Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1863-10-09

Cdoln' DuFing Tue TIME the man sat uOW
at the other side Of the fire, where tn
child was sleeping, and Che had take
: some of the brandy, and was less roug
and more communicative now began +
talk about the snow storm, the probable
loss of sheep it would cause, and tn,
similar yisitations of former years. Ii
about a quarter of an hour the woman
came to the door of the other room anC
called him to her. He went; and fo
several minutes after, heard them con
versing in low, eager tones. Thei
words | could not catch but the woman
seemed to be vehemently urging some
thing upon her companion, while BIZ
answers were brief and hesitating. Grad
ually the voices grew confused--a drow
sy feeling crept over me-and l remem
ber no more. Whether one minute OF
an hour had passed l knew not, when q
heavy hand was laid on my shoulder, and
a hoarse voice sounded in my ear:
Come, friend, you're tired, / see; you
had better throw yourself on the bed in
side, and sleep till morning.
started up, and was soon recalled to
perfect consciousness by the sharp pain
of my broken arm. The man was stand
ing beside me.
My wife has shaken out the straw,
he said, 'as softly as possible; and I mis-
take if, after to-night's tramp, you don't
find it as pleasant as bed of down. But
take this by way of night cap before
you CO.
! drank the brandy, and muttering a
few words Of thanks, was turning away,
when he stopped me.
'See,' he said, 'you are forgetting your
pistol. You had better take it with
you
did so, and, bidding them good night,
went into the other room. My bed was
a heap of straw covered with a piece of
coarse sacking; but had it been of choi-
cest feathers it could not have been more
welcome then. l stretched myself upon
it, and was soon fast asleep. But sleep
brought with it confused and distressing
dreams, with which the glare of those
wild, hungry eyes were strangely min
gled. l awoke with a sense of pain in
tolerable, and found that | had turned
over on my left side, pressing my woun-
'ded arm under me. How long 1 had
been sleeping, Of course, l could not tell /;
but the first sound that fell upon my ear
was the confused murmur of voices from
the other room. Immediately the voices
grew more distinct, and some words
reached me that speedily brought me to
a terrible consciousness of my position.
One of those words was gold : and, at
the sound, my hand searched for the bag
it was there safe. With a grim terror at
my heart rose and crept toward the
door. Through a chink between the
shrunken boards | could see the man and
woman seated at the fire. The latter,
whose face was almost completely turned
toward me, sat with her elbows on her
knees, and her chin resting on her palms.
Those eyes of hers were fixed upon the
man, and they glowed with helliSh fire.
| sickened at the look of that face, so
handsome, so delicate, so fend like
The man was speaking at the moment
and as the sound of his voice drew my
eyes toward him, ! beheld beside him an
object that made my blood run cold-a
large, shining hatchet or cleaver.
Il can't help it, lass he was saying
i don't like the job; and I wish the
thing could be done some other way
About taking the gold I'm not particular
10 a hair, and in a downright tussle /
shouldn't much mind knocking a fellow
on the head. But to murder a man in
his sleep-dang me, but it goes against
my kidney
'But those beautiful golden coins, Bill
lear,' the tempting fiend rejoined; the
lovely gold that would take US out Of this
hell at once. What is one miserable life
compared to that !? And who will know
about it? The snow storm is most lucky.
We can put him deep down beneath the
,iled up snow in one Of those holes out
tide, and we shall be many hundred
niles from this-ay, across the Atlantic
tself-before any trace Of him is found
How my blood curdled and my hair
rev stiff with horror as listened to the
words of this female devil, and watched
he Gorgon>like glance of her eye, and
he hideous smile that curled her lips. /
ave been in deadly peril of life and
imb in more than one fierce fight, as
hese medals show. l remember once
when the knife of a gigantic Caffre was