Newspaper Page Text
VOL. V.
Adverti4ojt Kates.
One square. first iesertjon $ 75
Each subsequent insertion 50
One square three months 5 00
One square Six months ». ]0 on
Doe square tt»e!vo moetbs 15 00
Q* irter eolmna twelve months... SO on
H*lf column six months in 00
Hslf eoluiun twelve months -60 00
Dae column twelve ißoelhs 100 00
msr I'en lines or less considered a sqnere.
AII fractious of squares are counted as full
squares.
XEWBPAPBR DBOISIONS.
1. Aov persen who takes a paper rrfju
larlv from the post offiee—whether directed
to bis asms or another’s, or whether he has
subscribed or not —is responsible for the
pavamut.
2. If a person or lets his paper discontin
ued, ho must pay ell arrearages, or *he pub
lisher way continue to send it until payment
>’• made. and collect the whole wnment,
•vUetleer the paper Is taken from the office or
■at,
S. The courts have decided that refusing 1
te teke newspapers and periodicals from the
poatoffiee. or removing and leaving them un
called for, is prima facie evidence of intern
tioua) fraud.
TOWN DIRECTORY.
M ayor—Thomas G. Barnett.
Oohmtsstoners—o R. Rivins, E; R.
James, G. P. Rivins. W. R. Pierce.
Or.BRK—G. P Rivins.
Trbasurbr—-W. 8. Shell.
Marshal —S. A. Belding, Marshal.
JUDICIARY.
A. M. Speer, - - - - Judge.
K. D. Pismuke, - - Rolicitor General.
Butta—Second Mondays In March and
September
Henry—Second Mondays In January and
July.
Monroe—Fourth Mondays in February,
and August.
Newtoo —Third Mondays in March and
September.
ITke —First Moudayg in April and Octo
ber.
Rockdale—Third Mondays in February and
•ad Aay ust.
Spalding—First Mondays in February
and August.
Upson—First Mondays in iMay and No
vember.
CHURCH DIRECTORY.
Mbthodist Episcopal Ohoroh, (Rotith.l
Rev. Wesley F. Smith, Pastor Fourth
Rnbbuth in each month. Sunday-school 3
p. h. Prayer meeting Wednesday evening.
Msmoaisr Protestant Ouobob. F-irst
Sabbath in.eaeb month. Sunday-school 9
A. M.
Uhbistiaii Otrcson, W. 8. Fears, Pastor.
Second Sabbath in each mouth.
Baptist Ohskch, Rev. J. P. Lyon, Pas
tor. Third Sabbath in each month.
QIVIC SOCIETIES
Pihb Grovb Lodgr, No. 177, F. A. U
Stated communications, fourth Saturdays in
each month.
DOCTORS
DR. J. C. TURNIP9EEI) will attend to
all oalls day or night. Office -i resi
dcuoe, Hampton, Ga.
|\R. W. H PEEBLES treats ali dis
»" eases, and will attead to all calls day
and night. Office at the Drug Store,
Broad Street, Hampton, Ga.
DR. D. F. KNOTT having permanently
located in Hampton, offers his profes*
sional services to the citizens of Hampton
and vicinity. All orders left at Mclntosh’s
store will receive prompt attention. sp26
TVR. N. T. BARNETT tenders his profes
■*" sianal services to the citizens of Henry
•ad adjoining counties, and will answer calls
day or night. Treats all diseases, of what
ever nature. Oliee at Nipper’s Drug Store.
Hampton, Ga. Night calls ean be made at
my residence, opposite Berea church. apr26
JP PONDER, Dentist, has located in
• Hampton. Ga.,and invites the public to
call at his rooo. upstairs in the Bivins
House, where he will be found at all hours.
Warrants all work for twelve months.
LAWYERS.
CW. RODNE'IT. Attorney and Coun
• aellor at Law, Jonesboro, Ga. Prompt
attention given to all basiness.
GEORGE P BIVINS. Attorney at Law.
