Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1850-04-10

piece. win the bowie knife. Indeed, from
the no,orie,y Of bis character for revenge
as we'll as courage. il was thought ,ha
Pres. Houston would rsnounce his pur
pose touching The archives, 90 soon - h
should learn who was the leader Of the op
J position.
! Morton. on his part. whose vanity fully
equaIled his personal proves, encouraged
and justified the prevailing opinion by hi
boastful ,hreais. He swore that if thl
President did succeed in removing the
records ny the march Of an overpowering
force. he would then himself hunt hin
down like wolf, and shoot him with lil,le
ceremony. or stab him in his bed. or way.
lay him in h,s walks OF recreation. He
even wrote the hero Of Ssn Jacin,o to that
effect. The latter replied 10 a note Of Ia
comic brevi,y:
"Ii the people Of Austin do not send
the archives. shall certainly come and
take them aud il Col. Morton can kill me,
he is welcome 10 my sar-cap."
On the reception Of this answer. the
euard vas doubled round the STATE House.
Chosen sentinels were stationed along The
road leading to the Capital. the military
paraded the streets from morning till night,
and a seIec, caucus held permanen, sess.
ion in the City Hall. 10 short, everything
betokened coming tempest.
Quo day. while matters were 10 this
precarious condition. the caucns at the
CITY Hall vas surprised BY the sudden
appearance Of . stranger, whose mode Of
es,eriog was as extraordinary ss his looks
sad dress. He did 20, knock ., the
closed door-he did not seek admission
there q, oil; but climbing unseen q small
bushy stopped live oak. which grew beside
the wall. no Ieaped without sound or warn
ing through . lofty window. He was
clothed in buckskin, carried . long and
very heavy rife in his hand, wore ., the
button Of HE left suspender a large bowie
knife, and had in his lea,hern belt couple
Of pistols half the length Of his gun. He
was tall. straight a. an arrow. active rs
q panther in his motions, with dark com.
plexion and luxurian, jes,y hair, with q
severe. iron.like coun,ensnce. tina, seemed
never to have known smile. and eyes Of
inten.e. vivid black. Wild and rolling, and
piercing as the poin, Of dagger. His
strange advent inspired thrill Of involun-
,sry fear, and many Presen, unconseiously
g,asped the handles Of their SIDE arms.
who are you. tha, thus presumes 10
intsude among gentlemen. without invita-
ton I" demanded Col. Morton. ierociously
esssying to COW down tho stranger with
his eye.
The latter returned bic stare with COM
pound interest. and laid his long. bony fin
ger on his lip. as . sign but Of vha., The
spectators could no, imsgins.
"Who are youa Speak or ! will cut
an answer out q your heart - shouted
Morton. slmos, distracted with rage BY tho
cool-sneerine gaze Of the other. who now
removed his finger fioa his lip. and laid i,
ON tho h,lt Of his nons,rous knife.
The fiery Colonel then drew his dagger
and vas in the act Of advancing upon the
stranger. when several caught him and
held him back, demonstrating.
Let him alone. Morton. for Gods
sake. Do you not perceive that he 10 era
zy"
A,.ha, moment, Judge Webb. a man
of shrewd in,elIec, and courteous manners.
stepped forward. and addressed the intruder
in mos, respectful manner:
my good friead, presume you have
made q mistake 10 the house. This is
private mee,iag. where none but Members
are admitted"
The stranger did moi sPpsar 10 eo"r1e-
bend the words, but he could not lail'to IN
ders,and tho mild and deprecatory manner.
His rigid features relaxed, and moving 10
a table in the centre Of the hall. where
there were materials and imPIemen's Tor
wiring, he seized . pen and traced one
line: IL am deaf" He then held 1t up
before the spectators. q. sor' Of natural
apology for his own want Of Pol,eness.
Judge Webb took the paper. and wrote
question. Dear sir. will you be 40
oblising as to inform u. what is your busi-
sess with the presen, meeting I?
The o,her responded by delivering let
Ter, inscribed on the back, " TOthe citizens
Of Au.,in." They broke the seal and
read i, aloud. !, was from Houston. and
showed the usual iesss brevi,y Of his style !:
"FeLLow CITIZENS Though in error.
and deceived BY the arls Oi traitors, ] vii
give you ,hree dsys more to decide whether
you will surrender the public archives. Al
n Il Ia