The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1869-07-20 00:00:00

• VENTURES OF • TOIIII.DFF.

In ramiebtris Joarna/ a capital dory is told of the
este rienoes of • benighted teuriet in Britian, who
g ,t a night'. lodging in the hut of • peasant.
••I h und that I 'natio the sixth of the party. Than.
sir' two men (father and son), an old w oman—l
st„,ollay eomeborly'a grandmother, probably ;a young
g rl, ih • dpoghter .4 the oiler gentleman ; Lod one,
Anne. • dirte•looVng person of about five-. nil-fort;
outworn, telean I fit d to be the aunt of tb e young
re".l6. The old lady was not occupied with anything
%fond rocking Mr chair, and shooting sdnitrin g glances
at my eetrf.pin aml wateMehain. Anna wari en,;aged
in mending some garment or another of neero mry bet
hidden me, a meful pursuit, ot ich was nc t. entre-
trendy interrupted by snodd trick she had o f rubbing
her fingers violently, es though they were cot 1; whilst
the younge.t of the party, she who had drier a in the
came, was bordly occupied in attending to th a cooking
of some mono, the principal ingredients of Rh eh, judg•
lug from the tiones which emanated freer t. ire pot, I
should imagine were garlic and onion+. The room waa
half full of smoke, and everybody mid event hing in it
poked dirty, with the exception of the whit, r and well.
starched cap of the young cook. flowerer, I made
myself as comfortable mot happy as I cotild ; talked
Breton in bad grammar and villainous - accent to the
ebinteeptensnts ; vainly endeavoured to translate a
syllable of their muttered and rsther Puny replies ;
hit I was roughing it, mot chuckled as I thought of
John (an artist friend he had left behind). I hadn't to
wait very long, before -we were all elannnotted to thee
board, to partske of, I think without exception, the
nriatieal mess that has ever yawed my lips. Garlic is
to me an abomination; its savoury Moor Is nenteoos
me its taete quite revolting and yet three good
premd- rimmed quite unable to partake of • single thing
• withe at it. A capital, but tiny leg 44 mutton, ezeol•
lenity cooked, was 'polled by it, and the hell which I
pew ented to them rendered quite uneatable by it.
presence ; no that, had it not been for some good fresh
butt. r, • a-nall tower of which as•pirc3l a certain way
toward the ceiling. and souls tolerable bread. I bad run
the chance of having no food for that night at least.
The meal over, I friend there was a disausdon MI to
where and how I ehould be bedded for tho night ' • and
I could make out, partly by my small knowledge of the
language, and partly by the indignant repression on the
face of poor Ann., that it had been carried unaninicouly
that I wa,a to be lodged at her OIOCIOOO, that she was to
ablicete her eouch in my favour; and ore long, the
Into having been brought to ace the necessity of such
on arrangement, mine host proceeded to conduct me
to my apartment. I hadn't very far to go; • Flout
. t•ootg,. led us to a room on the ground floor, e;milar
to the one Sr had just vacated • and in a kind of cup-
board in the wall, I was pointed out • dirtydooking
hundle of hleekrts sod mattress, erbtrein and whereon,
I wee informed, I might pass the night. Well, beggare
roust not to OKAMOTO, you know. but I confess I del
feel a alight shudekr, as I gaud at my uninviting
couch,
Hunting-met erty : ' The more you look the less you
like it,' I recollect having said co myself once to •
leon fro tunste friend on the wrong side of • fence, over
which ray hoe.e had palely carried me against toy will;
unit the prment I felt to be AO 0004Oke in which to,
plid•sophy might well be .4,4-applied. So I looted
another way instead, and took a ceuernl survey of the
apartment, as a cat will In before he settles down.
Picture my amazement at discovering that besides my
own, there were no loor than three other beds in the
room, an awful diecovery for one who is always no Moe
and particular about a room to himself. There they
were, however, three conches let into the wall similar
I. mine, and all three bearing the game dirty rippear-
mitie. Unlnes tit. re were other men attached to the
e-dahli4hment. I was at a loss to conceive for whom
they were intended ; and then it limbed across me that
112 I knew myself to be occupying Anne. bed, this
could scarcely be the arrangement. No, after all,! was
3t all events to enjoy (!) the MOOS to myself, and with
thiti rt Hection I laid myself down, and prepared for
deep. Now, if you really slab to sleep, it often hap.
pens that a •teady smarm of preparation will defeat
your object ; having turned myself round three times,
and hoeing as many times persuaded myself I we.
dropping into a dose, I was •uddenly startled to hear
1t... door of my apartment gently opened. Instant
thaaitati ofrobbery. irnmediare preparations for self.
defence ensued, and I bounded from my bed alimet
into the very arms of the old lady of the house. so
in. ekly crept beak again, to weeder what the prudes of
givilj...l life would say to father, son, and daughter,
r.indaw and mother, all pecking for the night in
the CAMP apartment : to wouder, also, what my friends
would say to my tasking one of the party. How the
operation of disrobing was conducted, I don't know; It
took a inervellouely short time, if done at all, Whether
disrobed or not, they were all in bed in a very short
time ; and for' good hour I lay geeing at the thing
embers of tho fire—th,re wan • fire lighted even in here
—3nl listening to the even breathing and deep snoring
of my five chanther•cionitunions.
Well, I was just begiening to drop off myself in
reality- no faller this time—when I thought I heard •
plight whiaper 6een Anna. Being at best but • light
sleeper, the soanut at once awoke me. It was
repesP.l. •Jr.les. Sale: (that was the son), • I think
be sleeps now.
Thihk be sleeps now, Indeed! What did it matter to
her, I Amid like to know, whether I were asleep or
nut? Terr:ler milicitude. hut on what amount?
• Are sjs3u Fere T wan the whispered reply.