Will practice in the State nnd Federal
Courts. Collections promptly attended to.
Office ap stairs in the Mclntosh bunding.
Hampton, Ga. marl2if
TC. NOLAN, Attorney nt Lhw, Mc
• Donough, Georgia: Will practice in
the counties composing the Flint Circuit;
the Sapreme Caort of Georgia, and the
Uuited States District Court.
WM. T. DIOKEN, Attorney at Law, Lo
cast Grave, Ga. Will practice in the
counties eompMmg the Flint Judicial Cir
cuit. the Sapreme Cowrt of Georgia, and the
United Stales Diataiet Cowvt. apr2T-ly
GEO. M. NOLAN, A worn by at Law.
McDonough.Ga, ffCMSeeia Ooart house)
Will practice hi Henry ani adjomiag eoun
tias, and ia the Sapreme and District Courts
af Georgia. Prompt attentissi given to col
toctieaa. mat, 83-6 m
JP. W ALU Attorney at Law, tfaropt
. ton.Oa WII praaticw in the •oanties
eompoaittg the Flint dndmial Circuit, and
the Supreir.a and Diairiet Conrts of Georgia.
’ Prompt attrition given to collections. ocs
EDWARD J. REAGAN, Attorney at
law. Office up stairs in the Mclntosh
building. Hampton, Ga. Special attention
given to commercial and other oollectioDS.
HOW HE WON HER.
You wonder how lie won me,
And he so unromantic?
1 hardly know, unless it was
Tliut I was well nigh frantic
With honeyed nothings, stupid sighs,
And soft, deceitful phrases.
And here, at last, there came a man
With something more than praises.
Knowing full well my looking-glass
Pet formed its silei 1 * duty,
lie raved not on my hair and eyes,
My youth nod grace and b auty.
He saw 1 could not paint or sing,
Or play, and so be told me,
He praise ! me hut when I deserved,
And scnipied not to scold me.
At first 1 frowned, then puzzled grew,
An<l then, no more seditious,
I found, fiom its sheer novelty,
His wooing quite delicious ;
And wbeu he told his love as if
He had an honor done me,
Why—it was just a way he had.
And so yon sic he won me.
The Mysterious Telegram.
A MESSAGE THAT NO MAN SENT.
The 6;20 evening train, No 39, was over
hd hour late that evening. Cause enough,
heaven knows. For twelve hoars the storm
had raged, and now, instead of showing any
signs of breaking, tbs rain came down in
torrents front the inky sky, and the thunder
rolled ominously overhead. A had storm
to drive an engine through, as anybody
would have known, and the wonder is that
No. 39 was not three hours late instead of
or.e. Old Luke Granger, the trustiest, nerv
iest engineer on the road, rounded th e curve
just below Red Ravine Station at twenty
six minutes past seven. 1 breathed a sigh
of relief when I saw the headlight cut a
hole in the dork new. The station bridge
might have given away in a storm like that,
and I was beginning to get uerrous over the
thought.
Somehow everything made me nervous
that night. It was ju»t the kind of weath-
things look all out of gear, anyway.
Thin, I suppose the knowledge of th.it mon
ey package being due, and its failing to
eome on the 11:30, as it should have done,
bad its effect on me. I didn't relish the
idea of keeping $13.000 iu cash uotil the
next duy. Kldridge and Rickctson had
been dowu themselves to meet the morning
train, and if the package bud come I could
have turned it over to them at once, and
that would have been the end of the matter.
But it didn’t oome. That's a way things
hate in this world when you most want
Yin
There wasn’t a soul at the station tbut
night except myself, and there were only two
passengers who got oil the train. I speak of
’em that way, not meaning to be disrespect*
ful, or make light of solemu things, only
it’s a habit, I suppose ; for most people
would say there was only oue passenger that
got off ut Red Ru vine, seeing that the second
of ’cun w«s carried out of the express car in
a woodeo box. Usually when a body was
coming on, I got word beforehand, but this
one tO"k me quite ou surprise, and added
not a little !• the nervousness I already
felt.
