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"Walter Quinn i?ri lewis m. grist, Proprietor. | %n lubqjttibtnl Jfamilg ftttospaptr: Jfor % |rom(rttflit of t|t $aMral, Social, ^grimlteal mtit CmmntrtW Interests of % JJratjt. | TERMS?$3.00 A TEAR, 15 ADYASCE. ? * ~ .... *~*~~~ J M11 i ... 'j '1 VOL. 16. YOEKYILLE, 8. O., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1870. .'A'"". the ftatg Mitt. THE BLUE BIVEB BANK ROBBERY. CHAPTER I. "It is not of the least use to argue the ques- , tion, father. Tell me, plainly, yes or no, and . I will bother you no more aboat it" ( "I cannot indulge you in this, Harry. In- ( deed, yon should believe me when I say we i cannot afford it" ( Mr. Houghton leaned his head heavily on , his hands as he spoke, and seemed to depre- ( . cate the displeasure of his handsome, impa- ( tient son. , "Very well, sir," said the youth of nineteen, , his hands quivering as he rose with the anger , he seemed striving to keep out of his words j and tones. "I hope you will never be sorry ( for the trifle"you have refused me to-night I , shall make the trip to Lake George next week, , nevertheless, if I have to sell ray grandfath- ( |^Ya watch and chain to get the motnjJ2? frnm the of j "" ' J ?o^A,l ?n R#r. i JPOBttT XlOUgnion, auu a 1^1 vk*vu<u? j ry !" from His mother, whose eyes had been ] filling with tears as she sat silent through the , stormy interview. But the boy was angry, j and in earnest, and he twisted the chain in his ] waistcoat to give emphasis to the threat. Then j as he took his cloak and cap from the closet t he continued: f "You need not sit up for me, or leave the ( door unlocked; I am going to Tinborough { with the fellows of the strawberry party, and as there will be a dance, and as the nights are s short, I shall wait for daylight to come home, t if I do not stop and catch a nap at the Val- t ley House, before starting. "Who is going from Elmfield ?" inquired j the father, more from a desire to show an in- 8 terest and win the boy from his moodiness than a any reai curiuBibjr. v "Nearly evehybody of my set," said Harry, ] with something of a studied coldness; "Ar- ^ thur Brooks and Tom Box ham and Frank j Pettengill?and Harrison Fry, if you want the whole list" ^ His father turned sharply away, but the g mother spoke appealingly:? j, "If you would cut off your intimacy with g Harrison Fry, now and forever, I think there c are very few things your father would refuse' c you. I have seen his evil influence over you ever since he came back from the city." He y was a bad boy, and will be a bad man." I "Like myself and other wicked people," c said the boy, looking at his watch, "Harry Fry }, is not half so black as he is painted. But I i am not as intimate with him as you fancy; fc and as to father, I don't think his treatment v of me to-night gives him a clue to interfere a with my friendships." p Henry Houghton shot his shaft deliberate- j, ly, for he knew his father's sensitive nature, r in which it would rankle cruelly ; and in a a moment he was off, bounding through the low, t open window, and running with fleet stepe ^ down the gravel sidewalk toward the com- c mon. The family circle thus divided was that of q the cashier of the Blue River National Bank, r of Elmfield. Foster Houghton was a man past middle age, and older than his years in 1 appearance and in heart He had petted his a only son in his childhood enough to spoil most 1 boys, and now made the balance even by re- j pressing the exuberance of his youth with a r sharpness sometimes no more than just, some- 3 times querulous and unreasonable. The boy's r grandfather, old Peleg Houghton, who died t fpv seen, He was tne constaoie, dui ne was . [also the superintendent of the Sunday school, < and the assessor of internal revenue in the district, to say nothing of his being the agent of two or three sewing machine firms, and one ' life insurance company, and the correspondent of the Tinborough Trumpet. He owned a farm, and managed it at odd hours. He gave a year before at ninety and over, naa almost a worshipped Harry, and on his death-bed, had presented his own superb Frodsham watch to I the lad; and both father and mother knew he must be deeply moved to speak so lightly at t parting with it & "I fear Harry is getting in a very bad way," a said> Mr. Houghton, gloomily, after a pause o in which the sharper click of his wife's nee- t dies told that her thoughts were busy. "He a goes to the other church too often to begin t with,?smokes, after I have repeatedly told him how the habit hurt me in my boyhood, u and what a fight I had to break it off. He b is altogether too much in Harrison Fry's company. He has been twice before to Tin- b borough, driving home across country in the k gray of the morning. And this project of v going alone to Lake George on a week's trip n is positively ridiculous." a "Very likely you are the best judge, my dear," said Mrs. Houghton. She always be- f gan in that way when she meant to prove him k otherwise. "I fully agree with you about that reckless young Fry. But as to Harry's s going to the brown church, and his visits to \ Tinborough, 1 think the same cause is at the I bottom of both. Grace Chamberlin had been t singing in the choir over there this Spring, c and now she is visiting her aunt at Tinbo- c rough. And as to that, she is going with her > aunt's family to Lake George, to spend July, j i and I suppose they have expressed a wish to 11 I beet him there. - Grace Ghamberlin is a very j i pretty girl; and Harry is like what you were a at his age." t k "Bless my soul, Mary," said the cashier, s "then, why didn't the boy tell me what he i was driving at? Chasing across the country a after a pretty face is foolish enough, at his age, ? Knf if ifl not ao bad as going to a watering- y IB'"" *" o o - c? ^ Blace merely for the fashion of it, like some Bch, old nabob or professional dandy. If i Harry had told me he wanted to dangle after ? race Chamberlin, instead of talking in that t ?