The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1858-11-03


what meant to do, and 1 told her L had
considerable money in the house, and that
the circumstance had merely reminded me
of my weapon We laughed over the
idea of my killing robber, and then went
to sleep. E 9a ga1t asaea 7,s e-
1t must have been not far from mid
night when was awakened from q some
what uneasy slumber. had no sense of
having been aroused by anything in par
ticuIar, only felt uneasy, and wanted q
new position for my body. The moon
had been up an heur or more, and was
shining through one of the windows, it's
beams falling directly upon the doorway
on the opposite side of the room. AS
turned, my eyes rested upon this doorway,
and saw man standing there. He had
apparently, just crept to the spot, and the
moonlight lay full upon him. H,Oas job
blaze of noontime, l could not have dis
tinguished his form aud features more
plainly. And saw, in his right hand, a
long bladed knife. Behind him, in the
hall, l saw the outlines of another man,
whom took, of course, to be McCar-
gan. ~
The discovery operated upon me like
the shock from powerful galvanic battery.
There was horrible, deadly fear thrilling
through me, and depriving me of both
sense and reason for moment, but the
very weight of the terrible circumstance
served to nerve me up, and in u very brief
space of time was as calm as need be. l
mean my thoughts were all collected, and
my instincts sharp and clear My wife
slept or, for as yet there had been no noise
save thatsomcthing which must have ava
| kened me. q 7ztuE6q Hi eaigia et EaEl.U
| My chamber was large square room,
and the bed was in one corner. The win
dew through the moonlight came was
close, oy the foot of the bed, and the door
that led to the hall directly opposite
This room was in one corner of the main
building, SO there were two more windows,
! one near the head of the bed, and another.
piercing the same wall, only few feet off.
Between these two windows stood the bu-
reau, there. being only the space of one
window between it and the bed. q
Ofcourse knew there could be but q
few moments for reflection. My motioH
| had caused the assassin to hesitate, but
he would not hesitate long. He had come
to put his threat into execution, and
knew the man well enough to know thai
4 he would do it without the least compunc,
tions, and that no ordinary occurrence
would deter him. If | had only given i'm
portance enough to previous circumstances
to have been thoroughly on my guard,
should have had my pistol beneath my pill
J low; but was wholly unarmed, and a sue
cessful stratagem could alone save me-
; With this grim presence before me M.
thoughts we're very clear and rapid. NJ,
Grst thought of succor-my first hope 0
safety-I knew enough of human nature t.
know what even even an assassin woult
be most likely to do under certain circum
stances. Gibrand did not know that h
was discovered, and yet a slight motion Q
my body had caused him to hesitate. Fl
!. evidently felt sure Of his game, and Ii
: could afford to wait until such time as b
could do his work with the Ieast noise =
1t was clear, cold night, and this cir
. cumstance helped me to valuable tho't.
/: "Mary," said I, speaking to my wife i
a yawning tone, as though were no
y wholly awake. "I'm cold" 7' '..1'
My wife awoke and asked me what wa
the matter. a'''',
..Pm cold" I replied. "Isn't there a
: extra quilt in one of the bureau draw
D ers?"
She said there was, but did not seer
{ inclined to be very wakeful.
: AS l had anticipated, as soon as.
l spoke the lurking assassin crouched ava
. ont of sight in the hall, and believed b
= would remain so while got up and 60
the quilt. If he did not suspect N
, knowledge of his presence he would Gel
. tainly prefer to let me arise quietly, an
then get into bed again, than to attac
e me when might make resistance; for h
t had reason to suppose that my wife an,
, self would both be asleep again very soon
: And then / could not leave the room t
: give any alarm without passing di-ectl
r by him, so he would feel safe On tha
f score.
t I Ileaped out ofbed and went to the bu
reau may have trembled some at tn
s thought of deathblow while stoo
There, with my back to the. door, but
!, felt pretty well assured that all would b
i safe until got into bed again; and SO
: proved, l opened the the upper drawe
l first. and grasped my pistol. I muttel
led something about not finding thing
: where they belonged, and then opene
+ another drawer, from which took tn
u desired article. AS I returned to tn
Il bed allowed the pistol to drop by m
|pillow, aud then proceeded to sp:ea
: the quilt in proper order, never once al
G lowing my eyes to turn towards the doo1
After this crept into bed again, and q
I I grasped my pistol and snuggled dowr
t remarked that should now sleep wit
:. ,on,o comfort Rv 1vipo uDou NV 1o