Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-02-24
MIS- { ELL AN Y
A Night in the Woods.


"lf any Of the passengers would like to
take little walk. We are jus, going up a
long, hard hill, and shall bv much Obliged
to them iftlcy will case the coach little,
sad tie driver, as.hc stopped a, the foot Of
steep hill. "iou can pa'' through the
woods there, aud IL isn't moro than half
mile"
"wha, do you say, strangcr9" added
the tall Keniuckian. Who sat by my side.
agreed TO the proposition, though | had
my doubts about the propriety OF passing
through the forest, az tho iarkncs. ~as
gathering around US. The driver. however
assured u, We could no, possibly mis-, the
path. and Ben Thompson aud myself alish,-
cd. There were two elderly men, aud two
women in the stage, who did not accept
the drivers polite invitation, which by the
way. wa. not less tlan the twentieth time
he had bccn 80 polite ,ha, day.
IL WAS great relief to the ,edium Of the
stage coach. to walk an occasional mile.
though, a. grou,y old fellow in the coach
suggested, We paid our fare, aud were ca.
titled to rldc.
NJ companion in these walk, was not
les than siI feet in height, and WAS jolly
gooi.ualur,d fellow. who had seen grea,
deal of hle Ia tho woods, AMI had an uu.
failing fond Of Store, anI descriptions
wlcr,wi,h to entertain me. Our route lay
through the western part Of Kentucky, Aud
w. we're to spend that nigh, On tho road
We took the path through tho woods.
which the driver had pointed out TO US.
Bsn "a. in b., li,elicst mood, and immc-
dla,,ly struck into the history Of a bear
hunt, - that We passed the greater portion
OF the distance before It occurred to nc that
wc mis1t possibly have taken the wrong
direction, e-p-caily o. we bad c,a.cd TO
hear tbr r,,l Of tie stage wheel, IN th, die.
tucr.
d. you think We are goiue right, Mr.
Thompson" | asked iaiouoPuns mI com.
p,nlon.
la cour's, we are. Stranger. don't
call mo Mr. Thompson. IAint rar,5n.
Call ne Brn. Or don answer"
twill, you 'Ay 80 but DO you ,hin.
We arc IN the right path ?"
"Sar''ln; dtdn't the driver say there
was ,nly one roaI?"
Mhc 'r,Se We heard tho report ola Prs.
ul
What. that stranger
Tnc report wa' followed BY another aai
another m quick succession.
There !, sharp work, somewhere" /
added.
e" II. them rarmin,s Of mail robbers. -.
plrel Ben. q" rho driver nay thank him.
.eli f,r sending u, away"
" And We may perhaps thank him that
We aro not shot.
When theirs any .hoo,ia' s,il ON,
all,rs want to bc thar" continued Ben,
with cmpha,,,. "Thrc, weeks ago. | ut
a letter with Gliy dollar brll in it, to
M-mphi' It never got there, calculated
tacm cu'.ed mail robbcr, got 1t when tbey
robbed the eoaeh, thFss weeks ago. s,ran.
ger, have you got shooter IN your rock.
r,?"
NO"
mary ,ooihPick, nu,her'"
"No."
"You Kin fsh, thought"
"Perhar' could, II there wa,any need -
"weil. stranger, there j. need TIA. Ben
Thompson should eight for am bound to
.k,u ,Aem cu'ssd mail rOJJsr, slore aorn-
ia"
"Ivill DO the bc,, | can for you, Ben,
though am uo' much 10 mu"."
you've sot 'he grit, aud tha''' all I
want. Take one OF my shooters, bl, J.a !
shoot ,ill you are surc Of your man.
promised to obey hI' instructions. II
va, now quit, dark, aud it wa. certain that
the robbcr, would take to the wood, on our
eide Of the road, cor 1t was sharp hill Up.
on the other .ldc.
Now stranger, we will roo', in some OF
the, tree. till We sc, the bearing Of the ras
c.l.. AMI then drop down upon them"
Asreeabls to Bsn's Instructions, climbed
tree, and pcrched myself upon a branch,
While he did the same in another tree close
by my position.
conies. that was highly excited by the
prospect Of an encounter with knew not
how many desperate characters; but Ben
would not consider the number or the Prov
s.s Of hi. enemies. The fifty dollar. he had
lost ranked Ia his heart, aud he determin-
ined to aycngo Uncle sam and himself at
tie slms time.
The scouudrels were considerate, and did
not make Us wal, long for their appearance
There was Just light enough left in the for
est for US to make out the forms OF four men
US they approached, each OF them bent
down by the weight OF ,ho mail bag upon
his shoulders.
"Doas DO, whispered Ben.
81 will !" and as saw him take out hi.
pistol and cock il. did the same.
The space beneath the trees in which We
we're concealed. was tolerable clear Of un.
der-brush, and when the robbers reached
the spot, they throw down the bags and
halted.
"was any one killed ?" asked one Of tie
rascal'.
" No; only frightened" !" replied another,