-? -v ' o desperate wa^aboul the watch, I might have thought differently. There is a charm on the i chain with my mother's hair, that I wouldn't i have go out of the family for a fortune." y Just then the door-bell rang, as if a power- ] ful, nervous hand was at the knob. Mr. i Houghton answered the ring, for their one do- i mestic bad been called away by a message i from a sick sister, and the mistress of the I house was "getting along alone" for a day. i So when her quick ear told her the visitor i was one to see her husband on business, she i quitted the room to set away the milk and 1 < lock up the rear doors of the house for the 11 night. j; The caller was Mr. Silas Bixby. He would j < have been a sharp m&n in Elmfield estimation i who could predict the object of one of Silas < Rixby's calls, though there were few doors in [ i the village at which his face was not frequent I , l-i L. ! some of his Whiter evenings to keeping a l writing school, with which he sometimes prof- 1 itably combined a singing-school, with lucra- ji tive concerts at the end of the term. He was : ?J j the clerk of the fire company, and never had h been absent from a fire, though some of his s manifold duties kept him riding through the t neighboring towns in his light gig a great deal ? of the time. He had raised a company and j< commanded it, in the nine months' army of, e '62. He kept a little bookstore in one corner 11 of the village quadrangle, and managed a very i o small circulating library, with the aid of the c oldest of his ten children; and he was an , squal partner in the new factory enterprise at I the Falls. So Mr. Houghton did not venture ! q to guess on what errand Mr. Bixby came to ! t see him, and showed him to a chair in the twi- < 1 ? ^ f A ' if lighted sitting-room, wun u luce cuiii[)uoctj iiv | ji decline a request to discount a note, or to join t< with interest in a conversation on the Sunday j n school, or to listen to a report of the new fire 11 ingine fund, with equal ease and alacrity! [i Tookl^TTTOOimnm 75~seeThatjfy> lobody was in hearing. "You'll excuse me, j [ know, 'squire, if I shut down the windows, n lot as it isand before his host could rise to c: inticipate him, he had suited the action to p ;he word. "It's detective business. It's a n lig thing. It's a mighty big thing. Do you ci enow I told you, Mr. Houghton, the first of y, ;he week, that there was dangerous characters ? ibout town, and asked you to keep your eyes 1< >pen at the bank. Will you bear witness of hat?" fi "I remember it very well, Mr. Bixby," and tl dso that there has not been a single person in f] he bank since that day, other than our own 01 owns-people and friends." h "That is just it," said Silas Bixby, twisting b lis whiskers reflectively; "they have got ome accomplice who knows the neighborhood, y, ind whom we don't suspect. But we shall y< atch him with the rest The fact is, Mr. d lough ton, the Blue River National Bank is n o be robbed to-night The plot is laid, and bi have got every thread of it in my hand." a Foster Houghton was one of a class in the a; ill L~ l?kUiialli> innrorllllrtllfl AS to I <11 IllttgU WUU ncic naumuHii^ Silas Bixby's achievements, as announced by j< timself; but there was a positiveness and as- oi uranee about the constable's manner which tl arried conviction with it, and he did not con- ir eal the shock which the news gave him. "Just you keep very cool, sir, and I'll tell b; ou the whole story in a very few words, for cl have got one or two things to do before I atch the burglars, and I have promised to "] Dok into Parson Pettengill's barn and doctor tl lis sick horse. There is two men in the job, pi lesides somebody in the village here that is b< forking with them secretly. You needn't sk me how I managed to overhear their oi >lans, for I shan't tell; you will read it all h< a the Tin bo rough Trumpet day after io-morow. They are regular New York cracksmen, b; nd they have been stopping at the hotel at pi teFalls, pretending to be looking at the fo rater-power. They came here on purpose to ci lean out the. B|no Bwer Bank," - . , - pi "Do you mean to blow open the safe?" in- di uired Mr. Houghton, who was pacing the Hi oom. ! ai "Just have patience, 'Squire," said Silas j it iixby. "I thought it best to prepare you, i te md so led you up kind o' gradual. They 01 rave got false keys to your house door and ct rour bed-room. They are going to come in at bi nidnight or an hour after, and gag you and w 'our wife, and force you, at the mouth of the w evolver, to the bank and open the combina- st ion lock. Your help, they say, has gone off; fe nd they seem not to be afraid of Henry." 01 "Henry has gone to Tinborough," said Mr. d' loughton, mechanically. tc "I presume they know that too, then," said lj ko/vrmataklo "Thpv OD fortV tllOUS- h uv WUOVMU4V. ?? J nd dollars in the safe, government bonds and tl ,11. Their team is to be ready on the Tinbor- sc ugh road, and they mean to catch the owl ir rain. You they calculate to leave, tied hand b< nd foot, on the bank floor, till you are found K here in the morning." ti Foster Houghton stopped in his rapid walk m ip and down the little room, and took his hi oots from the closet. b "Fair play, 'Squire," said Bixby, laying a sj iand on the cashier's arm as he sat down and sa licked off his slippers. "I've told you the m fhole story, when I might have carried out hi ay plan without telling a word. Now what vi ,re you going to do ?" b; "Going to order a stout bolt put on my oi ront -door at once, and to deposit the bank tl :eys in the safe at Felton's store." ni "You will think better of it if you will just oi it still and hear me through," replied the isitor. "Don't you see that will show your w iand to the gang, who are on the watch, and ai hey will just leave Elmfield and rob some tl ither bank and make their fortunes ? More- tl ?ver, the plot never would be believed in the i c? rillage, and such a way of meeting it would fe nake no sensation at all in print No, Mr. bi rloughton, you are cashier of the bank, and d< t is your business to protect the property. I . im constable at Elmfield, and it is my duty ! oi o capture the burglars. I propose to do it in ci uch a way that the whole State shall ring zl vith my brilliant management of the matter, hi ind yours, too, of course, so far as your part joes. The programme is all complete, and h rou have only to fall in." h "Well, Mr. Bixby," said the elder gentle- j it nan, again surrendering to his companion's j a luperior force and determination of charac- j jc cr; "and what is the programme?" ; h "As far as you are concerned, simply to re- tl nain passive," said the rural constable. "You 1< ire to show no knowledge of expecting the n irisit, and after a proper display of reluctance tl rou are to go with the burglars, with your keys ' 1 n your hand. If I were to arrest the rascals j si low, I should have nothing to charge them ! g svith, and could only frighten them out of: I town. When the bank is entered the crime | ii is complete. I shall be on the watch with two h strong fellows I have secured to help me? li men who served in ray company, stout, afraid t nf nothing, and not smart enough to claim : v the whole credit when the