Litchfield enquirer., 1865-01-26

d heels Of my gnide. absorbed and unobserva'
 Present. y-at the end. as it seemed tu me. c only few minutes-he came 10 sudden ha IS and said e fon's the road. Keep the stone fence lt your right hand. and you can't fail of the way y This. then, is the old csach TO- ? s 'Ay. lis the old conch-road?' ? |, And how far do go before l reach tt ? cross-roads2' zt n Nigh upon three mile.'
 ,I lpulled out my purse. and he became mol com,nun icative.
 : The road s fair road enough said he, fe foot passengers but twas aver steep and nal [ row for the northern traffic. You'll mind wher the parapet's broken away, close again th
 sign post. It's never been mended since th . accident
 What accdentr s
 I Eh. the night mail pitched right oyer int the valley belOw-a guda fifty feet an mure- just ut the worst bit 0 road in the whole coun ty.'
 | Horrible! Were many lives lnst?'
 All. Four we're found dead, and tothe two died next morning.
 How Ioag is it since this happened7' 1 Just nine year
 Near the sign post, you say? I Twill bear il in mind. Good night
 1 'Gude night, sir and ,hankee.' Jacob peck eted hls halt crown. made faint preteuce oi touching his hat, aud trudaed back bY the way he hal cone.
 | watched the light of his lantern til! it qnite disappeared, and then turned to pursue my way alone This was no longer matter of the slight 1 est difficulty for. despite the dead darkness 1 overhead, the line of stoue fence showed dis, tInctly enough against the pale gleanl of the snow. How silent it seemed now with only my footsteps to listen to; how silent and how sol- tary! A strange disaQr-eable sense of ;onel uess stole over m" I walked faster. l hum med fragment of tune. cast up ennrmors sums in my head. and accumulated them ai compoun'' interest '!i,i my best. in short, to forget the startling speculations 10 which hal but just baen listening, and, to some extent, ] | sucgreded.
 Meanwhile the night air seemed to become colder and colCe and though walked fast found it imp ,S ibe 10 keep myself warm. My feet were like ice. lost sensation in m, hands. and grasped my gun mechanically, even breathcd with difficulty. as though. in stead Of traversing quiet north country ugh way. 1 were scaling the upper'Iiost height o' some gigantic Alp. This last symptom became presently so distressing that l was forced to stop for d few minutes and lean against the stone fence. As dii SO. I chanced to look back up the road, and there; to my infinite re- lief. I saw a distant point of light. like the gleam of an approaching lantern l at first conc!u,ipd that Jacob had retraced his steps and followed me but rvpn as the con jecture presented itself q second light flashed intUr,ight "a light evidently parallel with the first, and approachng at the sante rate of u.o'ion. IL needed no second thought to show pe that these must he The cafriage-lamps of some lhi vate vehicle. though it seemed s,ra ge that any private vehicle should take road profess edly .lisued and dangerous.
 Thpr, could be nG ,luubt. However ot the fact for the lamps grew larger and brighter every moment. md even fanc.d l could al- ready see the dark outline of the Carriage be- tween them. It Was coming up Very fast. and quite nolseess'y. the show being nearly foot deep under the wheels.
 And now the body of the vehicle became distinctly wis ble behind the lamps. It locked strangely lofty. sudden suspicion flushed upon me. Was it possible that had passed he crossroads in the dark without observing he sign post and could this Ee the Very coach l had came tG meet.
 No need to ask myself that question a sec | ond time for here 1t came round the bend ot in. read. guard aud driver. u'.e outside passen- ger, and f,ur stea,ting yreys, all wrapped In soft haze of light, through which the lamps blazed "Gt like pair of fiery Iiieteors | jumped forward. waved my hat, and shout ed. Tn. mall came down at full speed and nassed me. For a moment l feared that had not been seen or heard, hut it was only for moment. The cGachrsan pulled up, the guard. mufffed to his eyes in capes and com forlers, and apparently sound asleep in the rumble, Neither answered my hail nor made the slightest effort to dismount |; the outside passenger did not even turn h's head opened the door for myself, aEd looked m. There were but three travellers inside. SD stepped in, shut the door, slipped into the vacant cor. n-r. and congratulated myself or ny good fortune.
 The atmosphere of the coach seemed. if pos. sible. colder than that of tie outer air. and was retva ed by singu'afly damp and tlisa ereeah.e smell. 1 louked rotfnt at rrfy fellow Daesen .e,s They wer. ,li;es ,heu, and all si- l lent. They did not sseIff {" he asesi'. hut each leaned back in his corner of tic vehicle as if absorbed in his owu refec,ions: at; tempted 10 open conversation. .Hnw intensely cold it is to night said, addressing my opl osi,e neiahb.
 He lifted his head, looked at me, but made
 no reply.
 The winter added, seems to have be
 gun in earnest
 Although the corner in which he sat was SC
 dim that could distinguish none of 'his tea-
 lures very clearly, l Saw that his eyes were
 still turned full upon me. Aud yet he an' swered never word.
 At any other time I should have felt. and perhaps expressed some annoyance. but at the eI moment felt too ill to do either. The icy
 coldffess of the night air had struck chill 'o my very marrow. and the strange smell inside he c,sch was affecting m. with an intolera- ble nausea. I shivered from head 10 foot , and. turning to my left-hand ueighbor. asked if he had any objection to an open window
 He neither spoke nor stirred
 I repeated tho question somewhat mnr' | loudly. but with fhe same result. Then los
 patience, and let the sash down. As did 20 the leather strap hroke in my hand, and observed that ihe glass was covered with : thick c.a of mildew. the accumulation. appa l rently, of years. My att-niien being thu e drawn to the condition of the coach, exam
 ined it more narrowly and saw hy the ancvr | tain light of the outer lamps that 1t was in tn e last stage of dilapidation. Every part of e was not only out of repair. but in conditio !. af decay. The sashes splintered at touci l. The leather fittings wesR crusted over wit mould, and literally roning from the woos !. work. The hoor was almost breaking ava I beneath my feet. The whole machine. ,a short. was foul with damp, and had evident " been drrgged from some euihouse in which /! had been mnudering away for years. to (