“Who is it?’’ I asked os the box was
carted into the station.
The passenger who had got off the train,
and who was a stranger to me, answered my
inquiry.
“The body is that of my sister Mu. law,”
said he. “She was the niece of Thomas
Eldridge—doubtless you know him. Her
death was very sodden. She is to be buried
in Mr. Eldridge’s lot here.”
“Then 1 suppose the body is to be left in
my charge until 'o-morrow,” said I.
“Yes.” answered the stronger. “Do you
suppose I can get to Mr. Eldridge’s myself
to-night ?”
‘•Well, it’s a good four miles, and in
such a storm as this ”
“Pit wait until to morrow,” interrupted
the stranger. “There is some sort e! a ho
tel here, isn’t there ?’’
‘ Yes, a go<>d one You'll have to foot it,
though j but it’s only a matter of a quarter
of a mile, and yen can’t miss your way, for
the road up the hill leads straight to tb“
house- ”
Here I wont out to the platform again
and made my way to the express car where
the money package, (which all along I had
secretly hoped wouldn't come,) was deliver
ed to me by the messenger. As he gave it
to me, he said : ‘ You'll want to keep a
sharp eye ou that. Billy. There’s enough in
it to make one of your R.d Raviners pat a
bullet through your head, und never give you
the chance to object.”
“11l look out for the Red li.viuer?, aßd
HAMPTON, GA., FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 3, 1880.
the package too,” said l.coi B luntly enough.
But if the truili had been told, I didn’t like
ilie suggestion which the messenger hud
made.
The train moved off quickly, and I swung
my lantern, as was my habit, by way of bid
din/ good night to Luke Granger. Then l
went into the station house with my rubber
coat, expecting to find the man there who
had come on with the body Rut he bad
gone, being anxious, no doubt, to get to the
hotel as quickly as possible. No. 39 was
ihe Inst train which e'opped at Red Ravine
until 9:10 the next morning. So my work
for the night was done, and I had only to
lock up the doors, and see that things were
nil right about the place,' and sit down to
my newspaper in the little room which serv
ed us my sleeping quarters.
Twenty years had passed since I first
found myself installed at Red Ravine as tel
egraph operator In the railway station. Be
ing content with the humdrum sort of life
•tnd faithful to my duties, l had come by de
grees to attend to all the work which the
place required.’ That is. I was ticket agent,
baggage master, and keeper of the station,
besides acting for the express company
and continuing my charge of the telegraph
key. These combined labors mvde it pretty
close work for me, hut they all yielded a
pretty comfortable income, and as I war
troubled with no unsatisfied ambitions, 1
counted myself well fixed. As I have ioti
rrnted, f slept in the station partly to keep
guard on the company’s property, and part
ly (torn choice ; for, being a bachelor and
without kin, I had nothing to attract me
elsewhere. My duties hod grown a part of
second uuture, and I had lived in this town
so long that the younger generation had
come to speak of me ns ‘ Old Billy.” That
was. I suppose, because my hair was getting
gray and my joints a little stiff.
The Red Ravine Station was a wooden
building, about forty feet long and twenty
wide. It was divided inio two compart
ments, the larger one being for freight
and baggage and the smaller one for passen
gers. My own little room was only a piece
partitioned off from the freight quarter, and
ten feet square, and connected by a door
with a box of an oflice „in ,tjye passenger,’*
room, which served both for selling ticfsc /
aud holding the telegraph key.
In this latter apart in* mt, also, was placsJ
the old fashioned iron safe, in which I locked
up my valuable express packages when any
happened to come to Red Ruvino. The vil
lage, 1 ought to explain, had grown up
entirely through the influence of the great
iron wotks of Eldridge & Ricketsou. Theie
were rich beds of ote a few miles to the
north, and these, as well as the foundry,
which employed 400 or 500 hands, were
controlled by the firm I have mentioned.
