Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1864-12-07

and myself. Harry was simpetuous, hasty
irritable, but in the main good hearted
: his brother was cooler, more calculating
and if anything little avarioious Ton
was true topper, who enjoyed his glas
to the extreme, and was never happy ex
cept when half drunk; and Tom was
} kind of hanger on, ,and toady for the who'll
of us. For myself, there were only tive
peeuliarities worth mentioning, from thei
apparent Inconsistency. As quick al
fash, the least angry word would arous,
me to tempest of ungovernable passion
, which when subsided, would find me a,
cold as-ice, and with a mind free to plot
and contrive anything. r.
On one evening we had lost good deal
of money, more than we could afford--at
1poker, and had left the gaming room in
no very good spirits. Fred Pierce had
not been with US, or perhaps We should
4nothaEe played SO long, for Fred, unlike
the majority of gamblers who play most
desperately when fortune is most unkind,
invariably stopped when a certain maxi
mum of loss was arrived at
In the morning Fred called to see me,
having heard something about the loss,
and was asbonished and angry when he
learned the amount He demonstrated
with me, and when laughed at his words
grew irritated. One word, as the saying
is, brought on another; we both became
angry, and at length he told me that he
thought it an unjustifable outrage on our
part to lose his share of the money during
his absence. called him fool, and he
retorted that I was a scoundrel. In a
towering rage. I seized the tongs, which
stood on the side of the hearth, and be-
fore l gave a thought as to the conse-
quences, struck him on the head with all
the force of which I was master. He
fell instantly. The next moment restor-
ed me to consciousness, and raised him
up. The blow had fractured the skull,
and although no blood had fown-his
thick cap, which he had not removed du-
ring the conversation, deadening some
what the blow-he was evidently dead.
A moments reflection convinced me
that one of two things must be done
either to conceal the body, or to discover
the fact, and proclaim that I had done
the deed in self-defense. The fear that
1 could not we'll make it appear SO to the
public, deferred me from the latter course.
1 had stated the day before to my land
lady that intended to send box full of
books and paper to my uncle's residence
in the country; and the larger packing
box procured for the purpose then stood
in nay rooA. I determined to put the
body in this, and thus dispose Of it. As
was about to do this, heard ringing
at the door bell. Thrusting aside the
window curtain, I put my head through
the wiRdOw, which was luckily half hoist
ed, and saw that my companions Of the
night before had come to pay me visit.
l knew that they would at once come to
my room, and take no denial for entrance.
In an instant my course was determined
on. I hastily. dragged the body to the
closet, placed It upright, and taking my
dueling case from the place of its usual
bestowment, closed the closet door. I
then threw on nay great coat, put on my
hat, and tossed the chairs in confusion
about the room. 1 had scarcely done
this when 1 heard the steps of the party
on the stairs, and as they entered the
room, 1 gave tremendous oath, with
every other evidence Of passion.
HaIlo!' exclaimed Harry Pierce,
"what is the matter with you? Going
out?" ~
"I have this moment came in, said I,
"to get my pistols. though I'd prac-
tice this mOrning-and some vagabond
has been in my room, and turned every
thing upside down. It's too bad, by
Jove; there's whole pile of shirts, just
from the wash, tossed on the floor"
Ny friends burst into a wild laugh,
and Tom Needham exclaimed;
"Served you right. What business
had you to own SO many shirts? have
only one. In fact, that was what kept
me from you yesterday SO long. 1 had
to lie in bed while it was being washed
and ironed-and the woman kept in two
hours beyond time, because I owed her
little bill"
WELL" said I, -"I wish you'd stop
your nonsense and fix up matters; and
we'll 90 out and take a crack or two this
morning"
Not with me, answered Iom, It's
too cold for the fingers. I'll tell you
what wen do we'll have game of whist.
There's just snug party. I wonder
where Fred is p -~
'"I don't know" said 1, "he promised
yesterday to come and see me"
"I'll bet = SOUS" cried Jack Fry,
that be was the Robin GoOdfellow who
upset your wardrobe"