job is done. When I you are fairly inside the bank we shall pop e out from behind the bowling alley, guard the li door, flash our lanterns in their faces, and I overpower them at once. It sounds very r short now ; but it will easily fill a column in 1 the city papers." : 1 "Mr. Bixby," said Foster Houghton, with a c good deal of deliberate emphasis, "I have al- e ways thought you a man of sense. I think so now. Do you suppose I am going to stand- 1 quietly by and see a couple of ruffians tie a f gag in the mouth of my wife, when I know 11 and can prevent it before hand ?" t "No, Sir, I expect no such thing," said Bix- j \ >y, not a little embarrassed. "I expected ' ike as not you would briug up some Buch ob- 1 ection, so I have provided for it in advance, i fohn Fletcher's little girl is very sick ; they 1 tave gone the rounds of all the folks on our 1 treet, taking turns watching there; to-night hey came to me and said, "Bixby, can't you i ind us somebody to watch; and I said I knew 1 list the one that would be glad to help a i leighbor. So 1 will deliver the message to t Irs. Houghton, and you needn't have a mite I f anxiety about her, up there as safe and j omfortable as if she were twenty miles away." \ While her husband yet hesitated, Mrs. loughton re-entered the room; and Bixby, < uick to secure an advantage, was ready at < he moment with his petition. i avpnintr Mrs. Houi?hton. Been wait-11 V>UVu..,vw.-s, 0 ag very patient for you to come in. I called t a see if you felt able and willing to set up to- i ight along with John Fletcher's little girl, t 'he child don't get any better, and Mrs. s 'lfttlhfir shg-ia just ahtm* oioV nlvut hprself-U rith care syid worry." / ^ "You know I am always ready to help a j s eighbor in such trouble," said the lady, gra- i iously, with the prompt acquiescence which 1 eople in the country give to such calls. "And c ow I think of it, Mr. Bixby, I have another all to make on your street I think I will alk up with you, and so get around to Fletchr's at nine o'clock. My husband has several I itters to write, so he will not miss me." r Foster Houghton sat in a sort of maze, while | f ite thus arranged affairs for him, though : s ley tended to a consummation which was far c om welcome to his mind. His wife went b at for her smelling salts, her spectacles and t er heavy shawl; and Bixby snatched the rief opportunity. o "I have told you everything, 'Squire, that ou need to know. Keep your mind easy and t our head cool, and the whole thing may be h one as easy as turning your hand over. Re- t lember that it is the only way to save the r i xi.-a L t. anx ana eaten tne men maiumy uave iuuucu u dozen banks. Do not stir out of the house s jain this evening, or you will excite suspicion t ad ruin the game. Between twelve and two o ou may expect your company ; and rely upa me in hiding close to the bank. Mum is y le wordFor Mrs. Houghton was descend- c ig the stairs. h "Come in again when you come back, Bix- u y; can't you ?" said the cashier, still loth to if ose so hasty and so singular a bargain. d "Not for the world," replied the constable, si It would expose our hand at once, and spoil s1 le trick. Now, Mrs. Houghton, I'm really g roud to be the beau to such a sprightly young 5 die." a And so, with a word of farewell, they were o f, and Foster Houghton sat alone in the k Duse with his secret. 1 He was not a coward, but a man of peace h y temperament and training, and the enterrise in which he had been enlisted was both 1< reign and distasteful to him. How many in- lj dents might occur, not set down in Bixby's t] rognunme,-to ma^etbe night's trork both, li angerous aud disagreeable! His very lone- \ aess made the prospect seem doubly unpleasit. A dozen times, as he sat musing over d , he put forth his hand for his boots with in- tl :nt to go out and frustrate the robbery in his f< ivn way, regardless of Bixby's schemes for tl ipture and glory. As many times he fell y ack in his easy chair, thinking now that he t< as bound in honor by his tacit agreement d ith the constable, and again that the whole c ory was nothing but the fruit of the officer's tl srtile imagination, and that only the inventr should render himself ridiculous by his ere- a ntinltA/] irnftk WAO rt f Knmn U11 bj 11UW IJC niOUCU UiO mic UOO Ul iiUIUV *' > make the waiting moments pass more quick- I r; that Harry was there to give the aid of g is daring and the stimulus of his boyish en- v lusiasm in the strange emergency. And h unetimes the old man's thoughts wandered, tl t spite of the excitement of the hour, to his tl oy, dancing away the night at Tinborough. o [e recalled his anxiety over his son's dissipa- d on, his associates, his growing recklessness of a tanner, his extravagant tastes, the look of g tird defiance in his face but an hour or two h sfore. His heart yearned over the lad in ii )ite of his wild ways, like David's over Ab- h dom, and he resolved to try the mother's | tethod and imagine excuses, and replace ii arshness with indulgence, hereafter. The b illage bell clanged out from the steeple close fl y, and Foster Houghton dropped the thread si f his reverie with a start, and went back to p le robbery again. * Clearly he was getting too c grvous. He must do something to shake it k ff. h "I'll get Harry's revolver," he thought, a ith little purpose what he should do with it; y ad he took the lamp and went up stairs to h le boy's empty room. The drawers were a irown open in a confusion which offended the <3 ishier's neat prejudices acquired in the pro- 0 ssion. He knew where the pistol was kept, tl ut its box was empty ; and he exclaimed un- lj er his breath? b "That is a boy all over. He goes to Tinbor- e ugh to dance and eat strawberries " ttircMie p irries a pistol, loaded, P dare say, to the muze. It is ten to one he will shoot himself or e is sweetheart before the evening is over." v As Mr. Houghton fumbled oyer the bureau t is hand encountered a covered flask. Even | a is unaccustomed nose was able to recognize 11 s contents as whisky; and his regret at such ; discovery in his son's room was lost in the t ?v with whieh he hailed a stimulant so great-! t V W r needed to put his nerves in a conditiou for j le events to come. Perhaps he forgot how j mg it was since he called in such a reinforce- fi lent; perhaps his hands shook; perhaps he I bought the occasion required a large dose, r le took a hearty one; and when he was down c tairs again the difficulties in the way of bag- t ing the burglars vanished from his mind.'t le was a young man once more, and entered 11 nto the romance of Bixby's plot, he said to j