There had been some trouble at the works
recently—a strike or something, growing oat
of delay in paying the men their wages.
This is how it happened that the 813,000
monpy package came iuto my keeping lor a
uigbt.
Well, when I had made all snug about
the station, ami got off ray wet clothing, I
sat down comfortably with pipe and news
p iper, to e: joy ray customary reading. The
storm outside continued to rage more and
more fiercely, but within things were a 3 cozy
as could be. I had a blazmg fire in the
stove ; a cheerful light; an easy chair ; plen
ty of good tobacco—the only luxury in which
I was really extravagant—and a fresh news
paper. Certainly these were pleasant sur
rosodiugs for en old feilow like me, and, as
a rule, they yielded ns much solid comfort
as a mau has a right to expect in this world
But that night things seem-1 .all out of geur,
as I have said. My pipe didn't soothe me
as was its wont ; try as I might I couidn't
get interested in the newspaper; aud an un
comfortable feeling of dread—a feeling that
some shadowy, but horrible thing, was about
to happen—possessed my mind.
“It all comes of that pesky money pack
age,” I muttered to myself “Why couldn’t
it have got here on the 11:30, and raved me
the job or keeping it here over night ?”
Just at this moment came a tcriffic clap
of thunder and a flash of lightning vivid
inough to make the light dim. I had lock
ed up the p-ckage in the safe and put the
key—there was no combination lock—in
my pocket. Bat I had not the largest faith
in the security of the old safe. It had oc
currid to tna oft n thut a person could open
it even if he wasn’t a tkiilful cracksman It
was ray custom to leave my door open he
tween ray little room arid the ticket office, so
that if Red Ravine was called on the tele*
graph key I could hear it. The instrument
had been clicking away at a great rate for
the past hour; but it was none of my bug
mess I paid oo a'tent ion to what was going
ou over 'he wins. I ju'ged now from the
nearness of the ligb’.u.ng und tin ierking
soHitd.i of the ing'.rotaent th*t the st. rtn was
playing tho mischief with the me "Mgs*. 1 !
passed info the ticket office, win** a light
was left burning, and r.ood for some time
thinking whether the money package would
be less exposed in the safe than It would be
voder the matt teas of my bc-d ; r.ad 1 finally
coaffnd'd that the latter place w<mU be
hardest for any possible thief to reach. Se I
tooktnnt fhe heavy brown envelop- and stow
ed Hi away trader the mattress. The* I took
a second glass of toddy, which w*s n-aully
agal;d my rule, but which 1 thought tho
cirujjjW'.wges Warranted.
A sot down by ny Dewspaper
and gjgUtf w ‘th H« Better sneers* than
bcYJjSpJppklie storm now seemed fo have
ceiwbd fight over the little station. Pp.-.I
afte£speui of thunder rent the air, and the
!ig*tHij{ played about the sky like plospho
.rojipM th-- inky background. If yort have
inffipßOoder storm, you may have teen the
elyricity dash down fhe wires in a way to
nUflwTtid people nervous. Rveo veteran
op.rßbr.i like myself wouldn’t want to re
cave'hat sort of message. I was tempted
tuflpose the key, bnt tho meaningless ticking
h*B a sort o? fascination lot me in the mood
f jh:-n was It was like the incoherent rnat
tetn.gs of a maniac, where now and then, at
Idhg intrrvals only, could one distinguish a
word or lenience. Maybe I was more im
aginative than usual, for listening to the rap
id click, click, 1 remember foueying that
so ne spirit hand had got held of the key, and
was pouring out a wail of woe over the
Wires
I -'-as too restless to sit still crad too nerv
ous to go to bed. Resides, even if I hadn’t
been so upset in my mind, it is doubtful
yheiher I could have slept through 6uoh a
s'inrm as that.
