The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-10-09
Established .Jassss rs, 1869. Vo1. 4.

As+AIA tltAI NLl4iA agli+ --sla VI
toward the stream, shat amt tit to travel
now. Tother ones the best"
"But what's the matter with it?" / asked.
-ssWhv, the bridges are all washed away, an
then there's been windfalls acros't. Itried il
last week, and had to come back. The upper
| road is matter of miie or two turder, but
that's nothin'. Your beast is good for it,
guess" ila m
/ told him my horse would stand it well
enough, and then asked where the other road
struck the stream.
aAbcut. three miles this side Of the mills p
he replied. .s. 81
"It's all clear and direct ?"
eyes. You can't miss the way.r w
Ibade my host goodbye, and then started
on. l didn't IKE the idea Ofa new road at all
The youth before mentioned had told me what
beautiful road it was from Groorne's 10 the
mill by the river road. He said it followed the
stream, which was very near straight, and that
! it was light and open the whole distance
| However, OF course, Groome knew. SO / must
make the best Of it. ! looked back as L reach
ed the edge of the wood. ] was upon gentle
emlnence, and could overlook the shrubbery /
had passed Hooked aud saw Ike going from
the house to the barn; he had a saddle upon
| his arm was sure it was saddle-perhaps
! .snF ! Z ri .
Ere long I entered the wood and found il
thick and gloomy. The path was plain enough,
and had evidently been at some time travel
IEg road. Aye-I remember, now, of having
heard my informant Of the noontide speak Of
the sold road.n He said there used to be a
road leading to Rock River, but when Foster
commenced his settlement, new road was
opened BY the stream, and the old one discon-
tinued. He had said nothing about any brid-
ges. T7a' fan 1.3ee a. da 59@a Bne 49,,
At the distance of two miles, came to
place where a bed Of sand lay across the road.
1t was sort Of gully, and stream must at
| some time run there looked but saw no
tracks upon it, Water had swept across since
sny living thing had trodden it. / slid from
my saddle and examined thoroughly; but I
| could find no track. aii ! ssse,sr 81.
IN OF course the father of my noontime's host
could not have gone this way! And yet he
had gone to Fosters Mills. began to suspect
mischief There had been an uneasy seI,sa-
tion lurking ia my bosom ever since / left the
inn.. Something was wrong. TIL: sun was
nearly doWn--in twenty minutes, lat the far
thest, it would be out of sight. -a'sliie2 9
lnstinctively drew one of nv pistols from
the holster. raised the hammer. and folInd
the cap in its pace H. was lust putting It
PACK, when noticed mark upon the butts 1t
was peculiar knot in the wood. The pistol
1 had always carried in the left holster 1t
was not SO sure as the other one. Itook out
the other and was sure the as had been
changed by other hands than mine. They
had remained in the saddle at the forest inn.
and must have been changed there 81
4liI began to Think why was Mr.. Groolne So
particular to know ifmy friend expected me
And then why should he have been SO anxious
to have me set forTapd that night. instead Of
relnalnng with him, and paying him a dollar
or SO more than ] didP Then, this roadz-I
6eheved had been deceived. There were no
Hesnets.t 70 caErgs away any bridges, for it was
now nearly Autumn, and the river road had
been travelled all summer. 3iiAnd then the
SADDLE had seen "lke" carrying to the barn.
There was surely mischief in all this. Daniel
Groome had daughters at his house, and per-
haps Others, whom he would not have hear
the voice Of the robbery. And very likeiy. he
would not wish to have such a deed connected
with ms house at all. Of course. he knew i
had money No one would be travelling.
without considerable sum. S'
II my pistols had been taken out MIGHT tbev
not have been further dealt with? [ took the
one trom the right holster and examined it.
Inc ball was in its place, and the cap on, Still
. / was not satisfied slipped the cap of. and
found the percussion composition removed.
There was not particle left within the can.
And this was not all. found the tube spit-
CdsN1til t1b0tS pine SUCK. 81
Here was the secret sure enough 7 took
my penknife aad succeeded in drawing ont
the stick; and then examined the other pis-
5 tol, which found to be in the same plight. I
stopped and went to work in earnest. / had
an excellent screw for removing bullets. and
my pistol barrels were emptied in a very few
moments. had serious objection to firing
them Oh in the woods where the report might
betray the knowledge had gained. So I
nmnfja6 fhnun nd dIoA1,
each. found them both clear, and then pro-
ceeded to- load them, which did carefully :
And now, how should j proceed2 4 That
this road would lead me to Fosters Mills. Il
had no doubt; and it would be nearer for me
to keep on than to turn back. So upon that
point my mind was made up. IN T'l
And next-which way would my host come
For that he meant to rob me felt certain. -.
Every circumstance = everything that had
Ianspired between him and me-pointing to
thateone simple .resnlt.o Would he 90 down
the river road piece, and head me off P or
would be follow me directly up? Mostlikey
the former. considered upon it awhile. and
then resolved to push on and keep on nv
guard. <rserr-wlrrr-r. n -
Z The sun went down. and Il grew ',d dark in
the deep wood; but the moon was already m
and her beams fell 1engthwise upon the road
she gave me considerable light when nv ewes
? had become used to the transition. Half an
hour had passed since | looked to nv pistols.
and just as began to wonderful had been
mistaken, heard the sound of a horses tramp
at no great distance. At first it puzzled me
to tell the direction from which it came. hut in
amunent knew it was in advance of me.
and upon my right hand, which was toward the
river. Presently it stopped. drew nv horse
to the left OF the path and kept on a gentle
tnot, having raised the lapel of my right hol-
ster. 80.
In few minutes I saw dark form aroono
the bushes, little way ahead, on the rioht7
Asl came up the man rode out. 1t was nv
host
"Good evening, sir" be said with exceed
ing politeness. lSod 81 allIsu III -.
a aAh-good EVENING" L returned. (. sT had
not expected the pleasure of your company.a
mo, expect not" he resumed in a sort of
hesitatiLg manner. "And 1 shouldn't have
come out, only for a little business forgot
when you were at the inn.Yi1oas
1t was plain as day. Ny pistols had been
rendered useless--I had been sent OF into
this unirequented wood, and now the villain
had thought to take my life and my money
without any risk to his own body, and then
hide my poor carcass in the earth, where vary
likely others had been hidden before Nv
eyes were open, and my hand ready.
said
es,a he snapped out, something in agree
ment with his features, sT want money. mon
ey, sir" s f.e '.,-a.r a - -,
As he spoke he raised a pistol. saai sl5 IS 1vsi
Take care" cried, raising nv uistol. and
pointing it in his face. y = -,
:, 1ha; ha, ha," he laughed IN coarse triumph;
your 1ankee pistols weren't made to harm
such as mel I'll soon put you where I've put
Others afOre-D l 20
!, when man knows death is staring him in
the lace, and that only his act viii avert ID. he
Is not apt TO wait long. AT least am not
And my hosts last words gave me ample proof
Of the correctness ef my suspicious. without
waiting for HIM 70 finish. i fired. His fineer
must have pressed the trigger Of his pistol. Tor
within the space 81 a wateh-tick, q sharp re-
port answered and mingled with mine. and
my hat shook upon my bead.
Daniel 6frooune swayed 10 and fro several
times la his saddle, and Lken with rrrrrtluv