t limself, as enthusiastically as Harry would | i ave done. He paced the room with an elas- i ic stride very different from the nervous wa- i ering step with which he had heard the news, i lixby and himself, he thought, would be < uough to overpower any three burglars. Then s lis head was heavy, and he felt drowsy. To i i le in proper condition for the emergency, he j1 effected, he needed ail the sleep he could get. I < The resolve was one to be executed as prompt- I y as formed; and in a few minutes later the j :ashier had locked the door, fastened the low- i ir windows, and was snugly in bed. i < A gentle tinkle of the door bell aroused I ] lim again before, as it seemed to him, he had i i airly closed his eyes. "The robbers at last," i le thought ; and then he rebuked himself for i lie absurdity of supposing that a burglar j j vould announce his coming by the door-bell. |! i'It is Bixby, of course," he said to himself 'come to own he was a fool and the story aj! lonsense." But he paused before be turned ;he key, and said in his fiercest tone, "Who it ;bere?" "It is only me, Foster," said the sweet, faniliar voice of his wife, without; and when le had admitted her she told him, in her quick vay, that after she had watched with the child in hour or two, a professional nurse who had >een sent for a week before had arrived unexpectedly, and that she had been glad to give ip her vigil and come home. Foster Houghton rarely did anything with'?' hit thinking twice about it, if not more; so it lame about that while he balanced in his mind be pros and cons as to revealing to his wife l-" "? ?"? nnnfitlfld to him. 'lie seeiei* nuiv/ii -w_,. w ^ ind thus give her a fright in advance for what.i night prove to be a false alarm after all, the; ired lady went sound to sleep; and thus the j icale was turned in favor of reticence.. x?gr-fc mp^-the husband's continued drows^MH^sj ributed to the resolve also ; for his vyfcrnSS; till drooped with strange obstinacy, and an nfluence more powerful than even the apprelensionof danger transformed his terrors into4' Ireams again. CHAPTER II. One, two, rang out from the belfry on the j >reathless June night, already heavy with the j isiug fog from the river. Foster Houghton j ound himself broad awake as he counted the j. trokes; but even while he thought it was the lock that had disturbed him, he felt a cold, j lard ring of steel against his temple, and saw , hrough the darkness a man by his bedside. "Nbt one word, or you will never utter anther." He noticed the voice, even in the whirl of i he moment, and knew that it was strange to lim. He turned toward his wife, and saw hat there was a man by her side also, with j' evolver aimed; felt, rather than saw, that she iad waked when he did, and was waiting, elf-possessed, for whatever was to come. As , he darkness yielded to his eyes, he wa%aware f the third figure, standing at the window. "Perfect quiet, remember, and we will tell ou what is to be done," said the same voice, ool, with an utterance entirely distinct yet ardly louder than a whisper. "You have ' nthine to fear if vou obev orders. A knife o ? w } ready for the heart of each of you if you isobey. The lady has simply to lie still; as he will be bound to the bed and her mouth topped, that will be easy; and the gag is very entle, and will not hurt if she does not resist. Ir. Houghton will rise, put on his trousers, nd go with us to the bank, always in range 1 f this pistol and in reach of this blade. The 1 eys are already in my pocket Number 'hree, will you scratch a match that I may elp the gentleman to his clothes." , The figure in the window stepped noiselessf forward at the summons. As the blue flame ighted the room Foster Houghton observed < bat his visitors were all masked with black 1 ilk, through arhich a narrow slit jpermittfl. 4 ision. He noticed that their feet were shod]! nth listing, so thick that a step made no au- ' ible sound on the straw carpet He noticed bat long, thin black cloaks covered their , arms to the ankles, so that no details of clobing could be noted to identify them. And rhile he observed these things, not venturing a stir until the threatening muzzle was withrawn from his face, he felt his hand tightly lutched by the fingers of his wife, beneath 1 be coverlid. Years of familiar association had made him pt at interpreting his wife's thoughts and clings, without the aid of the spoken word, i lither by some peculiar expression in the raspitself, or by that subtle magnetism which re know exists among the unknown forces, e felt that there was something more than he natural terror of the moment, more than be courage of a heart ever braver than his wn, more than sympathy for his own supposed ismay,in his wife's snatch at his hand. More larmed, at the instant, by the shock thus iven them than by the more palpable danger e turned his head toward his wife again, and a her eyes and in the direction they gave to .11., is, saw an inai sne naa seen. The masked figure in the centreof the room, i producing a match, had unwittingly thrown ack one side of its cloak. By the sickly ame just turning to white, Foster Houghton aw, thus revealed, the twisted chain he had layed with in his own boyhood, the golden I rescent, with his mother's hair, the massive i ey with its seal, just as he had seen them on ' is boy's breast at sunset In an instant more | taper was lighted ; the curtain of the cloak | ,as drawn together again. But the secret it j ad exposed was impressed upon two hearts,! s if they had been seared with iron. As a j~ rowning man thinks of the crowded events f a lifetime, Foster Houghton thought, in j hat moment of supreme agony, of a dozen j inks of circumstantial evidence?the boy's affled desire for money, his angry words, his j vil associates, his missing revolver, his delib- ! rate explanatton of a night-long ?b^wico,.h>?