To occupy myself about something, 1 re
lighted my lantern, went into the freight
room, examined again tho bolts of the doors
an 1 the fastenings of the windows and re
luiDed to my room more worried nnd upset
than ever. Jqst as I was entering mv own
ro m, the light of the ian'ern fell squarely on
the wood n box. O Idly enough, until that
moment 1 had forgotten all übont fhe dead
worn n Thinking so steadily of the
fvraWtohifcwv* l . driven out
of my mind. Bat I can’t **y TT wdsYthy
comfort to have it brought beck now ; for a
corpse is never ‘he moat cheerful of company,
and. feeling as I did then, I would a great
deal rather hare had uo company at all.
It must have been the imp of the pet verse,
I supp le, that impelled mo. after thn box
had hern brought back to my mind, to have
the door opoc bo that I could s:t and otnre
at it with morbid cariosity. As I have al
ready said, ajy sleeping apartment was par
titioned off from the freight room, and was
connected with tba latter by a door. '1 be
body had been placed in such a position that
wneD this wus open the head of the box
was ia eight. Two or three times I got up
to shut the door, hut some strange fatality
drove me buck to my chair uud caused me
to keep io view the box with i*s s»d freight.
All this time the storm had raged, the thuo
der discharged its mighty batteries, the light
ning flashed, and the mad ravings of the
telegraph continued. 1 caught my hand
trembling us I tried to refill my pipe. Nerv
ousness. Dodoobt, but possibly ur. observer
might have thought Old Biiiy was frighten
ed.
I had just risen to wind the little clock on
the shelf, when ?ud lenly out of the hitherto
meaningless ticking of the ins; lament
sharply and distinctly cams to my cars these
sounds—
which in epokeu words meant, '‘Watch the
box 1”
I sturttd as if a charge of electricity had
ghoi through, my frame. I could fairly feei
my ace grow white. I stood motionless,
clutching the back of the chair, and with
my eyes riveted in a vacant stare at tea;
ruble in the telegraph office. I knew this
was no word of an excited imagination. The
words, to my practic'd ear, were us plain as
if shouted in clarion tones. There had oome
no cull for Red Rave,*, usd tb* message
ended without signature or mok, but ab
ruptly, as it had begun. Mors than that, it
was not the writing of any operator on any
section of the liue. I would have sworn to
that with as much positiveneas os you would
to the tours of a 70ice with which you are
familiar. lu the dot and dash alphabet we
learn to distinguish who ia handling the keys
almost with as much accuracy a 3 others diss
tinguiah handwriting. And tn all my ex
perience I had never heard the “sounder”
click off a message like that.
While 1 stood dazed and almost paralyzed
(for you must remember tbut Old Billy’s
nerves were strung to a terrible pitch that
night,) the rapid and unintelligible click,
click, was resumed os if a demon had agali
cot hold of the key It was tally five min
utes before I mustered courage enough to
!>"»s Into the ticket office end sit down by
the table myself. N t once had I turned
buck to look at the box. Almost at the
'nstaut of my ritti g down at the table the
clicking stopped shot, ne it had done before,
and then these woids were repeated :
‘•Watch the box ’’
Every dot, every da»h, every letter, every
word, came with aueh horrible distinctness
that it seemed In seed u sharp pii« thfongh
t»y eaca It was like the laud whispering of
ghostly voice. Then, itgnln, broke ont
w< jargon rtf sounds th- - M the clicking
into meaningless omifusion.
1 sprang up from Hie tr»bh- and, with the
now strengthened conviction that it was no
delusion, an fancy, but tbnt the armnd hid
eome plainly over (fee wires, I felt my cour
age returning, ai d resolvrd to heed the mys
terkias warning. The rolling of the thunder
and the mad roar of the storm no longer
dep-es-ed mo. I stepped boldly back into
my own room, nad rested my eves unffinchs
ingly ou tlie mysterious b >x. VVliat tvos its
mysterious freight? Why had the phantom
ol the storm sent those startling words over
the wires? What unknown hail
reached out from the very lightning itself to
warn me of some impending danger? These
questions rushed through my mind as I felt
the dread fear disappearing, and found my
self of a sadden growing strangely calm.