• Yee; I thibk itsquite .ate.'
Relive! this was more than I liked. I don't know
shot 7 am very nervous, usually, bat what did this
.urca? This was • very wild spot. I was utterly alone
ou.togst them. John had said I might be robbed, bow
fe dish of me net to listen to him. Now I came to
think.of it, I didn't half like the looks of that Jules; •
nasty look Omni him, and an unproinising, sulky mea-
ner. .lides was wiz fset at lesst, and a ento strongly.
built fellow ; in my highest heels. I bad never yet quite
4up to Ave feet six inches. Nevertheless. if there
should be anything in this, I wouldn't lc quite ,Inicacent
either. Rah ! what an ass bed I been to show my
purse as I bad done.
• Re erreful. Joke: talk low; you will wake him,'
iiisaed the all lady. Ah 1 the old hag lied been eyeiog
myjessellery, I recollected, all the evening.
Melte pure he slurps,' growled the old man.
The whole hive was about we. Just then, I dis-
tinctly heard • font rest on the ground from one of the
neighbouring couches. I listened. Somebody was
creeping towards me. With a desire to postpone my
fete, whatever it might be, I turned in my nyuch, to
convince them 'it was not safe.' There was an
in,mediete and precipitate retreat of the learesent to
I. couch; and then all was quiet again. save for the
deep snoring, which I now knew to be Wes, of the Old
MAU and his sou.
- -

