-scuttle, and then he naturally
uses language. St. Paul himself would probably say something pretty
strong in similar circumstances. Hoskins was sincerely delighted to have
the opportunity to meet his burglarious friends, and he lost no time in
dressing and descending to the dining-room.

"He wore his slippers, and the burglars--there were two of them--did not
hear him until he was fairly in the dining-room. They were seated at the
table, with their feet on the damask tablecloth, and the bottle of
whiskey was nearly empty. The Colonel was much pleased to see that they
had not damaged his silver-ware, and he was just about to thank them
when they saw him. They started up, and one of them caught him by the
throat, while the other held a pistol to his head, and promised to blow
out his brains if he made the slightest noise. Then they tied him hand
and foot, gagged him, and laid him on the floor, and then sat down to
finish the whiskey.

[Illustration: "CAUGHT HIM BY THE THROAT."]

"Both the burglars were partly drunk, which accounted for the
unprofessional noise they had been making. They talked in rather a low
tone, but Hoskins could hear everything they said, and it was not
particularly encouraging to a gagged and bound philanthropist. They
agreed that he was a fool, and a stingy fool, or else he would have kept
money in the house, and would have set out lemons and sugar as well as
plain whiskey. They said that any man who treated poor working men in
that way wasn't fit to live, and that Hoskins would have to be killed,
even if it was not necessary--as it plainly was in this case--to kill
him in order to prevent him from appearing at any future time as a
witness against them. They admitted that the whiskey was not bad of its
kind, but they were of the opinion that Hoskins had left it in their way
so that they might get drunk and be caught by the police.

"Colonel Hoskins listened to this conversation with horror, and the
prospect that the drunken rascals would be as good as their word, and
kill him before they left the house, was only a little more painful than
the conviction that his method, appealing to the better nature of
burglars, had failed for the second time. When the whiskey was exhausted
the men rose up and looked at Hoskins, and a happy thought struck one of
them. 'Thishyer idiot,' he said, 'may not have any money in the house,
but he's bound to have some in the bank, and he's going to write us a
cheque fo