Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1857-12-10

ly the former. Iconsidered upon it while,
and then resolved to push on and keep on
my guard. -. - -. = - -
The sun went down, and it grew dark in
the deep wood; but the moon was already
up, and as her beams fell lengthwise upon
the road she gave me considerable light
when nay eyes had become used to the tran
sition.1 Half an hour had passed since [
looked to my pistols, and just as I began to
wonder if I had mistaken, [ heard the sound
of a horses tramp at no great distance. > At
first it puzzled me to tell the direction from
which it came, but in moment knew it
was in advance of me, and upon my right
hand, which was towards the river. Pres
emily it stopped, I drew my horse to the
left side of the path and kept on a gentle
trot, having raised the lapel Of my right
holster. -....-..zs. - So. - -,
In few moments I saw dark form a.
mid the bushes, a little ways ahead, on the
right. As I came up a,man rode out. 1t
was my host <I r. -. !laf'esssi 5..s'; sss
'tGood evening SIR he said, with ex-
ceeding politeness. =, :. a. .;.> - 80 =
ssAh-good evening I returned. i
had not expected the pleasure of your COM
pany." e.s :. ezeszs-f - zfa...7as-..~...[
-.s.No, I expect not he resumed in a sort
of hesitating manner. 'sAnd, | shouldn't
have come out only a little business [
forgot when you were in the inn" - -
It was plain as day. Ny pistols had
been rendered useless-I had been sent off
into this unfrequented wood, and now the
villain had thought to take my life and mo-
ney without any risk to his own. body, and
then hide my poor carcass in the earth,
where very likely others had been hidden
before. My eyes were open and my hand
ready. --,#'s ~.
ssAIay I ask to what businessyou allude??''
I said. s;...,..,.. :: ~. --
..'Tes,'' he snapped out something in a.
greement with his features. ;: Il want mo-
ney, money, sir" -
As he spoke, he raised pistol -.t
'.Take care" I cried, raising my pistol,
and pointing it in his face.
"Ha, ha, ha,'' he laughed in coarse
triumph, ''your Van kee pistols wern't made
where I've put others afore-" -
When man knows death. is staring him
III TIC lace, ana Only HIS on -sriir
avert it, he is not apt to wait long. At
least am not. And my hosts last words
gave me ample proof of the correctness of
my suspicious. Without waiting for him
to finish, I fired. His finger must have
pressed the trigger of his pistol, for within
the space of watch-tick sharp report an
swered and mingled with mine, and my hat
shook upon my head. -. c,-.... ...,,....., -. :.
Daniel Groope swayed to and fro several
times in his saddle, and then with a ;gurgl-
ing groan sank upon the earth. L slipped
down after him, and when stopped over
the body [ saw few drops Of dark blood
trickling from his forehead. 1s,f' .
For few moments L felt awestruck and
condemned Itwas natural feeling in
such a presence. But when I.came to. reflect
upon all that had preceded the deed. l. fell
that [ had done my country a service. u. ]
made the robbers horse fast. to tree, and
then remounted and rode on. .,. ...s......s
I reached the mills at half-past nine, and
I found Forest and his family up. They
were glad to see me, and introduced me te
a Mr.. Price, whom I afterwards found to
be the owner of the place where Ihad taker
my dinner. : Il t.5sf,,5< %; !e.:3.7> -.'7;-s
On the following morning party started
out under my guidance. They were Fores'
and Price, and three men who worked in
the mills. When we reached the spot where
the tragedy had happened we found the horse
as [ had left him, and my host lay upon the
ground stiff and cold He had not bled al
all, the ball having, made but a small wound,
though it had passed clear through. ~ ..'ir7,
. 8 A little way within the wood we found a
place where the ground seemed at some
time to have been. disturbed, and upon dig
ging there we found two human bodies
Subsequently one more was found only a few
rods distant t'tl;!'i ,tsta st' ,3a''5ZLi ~ o.
The body of Groope was taken up to his
house, and there we found that Ike had
fed. He had probably been out and found
his dead father, and fearing that he might
be implicated, he departed. ~. -,.D'
Mrs. Groope, who was a mild, brok en-
down woman, acknowledged that she had
long been aware of her husbands crimes,
but that the fear of his death had kept her
silent. i~.7.t r. ,.;e.-3t. - .,.s,''. 49, &; ar,
Ike, 1 believe, has not yet been found,
but his mother is still living in Illinois with
a married daughter, Whe is well off. She has
grown more strong and happy since the
night on which had the HIGHWAY ADyEN-
TURE WITH MY HOST! = 80 .
: A New England writer, speaking Of the
characteristics Of different races Of people,
says that it has been found that negroes can
be better trusted than white men not to be-
tray secrets. We suppose this is upon the
principle that they always ''keep dark. ."",8
The measure of our charity is self sacri-