E.Ol. A whole hour more,' at least, this continued,
sliming which time I lay in an agony cf nervousness (I
emit say fright, because it sounds so bad). coweeing in
toy lied, and expectiog every minute to feel Jul.,.'.
Medic hes 4 at my throat, or his knife at my breast.
I theinht of the metal stories I had read; my intazio.
di 0, ei•rkid on them, and conjured Ile situations in-
ihfinitely more ghastly. in which I should play a
prim:Mal part I picture.) myself held down by the old
nice, while hid son should perpetrate on me some (ear•
act •,f brutality. I went further, and saw them bury.
ine me ildrkly beneath the atone floor, and thought of
the vearch growing more and more hopelees ; of my
freed). becoming more and more r• c ioriled to my lom
whist my body should be rotting in the cold soil
beneath this deteatable house. Come what may, I was
r. ederd that nothing should make me sleep that night.
toy perfi ctly quiet, listening to the ticking of my
ot -ech beneath my pillow, and oonsefing myself with
the melancholy idea that each link brought me •
to the morniiig and the light of day. And then I
thought of John, and es I thought of him, I own that
tide tithe the consciousness tbat I was roughing it did
fail to eonvey its meed of consolation. Poor John, he
seu:dise waiting for we tomiorrow, sod where should
I le? I wondered if I could leave about me some
token, some writing which might be found on me. I
way afraid, however, that it might be Lard to write
beheath the bed-clothee even had I the means. I pic-
tured to myself ion e happy discoverer, yi ars bane*,
alighting with triumph on my whitened bones; I as.
them carefully preserved, &nil taken for investigation to
the arehreelogical society. I drew for myself a fancy
Aut.), of the eager and delighted faces of the learned
members of the society, ea they examined the few but-
t.", which sheen be the sole remnents of my clothing,
the ingenious ruggestions that would be hazarded
then i.e. and the learned paper which my discoverer
would read to his crowded audience ie Paris. I had
jimt strived at this interesting point of my fatale
history, wheel again thought I heard a whisper. Yes.
ttey were ileitis sore I was asleep now; all of them. I
lay as still lee a mouse, and awaited the result. There
wan a rustle by my bed as of a female garment;
light was rased before my eyes backwards and for.
ward. Wes Anna about to rer-apture her bed by force
rif elms! "Quite asleep," she whisperei. I trembled
all over with exeitement. I leathered myself quietly
tegether, ready for • wild spring when the exact
'Dement should some. I would at least die game;
would fight and struggle, however great the odde. So
that I might be well on iny guard, ae the candle was
gene. I quietly opened my eyes to take a survey of the
eneinv'e manomyrea. What • *erne I The whhle
family were gathered round the last embers of the fire,
apparently engeged in the somewhat mysterious tied
itidecorous proceeding of stripping themselves to the
waist. Anna feel. for ajar on the shelf over the fire.
There is a powerful and unpleasant smell oi sulphur in
the too,n : they are all engaged in rubbing themselves
nod ...eh other. The sulphuric) smell grows interim.
Am I to beatified? Will thee rush soddenly from the
apartment, and leave in, to suffocate? Anna is rubbing
herself more furiously then all the others: abe applies
aulphur between her fingers. Hugh ! Horror I horror !
I ore it all now. The rubbing becomes iota:them. I
rub ed., madly, terioual. Bub I—no, tear and
scratch emelt. Ala. for lb., fate which led me to this
awful xtv.le! Al,. f, the infatuation that allowed me
to rest in Anna's vacated bed!
I left the hhime next rimming, feeling like • very
diet. Thdre wet a dog sitting on the doorstep. A. I
CAM,' 11P, lie yeigglei himself into an ungainly attitude.
sod oetemenmel mratching. I had not noticed it betide :
be had tho mange;
! Thereto nothing for it hut sulphur, my dear fellow,
ais he mimed his cameo...it • yard from vie.
'Tinio, my dear sir—it will take time,' sail) d
or And it did tale. time. But time will be 7in•
ineasurshie before I again r.e.j, the hospitality of Jut.
and hie family--beture I agair, ledge
t Aona's
ex intim"

FATAL STABBING CARE. -On W.dneed• t
timed Parr and Sickliest, the former f00ritee,7:,,,,,.,,-
age, the latter only toolve, were in the euiplei a NT.
Item,. a Mihmonger, at Aibridge. Parr Waked u
I law ..1 a evih in Lit. liarna.'s shop, end Jackham tr.id
leave it alone, when ran came •ndl etrurk
.Iccl,l, ini, who thereupon seized a knife that was lying
no the counter awl threw it at him. Unfortunately it
etroele Parr in the back, along the hip-bone, ant the
boy 6.4 free, lose of blood in the course of an hour.
During the inqueat it criue out that the two boys had
Anal. been very fond of each other, and Jackhani now
pt bitteily over what he had done. The jury were
of "Pinion that the knife was only thrown with the in-
tention cf Inghtening the deceased ; yet, after a long
delitm ration, they retooled • verdict of " Al•a•lattghter
tinder great provocation." In the afternoon the boy
-14rcithaul Ira brought before the bench of magistrates,
voniinitteel Liu. for trial nit the °barge of wan-
e!anghtvr. bur admitted him to bail.