^ utinmte knowledge of the affairs of the bank, xcept the secret combination of the lock, I ,-hich he had often teased for in vain. Two hings were stamped upon his brain together, ,ud he was thankful that his wife could know he horror of but one of them. His own son was engaged in a plot to rob he bank, by threats of assassination against hose who gave him birth. He himself was rrevocably enlisted in a plot to capture the obbers, and so to bring his boy to infamy and i punishment worse than death. The discovery compels a pause in the narative. It made none in the actual progress { if events. The man who had spoken mo-1 ioned the cashier to rise, and as^fsted his rembling hands in covering his limbs with ine or two articles of clothing. The oue on he opposite side of the bed moved quickly ind deftly as a sailor, bound Mrs. Houghton vhere she lay, without a touch of rudeness of ndignity beyond what his task made necessa-" y. A knotted handkerchief from his pockit was tied over her mouth. The third figure stood at the window, either to keep a watch without or to avoid seeing what took place svithin; but Foster Houghton's eyes could liscern no tremor, no sign of remorse or hesi-! nation, in his bearing. "Now, cashier," said the one voice which ilone had been heard since the stroke of the clock, "you will have to consider yourself ready, for we have no time to spare. I feel 3ure you know what is healthy for you, but still 1 will tie this rope round your waist to save you from any dangerous temptation to try a side street. Number Two, you will go below and see if the coast is clear." .With one more look at his wife's eyes, in wMMTTie saw outraged motherly affection, where the strangers saw only flight and pain, Foster Houghton suffered himself to be led from the room. One of the robbers had preceded him ; one held him tightly by the wrist; One, the one whose presence gave the scene its treble terror, remained long enough to extinguish the taper and lock the door. The outer door was fastened behind them also; and then -thwiioiseless little procession (for the cashier had been permitted to put on his stockings only) filed along the gravel walk through the 'prt^Tjblackness which a mist gives to a moonless tfight, toward the solitary brick building occupied by the Blue Biver National Bank. They passed the school house where Foster Houghton had carried his boy a dozen years before, with a bright new primer clutched in frightened little fingers; then the desolate old mansion of his own father, where the boy had been petted and worshiped as fervently as at little further, on, the church, where i Ju^5y"Tiad been baptized, and where the yoitrth chafed beneath distasteful sermons?its white steeple lost in the upper darkness; and, a few paces beyond, the academy, within whose walls the cashier had listened with such pride to Harry's eloquent declamation of "The Return of Regulus to Carthage," on the last Commencement day. He thought of these things as he passed, though so many other thoughts surged in his mind; and he wondered., if another heart beside his own was beset with such reminiscences on the silent journey. Before they reached the bank the man who had gone in advance rejoined them. "It is all serene," he said in a low tone, but with a coarser voice and utterance than his confederate's ; "nothing more than a cat stirring. I have unhitched the mare, and we shall be off in fifteen minutes." "All right, Number Two," said the leader. "The swag will be in the buggy in less time. Cashier, you are a man of prudence, I know. If you will work that combination skilfully Rndjiromptly, not a hair of your head shall beharmed. If you make a blunder that costs us a minute, not only will this knife be at home in your heart, but we shall stop on our way back and set your cottage on fire. Our retreat will be covered, and you know the consequences there, before the alarm will rouse anybody. I have sworn to do it." Foster Houghton fancied he saw a shudder iu the slighter figure beside him; but it might have been a puff of wind across the long drapery. "0, blow the threats," said Number Two. i "The man values his life, and he is going to open the safe quicker than he ever did before. Open the door, young one, and lef s be about it?' The robber who had not yet opened his lips, and whose whole motion the cashier still watched stealthily, stepped forward to the bank door; and as he drew a key from under his cloak the prisoner caught<anotherglimpae of the chain he could have sworn to amonga thousand. I 'ike JoojvwKtmg open. The casbiqr's heart , Fasjh his throat. lie had not heard a sound I> Bixby, but he knew the village cbnstable too well to fear, or hope, that he might have gtv^n up the chase. All four entered the building; but before the door could be closed behind them there was a shout, a cry of dismay, a rush of heavy feet, a flash of light in a lantern which gleamed but a moment before it was extinguished, the confused sound of blows and oaths, and the breaking of glass, punctuated by the sharp report of a pistol. Foster Houghton could never give a clear account of the terrible minute in which his consciousness seemed partly benumbed. He took no part in the struggle, but seemed to be pushed outside the door; and there, as the tumult within began to diminish, Silas Bixby came hurriedly to him, dragging a masked figure by the shoulder. " "Houghton, you must help a little. We have got the better of'era, and my men are holding the two big fellows down. But the fight is not out of them yet, and you must hold this little one three minutes, while I help to tie their hands. Just hold this pistol to his liead, and he will rest very easy." Even while he spoke Bixby was inside the door, again, and the gleam of light which followed showed that he had recovered hkiantern and meant to do his work thoroughly. Foster Houghton's left hand had been guided to the collar of his captive, and the revol? ^ ? .1 - i t ? mi _ ver had Deen tnrust in nis ngnt. mere was no question of the composure of the robber now. He panted and sobbed and shook, and make no effort to tear himself from the feeble grasp that confined him. If the cashier had been irresolute all his life, he did not waver for an instant now. He did not query within himself what was his duty, or what was prudent, or what his wife would advise, or what the bank directors would think. "Harry," he whispered, hoarsely, his lips close to the mask, "I know you." The shrinking figure gave one great sob. Houghton went right on without paus' "Bixby does not know you, and there is time to escape, yet. I shall fire this pisto) in the air. Run for your life to your horse there, and push on to Tinborough. You can catch the train. May God forgive you." The figure caught the hand which had released its hold as the words were spoken, and kissed it. Then, turning back as if upon a sudden impulse, the robber murmured something which could not be understood, and thrust into the cashier's hand a mass of chilly metal which his intuition rather than his touch recognized as Pheleg Houghton's watch and chain. He had presence of mind enough to conceal it in his pocket, and then he fired his pistol, and he heard the sound of flying feet and rattling wheels as Silas Bixby accosted him. "What in thunder! did he wriggle away from you ? why didn't you sing out sooner." "I think I