The Kanzas news., 1858-11-13


punch, if give it to her,
/ Thanks, thanksl'' I said as turned away
the bottle, from which the Jew persisted in
pouring more into my glass. '.I'm not ac-
enstemed to strong drinks. and shall have a
heaa5ache Tomorrow morning."
"Oh! tomorrow I'll guarantee you
against that" the old man laughed to him
self; t'the brandy is capital, and no one
has headache from it"
/ really felt such q shiver come over me
at these words, (though, of course. as
erlbed il to my wet clothes, and the bran
dy really tasted so good, that took up the
lglaSs and emptied i; at draught By Ju-
piter! how it burnedi
/ "And now you had better lie down. the
Jew said, after removing the brandy and
other things from the table; s'it is late in
I the night, and, after your sleeping draught
you will sleep sound in spite of your hard
bed. The best place for you will be here
by the fire. Before we go to bed, I'll put
on some fresh wood. and by the time that
is burnt out, you'll be warm enough. The
nights are beginning to grow fresh"
! was glad enough to lie down, so I took
up my knapsack, which had dried little
by this time, to serve as pillow, and the
old man brought me blanket and a sheep
skin. regretting that he had nothing better
to offer me, but all his beds were occupied.
"But I'll bring you something to keep
your feet warm" he added; ''that is the
chief thing, and by the morning you will
be all right again." With these words he
took canvass sack. which appeared to me
to be ominously stained, from the chimney
nook, and then, bringing it to my feet, (for
l had lain down by this time, requested
me TO put them in it. a5d
| ''In the sack?' I said, in amazement-
"why?"
''No, I'd rather lay it over them; that
will answer the same purpose"
''Not' half so good, l tell you," the old
man continued, and tried to draw the sack
over my feet, but strenuously resisted
Thers was something so dangerous, in my
opinpn, in knowing my feet were in a sack,
which l could not easily remove in the dark,
if we're obliged to spring up in hurry.
If? Besides, the old fellow pressing
made me feel uncommon uncomfortable Il
may tell you so in strict confidence. y
What reason on earth could he have for in
sisting on my putting my feet in the sack
However, when the Jew found that / was
obstinate, he laid the sack over my feet, and
went back to the fire instead of retiring to
bed as had expected, and sat cross-legged,
staring 6xedly into the flame. Well, shut
my eyes and tried to go to sleep, but some
how could not manage it; the fire burned
low, and could see the old fellow still sit
ting there, but felt that his eyes were fix
ed upon me, and that he was watching my
every movement-every breath. Why? l
lay thus for an half hour, and the strangest
feelings came over me. Then had Gu
rious taste in my mouth-the brandy, of
course, but why was it so metallic? And
my head began to go round. and my eye
| lids grew heavy as lead. At last, could
stand it no longer. and determined to jump
up; but l was unable to do so; my limbs
refused me their service, a veil seemed TO
deep Irresistible sleep was oyerpowering me.
+ How long lay in this sort of half-d dream
ing condition do not know, although /
struggled against this unnatural state with
all the strength of my mind, and should
finally have yielded to it, had not slight
sound just at the right moment come to my
aid in resisting it. The Jew, who was still
seated at the FIRE. moved, gently aud noise
lessly. it is true; sill he got up, and now
stood with his face turned toward me. I
tried to close my eyes, and dispel the odi-
Gus vision which my fancy seemed to sum
mon up, but at that moment I felt the light,
crawling steps of the old man on the floor,
felt that he was drawing n&rer and nearer;
and when half opened my eyes, cautious
ly enough, lest the scowlng fellow might
see was awake, saw him standing few
PAGES from me, with his body half bent to
listen, and watching my every breath
What was he about-what did he want?-
Should l jump up and meet him. in case
he attempted to attack me? but then the
dog, which was still lying in the room!--I
And again, was the Jew really going to at
tack me. or might it not be anxiety whether
I slept comfortably? I determined to wait
land Judge for myself, even at the risk of
exposing myself TO his attack, 'for was
young and strong, and If the old man de-
signed evil he should meet with a resistance
he little anticipated. So, in order to leave
the old man at leisure to carry out his de
signs, whatever they might be. began
breathing loudly and regularly, while watch
ing him carefully through my half-closed
Ieyelids.
The Jew repained for a while observing
me, as if to make sure that my sleep was
real; but then. as if every doubt were re-
moved, he crept quietly back to the chin
ney, threw some brush-wood on the glim
mering charcoal, which began to glisten
and crackle, and went TO the opposite end
of the room, where the crockery was kept.
Anxfously / watched him: but must con
fess that my blood appeared 70 stagnate,
and an icy feeling ran down my back, when
! saw him take up long cleaning knife.
and while trying It's edge with his thumb,
seem to measure the distance between HIM
self and his victim.
AS have told you before, believe am
anything but a coward; I have stood be-
, -. ia.l.d