The mountain Democrat., 1865-04-15

son did not seem to have come off SEQ
Tree; she was walking decidedly lame o
one leg, and there were faint traces OF dis
coloration near one eye She said she hat
knocked herself against door, and stareC
very curiously at me when | replied i
was good job it was not railway car
riage door-they were so thick and hard
added, by way of explanation. In tn,
course of that evening, during my aun
and Mrs. Lessons absence, making somt
purchases connected with the morrow's
Journey cOntrived to penetrate into theil
rooms; and, 10! on the dressing table in
Aunt Tabs chamber found an old fash
Toned dagger, with an ugly blade at the
least eight inches long, a whalebone con
nected and lead knobbed lfe-preseryer
and six barrclled Colts revolver
recognized each one of the murdcrous i'm.
plements at a glance. My cousin Ned,
who had gone demented on the volunteer
question, had constituted his bed room q
terrible armory Of all kinds of weapons.
offensive and defensive The instruments
before me knew formed part of his aw.
tul stores, and my aunt must hAye helped
herSel! to them since he left home. Upon
closer examination of the pistol, found
that not less than four barrels were loaded
and that caps we're ready placed on all the
nipples
At some personal risk, for don't much
understand six. barrelled revolvers, man.
aged to get one charge out, and felt SEN.
sible motion among my hair at sight of
the three balls which it had included II
was the same with the other loaded bar.
rels, making twelve bullets in all ; and |
breathed much freer when had extract.
ed the last, and substituted very light
paper wadding in each case.
Upon the return of the two ladies from
shopping, they shut themselves up in
their own sitting room, and, from the sin
gular noises which were to be heard, felt
satisfied more rehearsals were in progress.
Mrs. Lceson could scarcely limp in to sup
per, and my aunt's rather withered arms
showed several patches Of color, as if from
rough graspng. During that nights un-
easy slumbers | was shot in railway car.
riagcs two or three hundred times, and
was so repeatedly stabbed with dag gers,
and furiously beaten with life preservers,
that was quite sore when awoke final
ly. | rose, fully determined to accompany
Aunt Tab on this railway excursion, ta-
king ticket by the same train, unknown
to her, so as to be at hand in case of emer-
Gcncy. She had an unusual air of deter
mination on her strongly marked features
when | met her that morning on the
stairs, and looked like n woman bent on
heroic deeds. Mrs. Lessons attendance
made it Unnecessary should offer nv
services by way OF escort to the railway,
and took all impressive farewell, as il
going, as usual, into the city.
But the mysterious conversation be,
tween the two at the breakfast table had
only confirmed my resolution and, in.
stead of seeking the other side of Temple
Bar, hurried to the Kings Cross railway
station, where, cnsconcing myself behind
pillar Of the piazza, awaited the arrival
Of my aunts cab. Vehicles Of all kinds
came md went, bells rung for numberIess
trains, porters gave way to inomentary
fits Of madness, and it was very weary
waiting; but | stuck to my post Had
she discovered my tamperin. with the
pistol, and, re-loading it. accidentally shot
herself oy, A,ing that, had She by some
mishap stabbed Mrs. Ltcson on the road,
and the conveyance necessarily diverged
to one Of the hospitals! In that case |
had wasted the cost Of a second class
ticket to Peterborough, having already
procured it, so as to save time. No: at
Icugth, within three or four minutes of
the time for the train starting, my atten-
ton was attracted by the stcntorlan voice
of a cabby.
Max it shillin', mum, an I'll drive
you all the way to Colncy 'atch, which'll
save railway fare he was shouting after
couple of ladies'. But, mcbb,c, you're
goin' down to shoot upon the noors, an
mean gettin' into close quarters with a
pistol to make sure o yer aim
Mrs. Leeson turned and shook an angry
fist at him; but my aunt, who was the
other lady, stalked on unhecding, like one
consciously marching to noble doom.
It's very nice thing, amt - added
the cabby, addressing the group which
instantly gathered about him, TO have a
/ life prescrver lifted to you by woman,
bcc0s you AK for heXtra sixpcnce, for
havin' to go out O yer road? An | seed
she's got pistol as big as q gun inside o
her muf. Look out in the papers to.mor-
rcr, for murder on this hecr hnp, sum
whecr 'atween this an Co!uey
This was pretty beginning, thought,
as rushed away to gain the platform
while my aunt was procuring her ticket.
Hiding behind other people in the vicinity
of the book stand, watched the two go
to a carriage where Aunt Tab secured q
seat by placing something upon it-for
anything could tell, the six barrelcd re-
volVer; and then, whilst she and Mrs.
Leeson went towards the guard $ van, TO
look after the luggage (Which had been
sent down bef0re). ran and lcaped into
second class compartment Of the same
carriage my relative mad selected, nesting
myself away out of sight in the corner.
BY and by the bell rang, doors were
slammed, and the train slowly got into
motion, when had glimpse of Mrs. Lee
son apparently sliding off into the rear
while throwing encouraging last kisses to
nv aunt. was in hopes, as only few
minutes had elapsed, she might be in time
to have another meeting with the pro-
phetic cabman, as she retired from the
station.
1t was set down as a fast train, but its
speed seemed very slow to me as sat in
the otherwise empty compartment wait.
ing in nervous apprehension for some mis-
hap. listened fearfully, half expecting
a pistol shot every minute. But all went
quietly, and, at last, when we reached the
market gardening districts, got TO anu
sing myself by mentally tying up the
acres Of onions on each side of the line
into long strings ready for the retail mar
ket. We arrived safely at Huntington,
and there the train slackened and almost
came to pause for moment, while the