am getting faint. In Heaven's name, go quick to ray house and release my wife and tell her all is safe. The fright of these shots will kill her." Foster Houghton sunk into a swoon, even as he spoke, and only the quick arm of Silas Bixby saved him from a fall on the stone steps. "See here, boys," said he. "If you have got those fellows tied up tight, one of you take "Squire Houghton and bring him to, and I I'll go over to his house and untie his wife, before I start after the pesky little rascal that has got away. If I had 'a' supposed he would dare to risk the pistol I should have hung on to him myself. Mike, you just keep your revolver cocked, and if either of those men more than winks, shoot him where he lies." Having thus disposed of his forces, and provided for the guard of the prisoners and the restoration of the disabled, the commander was off at a run. Half Elmfield seemed to have been awakened by the shots, and he was met by a half-dozen lightly clad men and boys whom he sent on his errand and that, to open the lock-up under the engine house, to harness horses for the pursuit, vouchsafing only very curt replies to their eager questions as to what had happened. He was exasperated on arriving at Foster Heughton's dwelling to find the door locked and the windows fastened. 80 he raised a stentorian shout of, 'It's? all ? right?Mrs.?Houghton. Robbers? caught?and?nobody?hurt'; repeating his words carefully to insure being understood ; and then scud at full speed back toward the bank again. He met half-way an excited, talkative little group, the central figure of which was the cashier of the bank, restored to life, but still white as death, and supported by friendly hands. Assured that Houghton was now able to release his wife, Bixby ran on to the green, and in five minutes more was settled in his gig, and urging his cheerful little bay Morgan over the road to Tinborough, mentally putting into form his narrative fbr the Trumpet as he went. CHAPTER IH. Thus it came about that it was Foster Houghton himself that unloosed his wife's bonds,?bending his gray head as he did so, to print a kiss of sorrow and sympathy on her wrinkled cheek, and leaving a tear there. "He has escaped," he said, "and is on the road to the station." "Will he not be overtaken?" "I think not He has a fair start, and knows what is at stake; and the train passes through before daylight" Then the woman's heart, which had borne her bravely up so far, gave way, and she broke into terrible sobs; and the husband who would comfort her was himself overcome by the common grief, and could not speak a word. Silently they suffered together, pressing hands, until the entering light of dawn reminded them that even this day had duties, and perhaps new phases of sorrow. They could hear the quick steps of persons evidently full of excitement over the event of the night, and talking all together. They could not be left long undisturbed. As they dressed, Foster Houghton,?unable or reluctant to describe in any detail the scene at the bank, as his wife was to ask him about it,? suddenly encountered in his pocket the watch entangled in its chain. "He gave me this, and a kiss," he said, ev-. ery word a sob; and Mary Houghton pressed it to her heart. Then, as a quick step sounded on the porch, she hastily thrust it into a uianoit "What shall we say?" she asked. "I do not know. Heaven will direct us for the best," he replied. The step did not pause for ceremony, bat came in and np thq stairs as if^on some pressing errand. Then the door opened, and Harry Houghton ran in?his curls wet with the fog of the morning, his cheeks rosy as from a rapid ride, his eyes dancing with excitement. His father and mother stood speechless and bewildered, filled with a new alarm. But the boy was too busy with his own thoughts to observe his reception. Thick and fast came his words, questions waiting for no answers, and narrative never pausing for comment. "What is this Bixby shouted to me when I met him, about robbers? And what is there such a crowd at the bank about? Did I come sooner than you expected me? We had a glorious time at Tinborough, you know, and when we were through dancing I decided to drive home at once. And a few miles out I met Silas in his gig driving like mad, and he shouted at me till I was out of hearing, but I could not catch one word in a dozen. But before anything else, I want to beg your pardon for my roughness last night I am old enough to know better, but I was angry when I spoke; and I have beefl* thoroughly ashamed of myself ever since. Tou will forgive and forget father, won't you? Hallo, I didn't suppose you felt so badly about it, mother darling." Mary Houghton was clasping her son's neck, crying as she had not cried that night But the cashier, slower in seeing his way, as usual, stood, passing his hand across his brows for a moment Then he spoke,? "Harry, where is your grandlather's watch 7" "There, did you miss it so quickly? I meant to get it back before you discovered it was gone. I will have it after breakfast The fact is, I was not myself when I left the house last night, with temper, and Harrison Fry offered me two hundred dollars for it, to be paid next week, and in ray temper I let him have it to bind the bargain. I was crazy for money, and I sold him my pistol, too. I regretted about the watch before I had fairly quit the village; but he broke his engagement and did not go with us to Tinborough after all, so I have had no chance to get it back again till now." "Harrison Fry I" exclaimed Foster Houghton; and his hands clasped and his lips moved in thankful prayer. "But if you don't tell me what is all this excitement in the village, I shall run out and find out for myself," cried the boy impatiently, "You never would stand here asking me questions about trifles, if the bank had been broken open in the night" Foster Houghton put his hands on his boy's shoulders and kissed him, as he had not done since his son's childhood. Then he took from its hiding-place the watch and hung it on Harry's neck, his manifest emotion checking the expression of the lad's astonishment "There is much to tell you, Harry," he said, "and perhaps you will think I have to ask your forgiveness rather than you mine. But your heart is too full for a word till after prayers. Let's go down." Then the three went down the stairs, the mother clinging to the boy's hand, which she had never relinquished since her first embrace. Foster Houghton took the massive Bible, as was his daily custom, and read the chapter upon which rested the mark left the morning before; but his voice choked and his