arried two
double-barrelled pistols, and upon one of the fingers of his right hand
wore a brass ring with a murderous-looking iron protuberance upon it,
which, when driven forward by his powerful arm, was probably more
dangerous than a billy. Upon the younger man we found no arms at all,
and his hip pocket contained nothing but a small handbook on civil
engineering.

I now briefly explained to David the nature of the trap which had caught
the burglars. He gazed upon me with a face glowing with amazed
admiration.

"What a head you have got, sir!" he exclaimed. "I don't believe there is
another man in this State who would have thought of that. And what are
you going to do with them now, sir; hang 'em? That's what ought to be
done with them, the hounds!"

"All I shall do," I answered, "will be to keep them till daylight, and
then I shall send word to the sheriff at Kennertown, and have him send
officers for them."

"Upon my word," exclaimed David, "they are in the worst kind of a box."

Now my wife called me again. "What in the world are you doing down
there?" she called; "why don't you come upstairs?"

This annoyed me, for I was not yet ready to go upstairs. I wished to
resuscitate these fellows, for their stupor was so profound that I began
to fear that perhaps they had taken too much of the drug and ought to be
brought to their senses as speedily as possible. This feeling was due
more to my desire that serious injuries should not occur to the rascals
while in my house than to any concern for them.

"My dear," said I, stepping to the bottom of the stairs, "I have some
things to attend to down here which will occupy me a few minutes longer;
then I will come up to you."

"I can't imagine what the things are," she said, "but I suppose I can
wait," and she went into her room and closed her door after her.

I now began to consider what was to be done with the burglars after they
had been resuscitated. My first impulse was to rid the house of them by
carrying them out of doors and bringing them to their senses there. But
there was an objection to this plan. They would be pretty heavy fellows
to carry, and as it would be absolutely necessary to watch them until
they could be given into the charge of the officers of the law, I did
not want to stay out of doors to do this, for the night air was raw and
chilly, and I therefore determined to keep them in the house. And as
they could be resuscitated better in a sitting po