Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1856-07-24

lord into the secret but hurry on
jackson, and there give informatio
to the sheriff, and perhaps be Nigh
reach the inn before the villain lef
for | had no doubts with regard
; bis identity.
81 bad an alarm watch, and hayin
set it to give the alarm at one o clock
| went to sleep. Twas aroused a
the proper time, and immediatel,
got up and dressed myself. Whel
| reached the yard, / found til,
cloud all passed away. and the moor
was shining brightly. The hostleI
was easily aroused, and by two O.
IIelock / was on the road. The mui
was deep and my horse could MOI
; travel fast-yet it occurred to me-
the beast made more work than there
was any need Of, for the cart was
nearly empty.
! However, on We went, and in the
course Of half an hour was clear
Of the village. A short distance
ahead lay a large tract of forest
mostly of great pines The road
lead directly through this wood, and
as we'll as ] Icould remember, the dis
tance was about twelve miles Yet
the moon was in the east, and this
road ran nearly west-it was light
enough. | bad entered the woods
and had gone about half mile when
my wagon wheels sunk With bump
and jerk, intoa deep hole + u.-
tered An exclamation Of astomisb-
ment; but that was not all i heard
another exclamation from another
eourcel @ - 49, -
"What could it be? I looked
quickly around bet could see nothing.
Yet l knew she sound / had heard
was very close to me- As the hind
\
wheels came up, l felt something
besides the jerk Of the hole. /
heard something tumble from one
side to the other of my wagon, and
/ could alse feel the jar occasioned
by the movement. It was simply
a man in my cart. I knew this on
the instant. Of course / felt puz-
zled., At first, / imagined some
poor fellow had taken this method
to obtain aride; butt soongaves this
up, for | knew any decent man would
have asked me for a ride. My next
was that somebody had got there to
sleep; but this passed away as quick
lily as it came, forne man would have
broke into my cart for that purpose.
And that thought, gentlemen, opened
my eyes. Who ever was in there
had broken 10. -. -s,..s
"My next thoughts we're Of Mr.,
Dick Hardhead. He had heard me
say that my load vas all sold out,
and Of course be supposed I had
some money with me. In this he
was right, for / had over two thou.
sand dollars. i also thought he
meant to leave the cart when he sup.
posed i had-reached a safe place, and
then either creep over and shoot OF
KNOCK me down. All this passed
through my mind by the time I had
|got q rod from the hole. sd ras
d SHOW I never makesit q point to
brag ofamysell but yet | have seen
agreat deal Of the world, and am
'lpretty calm and clear-headed under
difficulty. After a few moments my
resolution was formed. My horse
Ras now knee deep in the mud, this
would enable me to slip off noiseless.
lily. So ! drew my revolver. ]
never travel in that country withou,
one. ! drew this and twined the
rains about the whip stock, carefully
lslippsd down into the mnd, and d
1.-THE cart passed on j went behind ant
examined the hasp. .ss'
! aThs door Of the cart lets deyi
land is fastened by a hasp, whieI
|slips over q staple, and is then secu