eyes filled again when he came to the lines: "For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." Silas Bixby galloped into Tinborough two minutes late for the down train; and the fugitive was too sharp to be caught by the detectives who were put on the watch for him by telegraphic messages. In a few hours all Elmfield had discovered that Harrison Fry was missing, and had made tip life mind that he was the escaped confederate in the burglary. The Blue Biver Rational Bank offered a reward for him, bat hohas never yet been found. The zealous constable found compensation for the 1m; o&one prisoner in the discovery that the other two were a couple of the most skillful and slippery of the metropolitan cracksmen, known among other aliases as Gentlemen Graves and Teffey. Bixby's courage and discretion received due tribute from counsel, press and public during the trial the next month in the Tinborough court house; and by some influence it was so managed that Mrs. Houghton was not called to the stand, nor was Foster Houghton closely questioned in regard to the manner in which the third robber had escaped from his custody on the steps of the bank. Harry Houghton went to Lake George that Summer, starting a day after the departure of Grace Chamberlin; but this year, they go torgether, and die programme of the tour includes Niagara and Quebec. ELECTION LAWS OF 8. CAROLINA, APPROVED MARCH 1, 1870. Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of South Carolina, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That the general elections in this State shall be held, pursuant to the Constitution thereof, on the third Wednesday in October, eighteen hundred and seventy, and forever thereafter, on the same day in .every second year, and shall be regulated and conducted according to the rules, principles and provisions herein prescribed. Sec.- 2. Every male citizen of the United S to too nf tTio am nf twAntv-miA vmh and upwards, not laboring under the disabilities named in the Constitution, without distinction of race or color or former condition, who shall have been a resident of the State for one year, and in the county in which he offers to vote for sixty days next preceding any general election shall be entitled to vote: Provided, That no person while kept in any alms-house or asylum, or of unsound mind, or confined in any public prison, shall be allowed to vote. Sec. 3. That for the purpose of carrying on such election H shall be the duty of the Governor, and he is hereby authorized and empowered, at least sixty days prior to any such election, to appoint in and for each county three commissioners of election, whose duty it shall be, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to appoint three managers of elections, for each election precinct of the county for which they shall respectively be appointed. The said commissioners of elections and said managers of elections shall take and subscribe, before any officer author| ized to administer oaths, the oath of office prescribed by section 30 of Article II of the Constitution, and the same shall be immediately filed in each instanoe, in the office of the clerkjof the county in which saidfTcomtnissioBere and managers shall be appointed; and if there be ho such clerk duly qualified by law, then in the office of Secretary of State. Sec. 4 That the managers are hereby authorized to appoint a clerk to assist them in whatever duties may be required of them, who shall take the oath of office prescribed by section 30 of Article II of the Constitution before the chairman of the board of managers. ! Sec. 5. That the commissioner aforesaid and the managers aforesaid, at their first . i ? i? j i. meetings, respectively, snaii proceed to organize themselves as a board, by appointing one of their number chairman of the board; and snch chairman, in each instance, shall be empowered to administer the necessary oaths. Sec. 6. The polls shall be open at such voting places as shall be designated, at six o'clock in the afternoon of the day of election, and shall be kept open during these hours without intermission or adjournment, and the managers shall administer to each person offering to vote an oath that they are qualified to vote at this election, according to the Constitution of this State, and that they have not voted during this election. - Sec. 7. Representatives in the House of Reprentatives of the United States shall be chosen at such election, in the several Congressional Districts, by the qualified el&tors therein. Sec. 8. The State constables, and other peace officers of each county are hereby 'required to be .present during the whole time that the polls are kept open, and until the election is completed; and they shall prevent all interference with the managers, and see that there is no interruption of good order. If there should be more than one pollingplace in any county, the State constable of such county is hereby empowered and directto make such assignment of hiB deputies and other peace officers to such polling-places as may, in his judgment, best subserve the purposes of quiet and order. i Sec. 9. All bar-rooms, saloons, and other places for the sale of liquors by retail, shall be closed at six o'clock of the evening preceding the day of election, and remain closed until six o'clock of the morning thereafter, and during the time aforesaid the sale of all intoxicating liquors is prohibited. Any person duly convicted before a competent Court of a violation of this section, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the Court Sec. 10. That any person who shall vote at any general election, who is not entitled to vote, and every person who shall, by force, intimidation, deception, fraud, bribery, or undue influence obtain, procure or control the vote of any elector to be cast for any candidate or measure, other than as intended or desired bv such elector, shall he nunished bv * * r j a fine of not lees than onenundred, nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in jail not less than three months, nor more than twelve months, or both, within the discretion of the Court Sec. 11. The voting shall be by ballot whieh shall contain written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, the names of the persona voted for, and the offices to which such pereons are intended to he chosen; and shall be so folded as to conceal the contents ; and such ballot shall be deposited in a box to be constructed, kept and disposed of as hereinafter provided. " Sec. 12. There shall be one general ticket,, on which shall be the names of the persons voted for as Representatives in Congress, and State, circuit and county officers. Sec. 13. The commissioners of etectaona shell provide one box fi)r each' electioto p?