ought to be
done with them, the hounds!"
"All I shall do," I answered, "will be to keep them till daylight, and
then I shall send word to the sheriff at Kennertown, and have him send
officers for them."
"Upon my word," exclaimed David, "they are in the worst kind of a box."
Now my wife called me again. "What in the world are you doing down
there?" she called; "why don't you come upstairs?"
This annoyed me, for I was not yet ready to go upstairs. I wished to
resuscitate these fellows, for their stupor was so profound that I began
to fear that perhaps they had taken too much of the drug and ought to be
brought to their senses as speedily as possible. This feeling was due
more to my desire that serious injuries should not occur to the rascals
while in my house than to any concern for them.
"My dear," said I, stepping to the bottom of the stairs, "I have some
things to attend to down here which will occupy me a few minutes longer;
then I will come up to you."
"I can't imagine what the things are," she said, "but I suppose I can
wait," and she went into her room and closed her door after her.
I now began to consider what was to be done with the burglars after they
had been resuscitated. My first impulse was to rid the house of them by
carrying them out of doors and bringing them to their senses there. But
there was an objection to this plan. They would be pretty heavy fellows
to carry, and as it would be absolutely necessary to watch them until
they could be given into the charge of the officers of the law, I did
not want to stay out of doors to do this, for the night air was raw and
chilly, and I therefore determined to keep them in the house. And as
they could be resuscitated better in a sitting position, they must be
set up in some way or other. I consulted David on the subject.
"You might put 'em up with their backs agin the wall, sir," said he,
"but the dirty beasts would spoil the paper. I wouldn't keep them in a
decent room like this. I'd haul 'em out into the kitchen, anyway."
But as they were already in the library I decided to let them stay
there, and to get them as speedily as possible into some position in
which they might remain. I bethought me of a heavy wooden settle or
bench with back and arms which stood on the side piazza. With David's
help I brought this into the room and placed it with its back to the
window.
"Now, then," said I to David, "we will put them on this bench, and I
will tie them fast to it. We cannot be too careful in securing them, for
if one of them were to get loose, even without arms, there is no knowing
what trouble he might make."
"Well, sir," said David, "if I'm to handle them at all, I'd rather have
them dead, as I hope they are, than have them alive; but you needn't be
afraid, sir, that any one of them will get loose. If I see any signs of
that I'll crack the rascal's skull in a jiffy."
It required a great deal of tugging and lifting to get those three men
on the bench, but we got them there side by side, their heads hanging
listlessly, some one way, some another. I then tied each one of them
firmly to the bench.
I had scarcely finished this when I again heard my wife's voice from the
top of the stairs.
"If any pipes have burst," she called down, "tell David not to catch the
water in the new milk-pans."
"Very well," I replied, "I'll see to it," and was rejoiced to hear again
the shutting of the bedroom door.
I now saturated a sponge with the powerful preparation which Dr. Marks
had prepared as an antidote, and held it under the nose of the tall
burglar. In less than twenty seconds he made a slight quivering in his
face as if he were about to sneeze, and very soon he did sneeze
slightly. Then he sneezed violently, raised his head, and opened his
eyes. For a moment he gazed blankly before him, and then looked stupidly
at David and at me. But in an instant there flashed into his face the
look of a wild beast. His quick, glittering eye took in the whole
situation at a glance. With a furious oath he threw himself forward with
such a powerful movement that he nearly lifted the bench.
"Stop that," said David, who stood near him with his iron club uplifted.
"If you do that again I'll let you feel this."
The man looked at him with a fiery flash in his eyes, and then he looked
at me, as I stood holding the muzzle of my pistol within two feet of his
face. The black and red faded out of his countenance. He became pale. He
glanced at his companions bound and helpless. His expression now changed
entirely. The fury of the wild beast was succeeded by a look of
frightened subjection. Gazing very anxiously at my pistol, he said, in a
voice which, though agitated, was low and respectful:--
"What does this mean? What are you going to do? Will you please turn
away the muzzle of that pistol?"
I took no notice of this indication of my steadiness of hand, and
answered:--
"I am going to bring these other scoundrels to their senses, and early
in the morning the three of you will be on your way to jail, where I
hope you may remain for the rest of your lives."
"If you don't get killed on your way there," said David, in whose
nervous hand the heavy biscuit-beater was almost as dangerous as my
pistol.
The stout man who sat in the middle of the bench was twice as long in
reviving as had been his companion, who watched the operation with
intense interest. When the burly scoundrel finally became conscious, he
sat for a few minutes gazing at the floor with a silly grin; then he
raised his head and looked first at one of his companions and then at
the other, gazed for an instant at me and David, tried to move his feet,
gave a pull at one arm and then at the other, and when he found he was
bound hard and fast, his face turned as red as fire and he opened his
mouth, whether to swear or yell I know not. I had already closed the
door, and before the man had uttered more than a premonitory sound,
David had clapped the end of his bludgeon against his mouth.
"Taste that," he said, "and you know what you will get if you disturb
this family with any of your vile cursin' and swearin'."
"Look here," said the tall man, suddenly turning to the other with an
air of authority, "keep your mouth shut and don't speak till you're
spoken to. Mind that, now, or these gentlemen will make it the worse for
you."
David grinned as he took away his club.
"I'd gentlemen you," he said, "if I could get half a chance to do it."
The face of the heavy burglar maintained its redness, but he kept his
mouth shut.
When the younger man was restored to his senses, his full consciousness
and power of perception seemed to come to him in an instant. His eyes
flashed from right to left, he turned deadly white, and then merely
moving his arms and legs enough to make himself aware that he was bound,
he sat perfectly still and said not a word.
