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HOME AXD FLOWEBS 



followed by a soimd so terrific that it 

 seemed as if a peal of thunder must have 

 been the cause of it, and the flash from 

 the old shot-o'un was like the lightning 

 which accompanies these demonstrations 

 of . Xatnre. There was a crv, a groan, 

 and a dash toward the window, but John 

 was there to head ofl^ the escape of the 

 men. Miss Betty picked herself up as 

 rapidly as possible from the corner into 

 which she had been thrown by the recoil 

 of her gun, and sprang to the cellar-way 

 for the lantern. 



As she opened the door, the light of 

 the lantern shone out, and one of the men, 

 evidently thinking that it was a light from 

 an adjoining room, from which it might 

 be possible for him to make good his es- 

 cape, sprang toward it. Miss Betty was 

 ahead of him. He could not p'ass her. 

 Seeing this, and being determined to get 

 away before another explosion took place 

 in which he might be disabled, as his 

 companion evidently was, to judge by 

 the groans that greeted his ears, he sprang 

 against her, thus forcing her into the 

 cellar-way before him. The cellar-stairs 

 began only a step or two away from the 

 threshold of the cellar door, and Miss 

 Betty, -unable to save herself, plunged 

 down them, head-foremost, and the man 

 followed her, bringing up against the wall 

 with his head Ijetween a comple of pork- 

 barrels. The suddenness of his descent 

 bewildered him, and the force with which 

 his head stuck the barrels, as he came in 

 contact with them, stunned him. 



]\Iiss Betty, from her position at the 

 foot of the stairs, could see the trap the 

 man was in, as the light from the lantern 

 hanging in the cellar-way shone down 

 into the cavernous depths of the cellar. 



"Hurry, John, hurry," she screamed. 

 "Grit here afo-re he comes to an' we've got 

 him. 'NeYex mind the one up stairs. I 

 don't b'leeve he'll git fur, ef I hit him. 

 He won't, if it took holt o' him as it did 

 o' me," she thought, as a twinge of pain 

 shot through her arm. She tried to get 



upon her feet, but she could not. Her 

 knee seemed to crinkle under her weight, 

 and she sank down again with a groan. 



John appeared upon the sceue. He had 

 to laugh when he saw the predicament the 

 man was in. ~ 



'•'Wall. I declare 1"' he exclaimed. "Ef 

 ever I see anybody in a fix, its him. The 

 idee o' makin' a bear-trap out o" two pork- 

 barrels I It beats all I ever heard tell of," 

 and John kept chuckling over the matter, 

 as he tied the man's hands securely with 

 a strap, before releasing him. In order to 

 do that, he had to move one of the pork- 

 barrels. 



'•Did the house get struck?" asked the 

 man. as he began to regain consciousness. 



"I sh'd say it did," answered John. 

 "An' yer partner got a putty good dose of 

 it, I reckon, by the sounds. Hear him 

 groan ? That's what a feller gets by fool- 

 in' 'round the war department." he added 

 with a chuckle. ''Eh, Mis' Peabod}^, ain't 

 that 'bout your opinion ?" and the chuckle 

 broke into a laugh. 



'•T guess so," answered Miss Betty, witli 

 a groan. 'T reckon I'll hev to hev some 

 help, to git up stairs. I can't stan' on 

 my feet, some way. One of 'em seems to 

 hev give out." 



John assisted her to her feet, or tried 

 to, but she was unable to bear her weight 

 on one limb. 



"I can't step," she said. ••Y"ll hev to 

 carry me." 



John carried her up stairs and laid her 

 on the old lounge. 



"Where's Mary?" she asked. 



"'Dunno," answered John. "Hadn't 

 thought o' her, there was so much else to 

 think of." 



He went to the cellar way and got the 

 lantern, and came back and looked about 

 the room. 



Under the window the other tramp lay, 

 gToaning, but evidently half unconscious. 

 The floor about him was red with blood. 



"'D'y s'pose he'll die ?" asked Miss Betty, 



