Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1857-11-07
Written fer the Nindicator.l
81 G0"---i THRILLING INCIDENT.

BY O.
A cold, chilly evening, in the latter par
of November, 1855, found me seated in thu
: Reading-room of the Virginia Hotel il
Staunton, Virginia. Sitting aro-Gd the
cheerful fire Ycra several strangers, and az
, | had nothing in particular to occupy my
attention, / was quietly listening to thcil
conversation. scanned the countenancc
Of qash individual closely; for firmly be.
lieve in physiognomy, and take great de-
; light in trying to read the character through
, the medium of the face There was only
one person comprising the group whose face
struck me as any way peculiar. lie sat way
back in the corner, and seemed to be wholly
absorbed with his own thoughts. He look
ed as # some great weight was pressing up.
on his mind, aud from the frequent move
; lnent of the muscles of his mouth, you would
think he was trying to speak. ! felt my Gu
riosity considerably aroused to know some
thing of the history of this queer looking
genius, for, with al my skill, I found that
| could arrive at no definite information IN
regard to his character.
just as / was in the midst Of my conjec-
lures, friend entered the room and propos-
ed q game of checkers. As am very fond
of the game, consented, and was soon SO
deeply absorbed, that all thoughts of the
stranger vanished As well as | can now
remember, we were in the midst of the third
game when our attention was suddenly ar
rested by the exclamation, ~ Co." pro-
nounced in Il low, solemn tone. | turned my
head, and perceived that the words had come
from the lips of the mysterious stranger, and
evidently were address to the proprietor
o. thc establishment, who s,lad entered tie
room a few minutes before. McCiang seem
ed to think he was addressing him too, for
he very politely asked the gentleman if he
vas speaking to him, but received no an
swer. In the course of half hour our quiet
was again interrupted, and from the same
cause, the stranger had repeated in the same
solemn, mournful voice, the words, ~ go"
AL eyes were Immediately turned towards
him, but he covered his face with his hands
and relapsal into his former taciturnty.-
1 Thrice more in the course of the evening,
those mysterious words were uttered by the
| stranger 1t was time to retire, but | felt
restless and nervous. stepped out into
the Office, whittier MeClung had gone, and
asked him if he knew anything of the man.
E He said that lie had come there the day be-
fore and registered his name as J. G. Get
son. Florida, but as to any other knowledge
of him, Lie had none. lie thought, at first,
/ that he was a aeaf mute /; d4at he soon found
out he could hear well enough, and from
what had just occurred he presumed he
could talk, The had "A mindto. felt both
cred | thought, at one time, that perhaps
he was mad !: then. that he had committed
some great crime, from the effect of which
he felt the heeaest pangs of remorse. |
tried to drive lis image from my mind, but
could not. Ii seemed as if there was some
thing about him that drew me towards him.
Presently he emerged from the reading
room, and, picking up lamp, retired to his
room. | followed him with my eyes until
he disappeared; then, turning 10 Mr.. Me-
1 Chung, remarked that he had better keep
an eye on that fellow. He replied that che
would attend to him; that | need net make
myself uneasy" | took a light end went
to my room. [ picked up a book and tried
to divert myself by reading, but it seemed
as if every page was filled with these two
monysyllaLles, = o." | undressed and
went to bed, but it was hours before | got
to sleep, if sleep it could be called |
dreamed that there was man with hollow
checks and sunken eyes leaning over me
in his hand he held dirk knlc, all smear
ed with blood, and as he stopped over me,
his long, matted hair touching my face, he
Kissed in my ear those awful words, 81 90 /"
| got up and dressed myself. 1t was two
o'clock, bat sleep any more | could not. l
sat before the fire the balance Of the night,
and gladly welcomed the first streaks of
Of day.
About half past five o'clock I went down
stairs, McClung was up, having breakfast
prepared fer those who were going off on
the ears. l had not been iii the office more
than fifteen minutes, when, who should en-
ter, but the mysterious stranger. j felt like
| could knock him in the head with some
thing. The very first words that greeted
my ear, were hose he bad so often repeated
ON the previous night aThe breakfast bet
rang and he entered the long dining room
with the rest. Well, thinks |, he is going
away, and | hope | may be able to eface all
those foolish thoughts which have been
worrying me 50. After breakfast he came
into the Office again; he stood like statue
for ABOUT ten minutes, right opposite Me-
Chung; his eyes looked like two great balls
of FIRE; his fists were clenched, and he SEEM
ed as if trying to bring his mind up to some
great effort. At last he uttered with great
rapidly the words, u 90, Ig2, Igo." lie
walked TO the window and then walked back
again. McClung whispered to servant to go
after constable. lie seemed to have heard
the.order, for striding up to McClung once
more, he broke forth with, ~ 90, 90, l
90, 90, on on on the tie c-c-c-cars, pha-
seaa-pha-phafs my lMp The mystery
was sqlvcd-Lo suffered.
| felt relieved, and, laying down on the
Noor, laughed until thought would die.
McClung informed him that his bill was no.
thing, but advised Him not to thiAk Of stay
lug to thank him, for if lie did, the cars
would certainly be in Richmond before he
got through.
And now, reader, as | have finished my
narrative, bid you farewell, for the stage
is about starting, and co.
Sad .1ccidem- j. II. Ligget was
shot by pistol in the hands of some one
unknown, in l4ewisburg, Va. on the 10Th
inst. The pistol was without stock, found
amongst some things that were being aye