The Black Forge Mills

by William P. Chipman

On the other hand, the entrance to the store had been effected in a bungling and unworkmanlike manner; and though an attempt had been made to blow up the store safe, it had evidently failed because the burglars had no proper tools for accomplishing their purpose. There was also an apparent haste and indiscrimination in the selection of the goods that had been taken, which an expert thief would scarcely have manifested. Indeed, many of the articles taken seemed to suggest that the robbers were youthful as well as inexperienced. These circumstances together with the evident familiarity of the thieves with the store, led the proprietor and the police to believe that the burglary had been committed by some one living in or near the town; and consequently they began their search for the criminals right at home.

It was not long before they found what appeared to them to be several important clues leading toward the identification of the thieves. A heavy thunder shower had set in the night before, about ten o'clock, and had continued until long after midnight. Tracks at the rear door of the store revealed the fact that the robbery must have taken place after the storm, and that there were two burglars, if not more. A small piece of cloth was found attached to the edge of the hole in the partition, and had the appearance of having been torn from the coat of one of the robbers as he crawled through the opening. Later in the day a coat was found under a pile of lumber on the wharf, of the very same material as the scrap of cloth which had been found attached to the partition between the stores, and, wrapped inside of it, were the saw and auger which had been used to gain entrance to the building. It was soon rumored also that this coat had been identified, and that one or more arrests might be expected any moment.

It was Ray himself who had brought the tidings of the robbery to Long Point Farm. He had gone over to the town the night before in the large sail boat, as he was to bring back a load of grain. Mr. Woodhull had tried at first to dissuade him from going, as there were already signs of the approaching storm, and the night would doubtless, at the time for his return, be exceedingly dark, even if the winds and waves were not unfavorable. But Ray persisted. "Next month," he said, "Mr. Carleton will be off on his vacation, and I wish to get along as far as possible in my studies before he goes. If it should storm hard when I am through with my recitation, I can remain with him until the tempest is over. I'll take along the big sail cloth, to cover the grain; and as long as I get around in time for the morning chores, it will make no great difference."

As Mr. Woodhull made no further objection to his going, Ray cast off the fastenings of the boat, and, with the wind directly across its beam, started for the town. He arrived there about dark, but had time to go up to the store before the meeting, and order the grain he wished to be delivered at the wharf by half-past eight. He also did a number of other errands; and, with his arms full of bundles, entered the lecture room of the First Church just as the service began.

Many recalled afterward the prayer the lad offered that evening, not so much for the ideas expressed in it as for the deep fervor and consciousness of the Master's presence that it exhibited. "How that boy grows in grace!" was the thought of more than one there that night.

When the meeting closed, it was already thundering heavily, and the clouds looked as though it might rain at any moment. Ray therefore said to his pastor:

"Mr. Carleton, I am afraid it will rain before I get through with my recitation, and, as I have some grain down at the boat, I will first go and see that it is properly covered, and put these bundles on board; then I will come round to the parsonage."

A half hour later, he rang the parsonage bell, and when shown to the study he seemed greatly stirred up about something, and Mr. Carleton noticed also that he had on an old ragged coat, in the place of the one he wore when he had left the church. Ray saw his pastor's glance at the coat, and immediately said, apologetically:

"When I got down to the wharf, Mr. Carleton, I found the bags of grain had been dumped out on the dock, and, taking off my coat, I laid it on a pile of lumber near by, while I stowed them away in the boat and covered them over with a sail cloth. When I had finished, and went to get my coat, I couldn't find it; either I have overlooked it in the darkness, or else some one stole it while I was at work. I happened to have this old one on the boat, and so put it on to wear up here."

After talking awhile on the singularity of the circumstance, they turned their attention to the lessons before them. When Ray had completed his recitation it was raining hard, and at Mr. Carleton's suggestion he waited for it to hold up. Toward midnight, as there seemed to be no cessation of the storm, he told Mr. Carleton he would not keep him up any longer, and arose to go.