Part 24 (1/2)
”And did he co to the main narrative
”I was that scared for a th The middle door never is locked I leave it on the latch like, so I can hear wheels better What to do I didn't know, but a body thinks fast at such ti I kneas on the back doorstep, hookin' the door on the outside Then a gust of wind like, came around the corner of the house, and voices came with it, and I felt sure there were more men waitin' there to ketch me, if I tried to run”
CHAPTER XXV ROBBERS
It was a light night, but the new h wind I noticed that, because I remembered it afterwards
”Noas outside, I didn't knohich way to turn If I run to either side, there were the -pen they'd see me And they'd be comin' around and 'd ketch me where I was”
”What did you do?” exclaiid attitude
The toll-wohed cheerfully as she poured outwaved back the teapot spout
”I took the only chance I saw and jumped for that there cave”
Both Robert and his aunt arose from their chairs to look out of the back door
The cave was a structure which I believe is peculiar to the West, being in reality a kind of dug-out It flourished before people built substantial houses with cellars under them, and held the same relation to the family's summer economy as the potato, apple, and turnip holes did to its winter comfort Milk, butter, perishable fruit, lard, meats, and even preserves were kept in the cave It was intended for summer coolness and winter war out a foot of earth The bottom was covered with straw Over this you made boards meet and brace each other with the slope of the roof The ends were boarded up, leaving room for a door, and the whole outside sodded thickly, so that a cave looked like a sharp-printed bulge in the sward, excepting at that end where the heavy padlocked door closed it It was a teirls; they alanted to run over it and hear the hollow sound of the boards under their feet I once saw a cave break through and s one out of such a galloping troup, to his great disinary volcano, and when he sat down to his shoulders in an apple-butter jar, the hot lava seemed ready made to his hand
From the toll-wo up into the air The door looked as stout as the opening to a bank vault, though this comparison did not occur to the children, and was secure with staple and padlock and three huge hinges
Evidently, no e of this cave
It stood a few yards from the back door
”I had the key in my pocket,” said the toll-woman, ”and ever since then I've never carried it anywhere else I clapped, it into the padlock and turned, but just as I pulled the door I heard feet comin'
around the house full drive Instead of juht they had oin' to be crunched to death in a hole, like a ht where the shadow of the house and the shadow of the cave fell all over me If I hadn't slipped I'd been runnin' across that field, and they'd seen ood deal of fuss over the way things turned out, but I don't, take any more credit than's my due, so I say it just happened that I didn't try to run further
”The two men outside unlocked the back door and the one inside came on to the step
”'There's nothin' in the box and nobody in here,' says he 'She's jumped out o' bed and run and carried the cash with her'
”'Did you look under the bed?' says one of the outsiders And he ran and looked hiain
I was glad I hadn't got under the bed
”'This job has to be done quick,' says the first one 'And the best way is to ketch the woive up or tell where the stuff is hid She ain't got far, because I heard her open this door'