The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-02-08

The Streak Of Lightning.

u6 uOClOT, liluS ltINcullN dppSdlSu w
laid down his hand of euchrc, pushed hi,
spectaces up his forehead, gave his emp
ty tumbler an intense look, and gratitiet
oar curiosity as to the cant phrase, Boys
did you see that streak of lightning?'
"Yon must know, my dear young
friend, that st. Louis was not always as
big place as it now is, and acComnOda
tons for man aud beast were not so goVd
fifteen or twenty years ago as they art
now.
about those days the tavern at which
| stopped, and it was the principal one in
the town, contained one long room, like
the cabin Of a steamboat, which served IN
the various capacities of ballroom, hal
of iusticc. a common council room, a the
atre, and, when the town was full. for a
/ sleeping apartment, for such of the sur
! plus population as were not lucky enough
to get accommodations in more limited
/ space.
"WcN, hie>;arSsS< carried 'a,, tSrerc oncy
more in midsummer, aud, aS the town
was thrnngch, was put with thirty OF
| forty ethrrS, in the great accommodation
room, and consigned for the night to my
pallet of straw. came in late that night,
tor ! had made some acquaintanceS, and
we had rather II fast time of It, so that
fnmnd a'l mattresses occupied, save the
one reserved for me, and each occupant
fast asleep. The landlord had given mr
small piece OF candle, about an inch
long, to light me 30 bed, and as he was toe
sleepy or too lazy to get Il candlrstick,
took the ta!low in my hand and marched
up To my dormitorv. 1t was a fcar(ully
hot ni.ht, and the temperature, of course,
not nueh leSsrncd hy the heat radiatng
(rom the carcasScs Of thirty or forty sleep.
ing u;ru.
81 soon found my bed, and forthwith
procccdrd to un>huck. Sticking my can
die on the edge Of my chair, carefully
laid my clothes on the back Of it, so as ia
guard aS far aS possible all probability OF
their contact with the tallOw, and was
proceeding to blow out the light, when in
my anxiety to save my clothes, the only
suit had with me, the thought occurred
to me that had better remove the candle
alto%"thrr After n glance around the
room, found this to bc IA matter of great
hllIl' til saw tldb WY Nidb W az
occupied. was afraid to sit it on the
floor, and the fire place was too far off to
justify the rrmotcst hope Of my ever re-
ginning my couch, once away from it in
the dark. While was in this quandary
my eye fell upon the form of a large, fat
GI;li, who was sleeping at Il tremendous
rate about ten feet off, From thc excess
i've heat that prevailed, he had thrown oil
every unnecessary article of clothing
He was breathing at the same time as
hard, and snoring as loud as il he were
determined to extract every possible par
;irlc of cniovmrnt from those musical ac-
compartments.
"Quictly advancing towards my Sno-
ring n,iGhhor, | soon found Il firm and
permanent lodgmcnt for my piece Of can
die, Low considerably rrduccd, upon a
very rromincnt and .eXpnSed .pnrlion of
my fat friend, and he was SO profoundly
asleep that had no difficulty to find a
fixed basis for my burning talow. AS
soon as had, by actual experiment, sat
>ticd myself that my" illumination" would
in its upheavings turn neither to the right
or left, but would burn steadily where
had left it, stole hpck to my place in
bed as quietly a. possible, and soon tried
to g"t up small gamut Of extra noise
with my nosc and throat, but it was no
go. Every incipicnt effort at IL Snorc was
sure to terminate in "A litter and so Just
lay >tilf ard watrHIrd the course of events
never saw piece Of candle take so
long to burn half an inch. thought it
had the lives Of niuc cats but burn on it
did, and still snorrd my fat nvighhor.- -
The light gradually approached the peri
ol Of its cXtirguishrncnt confess it was
the most exciting period Of my life. At
last, to my incXprcs>ihe delight, saw
the sleeper give Il twitch, and then for II
moment al VAS still !; then followed a
SpaSmolic action little more violent; Il
calm for an instant succeeded, when the
candle performed circle in the air, cx-
piring a> it reached the floor and the fat
man. wide awake, and perfectly erect,
was heard to cXclaim:
Boys, did You see that streak of light
ming? Anybody dead: | am hit! Don't
You smell scorchcd meat?"