'l’he clock struck tuu. I turned to the
shelf, nnd with a hand that no longer trem -
bled, inserted the key and wound it com
poeedly. Would it be the last time that I
should perform that simple task ? No mat -
ter. Happier tlmo most men, because cob>
tent with my humble lot, it should never b"
said that Old Hilly flinched in the face of
duty. For that eight it was ray duty—my
own sacred, all-important duty—to guard
the tr iisure left to ray keeping.
When I bad finished wiu ling tho clock t
took down from the shelf an old rostv pistol
which had Inin for yettrs undisturbed. It
was not toudvd, nor had 1 either powder or
bullet anywhere in the station. Rut the
weapon was uu tigly looking one and curried
a sort of silent f.>roo in ease of too aggressive
argument. After eiotnininq the rusty lock,
I put the pistoi an tUt table, o-joyht a fresh
gluse of water, drank it, lighted my p/pe and
closed the door that opened into the freight
room. Now thut 1 was thoroughly myself
again, I found it ea3y enough to shut out the
sight of thut ominous oblong bos.
It was not until the clock struck again—
that is, eleven—that I made up my mind to
go to bed All that time the Morin held on,
although the thunder began to rumble mors
distantly. I threw ofl 107 ooat and slippers,
put out the lit;ht in the ticket office and
turned that in my sleeping room down »o u
low flame Then I drew the money package
from under the mattress and pioned it aeenro
ly to my woolen shirt, noder my vest. This
done and the table so placed that I could
reach both the lamp and the pistol, I opened
the door iuto the freight room some three or
four inches und threw myself upon the bed.
Just as tuy head touched the pillow the in
strument, which bud grown quiet now,
clicked off for the third lime, loudly, dis-
slowly, its words of warning:
‘■Watch the box."
This time the warning was not heeded. I
hud not gone to bed to sleep, but for the
very pnrposc of watching the hox Htandiog
as it did, with the head close to the door,
and therefore close to the box itself, the bod
afforded ths very Vest point from which to
keep un eye on the suspicious freight. Had
my faith in the telegraphic clicking beea
less, or had uiy own sense of great responsi
bility deserted rae for a single moment, I
should certainly have up the job of
watching us foolish ; and io that case it is
not likely that this narrative would ever
have born written. But T believed jo the
tbrio’ repeot'-d manage, an 1 I did not let
drowsimws overootue putiouco. Twelve, one,
two —how very slowly the h itus seem d to
drag themselves The low flame of the lamp
went out, as ths oil went dry. What a
relief it was to hear the clock strike ! At
last, somewhere about midnight, the storm
bad broken. 1 could see the stars as they
came out, through the window in the freight
room, which was on a liue of vision with tb'
box. How strangely still it seemed after
the mighty roar of the storm and the sharp
claps of thunder ! Not a sound save the
sturdy ticking of the ofock. Still 1 lay lis
tenmg, watching with faculties all ulert, and
my eyes always oq the oblong box.
A little past two—perhaps ten minute*.
The silence almost painful iu its profound
ness. Nothing bat tbo tick of the clock,
which, to my eager ear, had taken on this
sound, which kept on repeating over and
over—
'• Watch—the—ho\ ! Watch—ibe box.’ ’
Wlmt was that ?
Not tlm cluck, nut llie telegraphic in4ru
m ■«!! No, it wa* th > sonn lis of the grnt -
b'g of iron. Faint, very faint, yet stilt
audible to tnv ear ! Tiro »tliinar regularly aniT
deeply, as one breathes in sleep I lay and
listened. Another Interval of sileoee, and
then the grating sound Came attain, this time
a triß ■ loader than before. The light of the
stars shining through the window made the
i object in the freight room Just vislb’e.