I now felt that I must go and acquaint my wife with what had happened,
or otherwise she would be coming downstairs to see what was keeping me
so long. David declared that he was perfectly able to keep guard over
them, and I ran upstairs. David afterward told me that as soon as I left
the room the tall burglar endeavoured to bribe him to cut their ropes,
and told him if he was afraid to stay behind after doing this he would
get him a much better situation than this could possibly be. But as
David threatened personal injury to the speaker if he uttered another
word of the kind, the tall man said no more; but the stout man became
very violent and angry, threatening all sorts of vengeance on my
unfortunate man. David said he was beginning to get angry, when the tall
man, who seemed to have much influence over the other fellow, ordered
him to keep quiet, as the gentleman with the iron club no doubt thought
he was doing right. The young fellow never said a word.
When I told my wife that I had caught three burglars, and they were
fast bound in the library, she nearly fainted; and when I had revived
her she begged me to promise that I would not go downstairs again until
the police had carried away the horrible wretches. But I assured her
that it was absolutely necessary for me to return to the library. She
then declared that she would go with me, and if anything happened she
would share my fate. "Besides," she said, "if they are tied fast so they
can't move, I should like to see what they look like. I never saw a
burglar."
I did not wish my wife to go downstairs, but as I knew there would be no
use in objecting, I consented. She hastily dressed herself, making me
wait for her; and when she left the room she locked the door on the
sleeping George William, in order that no one should get at him during
her absence. As we passed the head of the stairs, the door of my Aunt
Martha's room opened, and there she stood, completely dressed, with her
bonnet on, and a little leather bag in her hand.
"I heard so much talking and so much going up and down stairs that I
thought I had better be ready to do whatever had to be done. Is it
fire?"
"No," said my wife; "it's three burglars tied in a bunch in the library.
I am going down to see them."
My Aunt Martha gasped, and looked as if she were going to sit down on
the floor.
"Goodness gracious!" she said, "if you're going I'll go too. I can't let
you go alone, and I never did see a burglar."
I hurried down and left the two ladies on the stairs until I was sure
everything was still safe; and when I saw that there had been no change
in the state of affairs, I told them to come down.
When my wife and Aunt Martha timidly looked in at the library door, the
effect upon them and the burglars was equally interesting. The ladies
each gave a start and a little scream, and huddled themselves close to
me, and the three burglars gazed at them with faces that expressed more
astonishment than any I had ever seen before. The stout fellow gave vent
to a smothered exclamation, and the face of the young man flushed, but
not one of them spoke.
"Are you sure they are tied fast?" whispered my Aunt Martha to me.
"Perfectly," I answered; "if I had not been sure I should not have
allowed you to come down."
Thereupon the ladies picked up courage and stepped further into the
room.
"Did you and David catch them?" asked my aunt; "and how in the world did
you do it?"
"I'll tell you all about that another time," I said, "and you had better
go upstairs as soon as you two have seen what sort of people are these
cowardly burglars who sneak or break into the houses of respectable
people at night, and rob and steal and ruin other people's property with
no more conscience or human feeling than is possessed by the rats which
steal your corn, or the polecats which kill your chickens."
"I can scarcely believe," said Aunt Martha, "that that young man is a
real burglar."
At these words the eyes of the fellow spoken of glowed as he fixed them
on Aunt Martha, but he did not say a word, and the paleness which had
returned to his face did not change.
"Have they told you who they are?" asked my wife.
"I haven't asked them," I said. "And now don't you think you had better
go upstairs?"
"It seems to me," said Aunt Martha, "that those ropes must hurt them."
The tall man now spoke. "Indeed they do, madam," he said in a low voice
and very respectful manner, "they are very tight."
I told David to look at all the cords and see if any of them were too
tightly drawn.
"It's all nonsense, sir," said he, when he had finished the examination;
"not one of the ropes is a bit too tight. All they want is a chance to
pull out their ugly hands."
"Of course," said Aunt Martha, "if it would be unsafe to loosen the
knots I wouldn't do it. Are they to be sent to prison?"
"Yes," said I; "as soon as the day breaks I shall send down for the
police."
I now heard a slight sound at the door, and turning, saw Alice, our maid
of the house, who was peeping in at the door. Alice was a modest girl,
and quite pretty.
"I heard the noise and the talking, sir," she said, "and when I found
the ladies had gone down to see what it was, I thought I would come
too."
"And where is the cook," asked my wife; "don't she want to see
burglars?"
"Not a bit of it," answered Alice, very emphatically. "As soon as I told
her what it was she covered up her head with the bedclothes and
declared, ma'am, that she would never get up until they were entirely
gone out of the house."
At this the stout man grinned.
"I wish you'd all cover up your heads," he said. The tall man looked at
him severely, and he said no more.
David did not move from his post near the three burglars, but he turned
toward Alice and looked at her. We knew that he had tender feelings
toward the girl, and I think that he did not approve of her being there.
"Have they stolen anything?" asked Aunt Martha.
"They have not had any chance to take anything away," I said; and my
wife remarked that whether they had stolen anything or not, they had
made a dreadful mess on the floor, and had broken the table. They should
certainly be punished.
At this she made a motion as if she would leave the room, and an
anxious expression immediately came on the face of the tall man, who had
evidently been revolving something in his mind.
"Madam," he said, "we are very sorry that we have broken your table, and
that we have damaged some of your glass and your carpet. I assure you,
however, that nothing of the kind would have happened but for that
drugged wine, which was doubtless intended for a medicine, and not a
beverage; but weary and chilled as we were when we arrived, madam, we
were glad to partake of it, supposing it ordinary wine."