* cinct An opening shall be made in the lid of such box not larger than shall be sufficient for a single ballot to be inserted therein at one time, through which each ballot received, proper to be placed in such box, shall be inserted by the person voting, and by no other; each box shall be provided with a sufficient lock, and shall be locked before the opening of jthe poll, and the keys retained by the commissioners, and shall not beopened during the election. Such boxfe shall be labelled as - " ? n. /* !i J follows: uongress, eiaie, circuit wju wuui-j # officers. , Sec. 14 Each clerk or the' pop shall keep a poll list, which shall contain one column headed "Names of Voters/' and the name of each elector voting shall be entered by the cleric in such column. Sec. 15. At the close of the election, and within three days after the day thereof the chairman of the board of mdhhgers, * of them, who may be designated by the Board, shall deliver to the commissioners of elections, the poll list, and boxes containing the ballots. Sec. 16. The commissioners of elections shall meet at the county-eeat, as provided in the last preceding section, and shall proceed to organize, and shall form the county board of canvassers. Sec. 17. They shall meet in some copvenient place at the county-season the Tuesday ^ next following the election, before one o'clock of the afternoon of that day. They may point some competent person as secretary. The chairman shall thai proceed to administer the constitutional oath to each meniber of the board, as canvassers; and shall administer the constitutional oath to the secretary, and the secretary shall administer to the chairman the same oath that he shall have administered to the other members of the board. Sec. 18. They shall then proceed to count the votes of the county, and shall make such statements thereof as the nature of the election shall require, within ten days of the time of their first meeting as a board of county .iiJ .Loll hanmiit 4<v (ka liaawl af HUlvnwciO) Auu oiumi rnirnimm w hiv uyvNu Vi State canvassers any protest and all papers relating to the election. Baa 19. Duplicate statements shall be made and filed in the office of the clerk of the' county, and if there be rib such derkr duly qualified, according to law, then in the office of secretary of State. Sec. 20. They shall make separate statements of th'e whole number of votes given in such county for representatives in Congress; and separate statements of all other votes given for other officers. Such statements shall contain the names of the persons for whom such votes were given, arid the number of votes given for each, which shall be written $ out in words at foil length. * Sec. 21. There shall be prepared, by the commissioners three separate lists of each statement, besides the lists to be filed in the office of the county clerk or secretary of State, and each list shall be certified, to as correct by the signatures of the commissioners subscribed to such certificate. Sec. 22. After the final adjournment of the board oftcounty canvassers, and within the time prescribed in seotion 17 of this Act, the chairman of the board shall deposit in the nearest poet-office, directed to the Governor, secretary of State and comptroller-general, (the full postage paid) each, one of the certified copies of the statement and certificate of votes, prepared as provided in the last preceding section. Sec. 23. The secretary of State shall ap- < point a meeting of State canvassers, to be held at his office, or some convenient place, on or before the tenth day of November next after, such general election, for the purpose of can*. vassing the votes of all officers voted for at such election. Sec. 24. The secretary of State, comptroller-general, State auditor, State treasurer, adjutant and inspector-general and the chairman of the committee on privileges and elections of the House of Representatives, shall constitute the State canvasser; four of whom shall be a sufficient number to form aboard. Sec. 25. If a majority of these officers shall be unable, or shall fail to attend, the President of the Senate, being notified by the secretary of State, shall attend without delay, and, with the officers attending, shall form a board. Sec. 26. The board, when thus^fbrmed, shall, upon the certified copies of the statements made by the board of county canvassers, proceed to make a statement of the whole number of votes given at such election for the various officers, and for each.of them voted for, distinguishing the several counties, in which they were given. They shall certify such statements to be correct, and subscribe the same with their proper names. Sec. 27. Upon such statements they shall ^ then proceed to determine and declare what persons have been, by the greatest number of votes, duly elected to such offices, or either of them; they shall have power, and it is made their duty, to decide all {cases under process or contest that may arise, when the power to do so does not, oy tne constitution, reside in some other body. * # * * * . y Sec. 35. The secretary of State shall tenter in a book, to be kept in his office, the names of the respective county officers elected in this State, specifying the counties for whioh they were severally elected, and their place of residence, the office for which they were respectively elected, and their term of office. Sec. 36. If any officer on whom any djuty is enjoined in this Act shall be guilty of any wilful neglect of such duty, or of any corrupt conduct in the execution of the same, and be thereof convicted, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred^dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding one year. Sec. 37. The commissioners of elections shall receive, for their compensation, three dollars per day for their services while actually employed, and ten cents per mfle for necessary travel; and the managers shall receive two dollars nor dan vrbila onfnalls omnlnvod ?J V -?jrW^VM, and ten cents per mile for neoeesaiy travel; and the clerks of the commissioners, and the clerks of the managers, respectively, shall receive two dollars per day while actuAy employed : Provided, No commissioners of elections shall receive pay for more than ten days, and no manager or clerk for than three days. ? * * * Sec. 39. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act, or in any way conflicting with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.