The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-10-09

thu ooa&I AlAlId,f1 1900 - A-NA
COR. for the love Of God, Barney, don't
MURDER mo he cried, In b hoafse hslf
chokinp voice. Speak TO-. him, Nelly,
speak to him - he continued appealingly
70 the old woman.
Nither of them took the least notice
Of bis entreaties The. old woman mere
" shook her head, and continued gazing
into the fre.5I q 3gOD 0TG
I felt tingling from head to foot with
horror St tie prospect Of witnessing this
cold, blooded murder, and was inclined,
on the first impulse, to rush out all hsz-
ards and interfere. 0tj1 OI.AOd
u say, Barney, why waste your pow
der and shot on the likes of him 1t isn't
muck IwB have to spare. I'll tell You
what we'll do; as We 60 down to meet
the boys on the way to the Coloners to-
night, pitch him into the Wizards Hole,
and mind me, he'll not comeup again to
tell tales" e's'-s +" ~ 's5 ~ -, 1.
you're right, Bill; the very thing"
returned Barney, laying down the pistol.
81 remember the last chap we tucked
! Into the soft sheets there. Laws, what
d splash he made as the black slush
dlosed over him! It made me almost
ahiver."
A deep moan of agony that broke
from the wretched youth told the effect
that this new arrangement had upon
him.
"Thsre's q weight, half-hundred,
somewhere" said Barney; do you know
Iwhere it Is, Nell ?" "a.
sOh, the old weight, is ita It's behind
the sticks there, believe What 40
YOU want with itWop siI.mI5a,I -
4 My heart leaped to my throat at this
| inquiry, for Just at my foot, where l
stoed. I felt the hard substance that l
had supposed to be stone. 1rNow tor.
it" Thought, az I listened in agony to
the next words, ~ .Iygd w. -"
we'll just tie it round the waist, Bill
'tw{i1b0 i mics buckle for his belt and
will keep him down awhile in the bot
tom of the hole"
shall I get it now9' said the old bag.
thine enough - responded, the. other,
"when we set out. Get US the supper,
though" .''.L ..o. .-, .''
Some relief was afforded by this re.
spite; hut the faint hope which had
Iiinst begun to entertain, that l might
possibly be- able to evade discovery until
the men departed with their victim and
| I had the old woman only to deal wlth,
now vanished, as, when the weight
| came, to be looked for, l was, sure to be
found, and as sure to be murdered.
Some food was placed upon the small
table drawn in front of the fire, While
candle fixed in. a sconce against the wall
added a feeble illumination to the fire
light The three partook of the meal in
silence and then the men smoked, du-
ring which an hour might have passed
scarcely, q sound was heard, save low
moan or restless movement from the
poor lad, who was evidently writing in
agony from the physical torture of the
tfpht cerding of his limbs, as well as
barr assed, no doubt, with the horrible
approximations Of his coming doom.
F "Look out, Nell," were the first words,
SPOKEN by Barney, that broke the still
ness, land see what time o'night it is
/, The old woman rose, opened the door,
rand, Judging by what external appear
ances I Know not, in a few moments
turned in again, saying: It's no more
than eight o'clock"
Eight o'clock Four OF five hours
vet, Bill. Let's have sleep; we're not
to meet at the cross till one. Do you sit
up and watch, Nell" he continued; land
wake us up about twelve, mind
In few minutes the two miscreants
had disposed themselves beside the fire.
dragging over them some loose gar
ments supplied by Nelly and in a very
short time their deep and heavy breath
ing betokened that both were fast
asleep.
A turmoil of anxious thoughts liter
ally seethed through my brain i'll the
brief period of stiffness that followed
Could take advantage of their sleep!
Could take any step, and what, for my
extrication from this dreadful peril?
At length q low, parched voice, a kind of
husky whisper, it seemed, rose upon the
quiet of the place.
"Nelly, for the dear love of God, have
pity on me, and save me, now they are
asleep"
There was no answer Who knows
but she has dropped off too thought.
Nelly, if you hope for mercy, listen to
ms-save me-" whispered that weak
voice of anguish.
whist, will ye!" replied the old wo-
man, evidently quite awake. 'It's no
use your talking You'd have sold Bill
to the gallows, and if the liftiu' of my
little finger would save yees, wouldn't"
"Give me sup of wather, will yel"
he asked. II think Ill 60 mad"
"I'll give you that much, at any rate"
she said; though it's enough of it you'll
get afore long, I'm thinking"
The old hag rose and gave him some
water from tin vessel, but bitterly per-
sisted in her refusal either to aid his
escape or even to loosen the cords that
were so cruelty tormenting him When
Nelly replaced the water.can on the ia.
BILE she replenished the fire, settled the
covering more carefully round the youth,
and then muttered in kind of solilo-
guy:
mo fear but I'll wake in time; an
hour, at most, will do me-"
She moved towards the old bed, cycling
the prisoners bonds as she passed him,
To see that all was right there, and then
threw herself upon the rickety resting.
place, that groaned and creaked beneath
her weight, as she turned away from the
light. Thank God" almost passed
from my lips as an audible ntterance.-
For the first time ventured to alter my
position / was SO numbed and cramp-
ed that could hardely stir. Soon the
deep breath of the third sleeper was
heard.
The candle had been extinguished
the fro hurped Lace hrinhtlv v.f shad a