The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1858-12-29

name to obtain an enormous sum OF money,
With which, and alHthe other available funds,
he abscended, and left his associate an utter
Ibankrupf.ss Tkusliabsolutely .beggard, John
Hsllsm, bysthe aid of a distant relation, man;
aged to reach the wilds of Texas, where his
sole mean Of kubsistence and, thatsof his fam.
lily, wasfhe chase
As hc moved on over the green prairie, the
face of the unhappy hunter gradually grew
darker, until it looked awful as the angry
gloom of a thunderstorm, aud he muttered tc
himself, III did, wrong, foul wrong to my wife
and children. Iousht to have shot. the base
swindler like a wolf, and taken by force the
plumber which he had acquired by cunning
But that would have been called robbery anG
murder! What then? Has he not wrested
from me the strength and staff of life? Is not
the beloved partner of my bosom now dying
'+by inches? z Is not my daily doom worse than
the brief agenies of the most cruel crucifxions'
With there and other even wilder ejacula.
tons, the pioneer continued his course until
he arrived at small pine-log grocery on the
banks of the Brazos, where the old San Antonio
proadPefesses the rives. ,ijo5 .asta.- @9ha.
81 will enter, ;" ne said to himself in a mock
ma whisper, eand take one glass of the FOOLS
-l~fIe-water, as the Camanches- facetiously term
it. have heard that it has power to drive
away SORROW, but fit can cure me, the devil
himself need n~et-despair?"
Hallam approached the counter, and calling
for brandy, poured out a tumbler almost full,
and swallowed it at a draught. He then pass
ed over the stream, and followed the trail into
the prairie, where the game was said to be
! yerysabundant. But he had scarcely set his
foot ON this unfeneed meadow ofnature, gleam-
ine-with the most brilliant flowers; when an
object arrested his attention with a feeling of
strange fascination. He saw, on the distant
verge of the blue horizon, a single horseman,
apparently advancing along the road towards
him, and a sudden impulse determined him to
wait for the arrival of the stranger. Accord
ingly, he sat down on a bed of yiolets beneath
an immense live oak, which stood alone in the
field of radiant blossoms, and pondered, as was
now<his fixed habit, ON the persisted past.
At the instant a strong breeze sprung up,
the wind sighed and sung mournfully through
the evergreen branches above his head, and
waved the long moss ike the flowing hair of
some gray-headed wizard, whispering unearthly
spells. But the gloomy hunter in his profound
abstraction heard not-hear nothing but the
sad voices of old memory, andthe funeral dirge
of departed days-unt1 the traveller had come
within FIVE PAGES of the spot where he reclined,
when, raising his eyes, he uttered a horrible
cry of mingled a g and establishment, and
springing to his feet, cooked and presented
his rife!
aDon't shoot, Hallam. for Gods sake, don't
shootl" exclaimed the other, in accents of the
greatest terror.
: 3Hugh Wheeler said the hunter, in a
voice, clear, ringing, and dreadfully calm; "you
made me a beggar, and for that, l must have
your blood!'
"Holy Heaven! do you intend to murder
mel" gasped the former partner, with lips
white as those of a sheeted corpse
"No," replied Hallam, in applling tones;
Hifyou have manhood enough in your %felon's
soul to fight me on equal terms but neverthe-
Unjust have your blood-blood for the
beggary, that is the fair payment
II will grant you the interview, as soon as
can find seconds" assented Wheeler, hope
ing to defer the immediate danger.
.'Fool and cowardw Numbered the infatuated
hunter; Hone of US two, or perhaps both, shall
hurl you from your horse with a lump of
And he took deliberate aim.
The other threw himself out of the saddle,
and falling on his knees, implored wildly; "Oh!
mercy! mercy do not kill ne! l I'M not fit to
lie I"
"Then get up, and battle for your craven
ife" shouted Hallam.
81 have no weapons"
"Liar md villain! there is a brace of pistols I
n your holsters~
-"I will make PREPARATION for all the wrong 1
l. nav dOhO JOo, O0D l. NdhhOS hight NOus \
"Then hand me the sum ofwhich you robbed
'
81 cannot now, for 1 have not fifty dollars
bout my person.pzoG ~ /
ave will soon ascertain the fact remarked
he hunter, as he advanced to examine the
'ulky saddle-bags of his foe. v
But the latter, alarmed as much, or even more, o
or his money, than he had previously been
or his life, resisted the intended search, crying O
''you shall not touch my property; l. q
nil have you hung for highway robbery,w 4
"For murder, ratherr' reared Hallam, as he a
eized the other by the throat, and dragged him a
} the ground. 4
Then, a brief, but terrible struggle ensued e
here, in that lonely prairie, with no witness, t.
ave the smiling sun, and the all-seeing eye of W
ae omnipresent God! The enemies swayed to 81
nd fro, now in the air, and anon, on the earth II
ley rolled over and over, first one uppermost, O
nd quickly the other, like two angry serpents b
mortal coil. But the hunter never once
roke his hold ON the windpipe of his antago nj
and this iron, yice-like grip, soon decided SC
le contest. Il
Atlength, Wheeler ceased to combat, and /"
ndcavored to call for mercy; but his purple u
ps only moved, and his voice died away in a al
ollow gurgle in the depths of his throat S
hen, he lay still as a log, on the prairie; not c
limb stirred, not a nerve trembled, and his al
res protruding from their orbits, awfully III
Iood-shot, became fixed in that fearful, stony b,
which breaches with such appalling elo- III
hence, the power of ~alLconquering Death!
The murderer, with a peal of horrible laugh at
n, turned from his victim, to inspect the ii
eayy saddle-bags, and uttered an exclamation IL
! ferocious JOY, that resembled the yell of w
me wild beast bouncing upon its prey, when e,
E found them full of gold and bank bills. LEI
These are all minep he cried triumphantly. in
| am again wealthy, and my family shall be C,
but where shall L hide this ifeless clod W
f clay /? /" c;
On glancing about, he perceived a small, ia
,und hollow in the prairie, which had been to
naked nv the deer and buffalo for It's as