I Almoat simnltuneoudy with the second
[ grating note- I saw tho rarer of the box
[tiring slowly from the end fnrthe" remove 1
j from trw bed i ’-'aid feel
| Irq away like n sledge b ic?ner. hot I eon~
f tinned to breaths heavily and to w.ilM
keenly, (flently and noiselessly the cover
was pressed upward until it reached an
angle which completely shut mv
view tbe window beyond A moment lat< r
thy figure of a man came out of the shadows,
while the box cover was let down as noise*
l wely as it had been raised.
This, then, was the burden of the box.
Thi» was tho meaning of the mysterious
warning which th* sounder had spoken.
With cat like tread, the figure raovid to
ward the door of my room. Still I lav ns if
in deep sleep. On the threshold the figure
paused, and S moment later n single ray of
light, like a silver thread, pierced the dark
ness and fell upon the.bod. Luckily it did
not strike ray face, and in an instant 1 closed
ray eyes. As I had anticipated, the ray of
light was directed toward my pillow, and by
the sense of feeling I knew it rested a mos
moot on my face. Satisfied that 1 was in
deep slninb t, the figure, still with cat-like
trend, glided through tbe bed room and into
the ticket offl-e. M, eyes were wide open
again by this time. The light from the
dark lantern had increased, but its rays were
now turned toward the safe. Obviously the
robber believed the treasure that he songht
was there. I waited till he knelt, down to
examine th* lock, and then with step as
noiseless as his own I slipped from the bed
and toward the half open door.
So intent was he in examining the safe
that it was not until I was within reach of
him that he heard me. He sprang to his
j feet, bringing t’“o glass of ths lantern foil
I into my face, «dJ reaching lor his revolver,
j 'irhict, h v had la d rrpon the top of tbe safe.
I Hut he was too late. With the rusty old
pistol, held by its long barrel, I dealt him a
crushing blow on the head just ns hit fingers
grasped his own weapon. He fell heavily,
without ottering a groan. Tb* lantern was
extinguished as it fell, and with trembling
fingers, I struck a mulch and lighted the
lamp in the office. As its rays foil upon the
upturned fane of the robber, I saw rhat
blood was flowing from the wound I had
inflicted, aud I siw, too, that his face was
delicate in ita outlines aod iuteliigenl in ex
presses. I had time to notice no more, for
1 felt, now that tko danger was past, the
need of aid. So, uftrr binding the uncon
scious man’s feet and arms, and bathing his
head in cold water, I pulled on my boots
aod overcoat uud started in hot haste for the
hotel.
Half way on the road I met a covered
carriage, drawn by one horse. I took it to
bo the turnout of Matthews, the hotel pro*
prictor, and, wondering wlmt lie could be
out for at that hour, 1 shouted his name.
I got no response. Then I cried out at the
top of iny voice :
“I’ve killed a burglar down at tbe st*~
timi.’’
Whoever was in the carriage must have
heard me, but the horse only quickened his
sharp trot, and disappeared in tbe darkness.
******
They give me a great deal more medit,
the people of Red Ravine, for that night’s
adventure than I deerve. And I do not
blame them for 'angliingst how things came
out. For when a paity of us got back to
the station my unconscious burgl r bad dis
appeared, and the tracks next morning
showed that tbe covered carriage which I
1 bad in t on tbo road had drawn up at the
platform. Who was it? Well, 1 couldn’t
swear, but I have a notion that it contained
tho gentleman who had come on with the
dead body. At all events, neither he nor
the body was ever seen in the town agaio.
I had tbe satisfaction of delivering the
money package satelv to Rldrtdge 6c Rick
ertson, but tbe c icck they gave me was
not really merited. For what would have
happen'd had it ant been for the serious
message which no man sent ?
A port say 9: “ Love holds me so ! I
would that 1 coulu go I I flutter up and
down, and to aod fro! In vain—love hold 9
me so I” E»t a raw onion just before you
go to see her, and she will loosen her grasp
uud throw up a window.
NO. 9