'All right,' he muttered, and laid them upon the floor.
At this instant, a mouse ran across the floor, and then about a dozen others, shrieking like a sharp blast of autumn wind. The Lifter rose to his feet and glanced about, and then shaded the feeble glim with his hand.
Many of the locks that he found were very intricate, and more than two hours passed away ere he secured the contents of five of the lockers. Then it seemed to him as if he heard a noise outside, indistinct at first, but very soon audible enough. The noise resembled the cry of an angry bear, and this he knew to be a signal from the chief calling him forth.
'I will not go till I get one more locker open,' he thought; and then set at work again with his pick-locks and skeleton keys. This compartment was the easiest of all rifled; the box of coin was secured and put into his sack. He then carefully closed and relocked the doors, hoisted his bag, now extremely heavy, upon his back, and retraced his steps.
The door of the secret room he likewise carefully reclosed; then passed through the library, the drawing-room, and into the kitchen. There was no stir, and he laid his bag of booty upon the bed which poor Bridget had so kindly spread for him. The cat, a great male tortoiseshell, came from the corner with tail erect and back curved, and he rubbed his handsome side, against The Lifter who calmly proceeded to put on his boots.
The robber did not show the least anxiety but calmly proceeded, by the light of his candle, to tie his boots and prepare himself for a start. When tightening the lace in his last boot, he thought that he heard a noise upon the stairs; but it ceased and he went on with his work. Then there was a sudden rush as if somebody were descending many steps at once; and simultaneously with the rush a loud cry.
'Buglahs! Buglahs!'
'The d—d nigger,' the Lifter ejaculated, and seizing his booty he made a plunge for the door, which, with his usual precaution, he had unlocked before going upon his exploit. Through the door he escaped safely enough, but he had scarcely reached the yard before the negro—the same, by the way, to whom my readers have already been introduced—was upon him.
'Help, mates, help!' shouted The Lifter, as he felt the hand of the darkey tighten about his throat.
'Help, buglahs, buglahs!' shouted at the same time the faithful negro; and in response to the alarm, there was a hurrying of many feet inside, and much hallooing.