American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1866-03-24
out houses which were situated hund
dred yards from the house.

dred yards from the house.
Now l am naturally Of an inquiriDg
mind, and this sound occurring as it die
in the middle Of the night, in such re.
mote out of.the.way place. piqued my
curosity and / felt an rrepressible de.
sire to go out and discover the cause of it
The desire. as the sound continued, grew
upon me with such intensity that l re.
solved to CRAFTY it at any price.
put on my boots, the only article Of
attire l had discarded, and cautiously
opened the door Of my chamber and
noiselessly descended the rickety stair,
case. A few steps brought me in the
lower apart ment, which | found entirely
deserted. l crept quietly to the door,
and uufastening it without making the
slightest noise, was soon in the moon
light.
Not soul was visible, but the sound
continued TO grow more distinct as / ap>
preached the place from whence it pro-
ceeded. At last found myself before a
long, low building, through The crevices
of which | could perceive lurid glare
issuing, I stopped down and peeped
through the key hole, and to my extreme
surprise saw half dozen strong look
ing men with their coats of and sleeves
rolled up, performing variety Of strange
occupations. Some were working at
forge, others were experimenting the
casting Of moulds, and some we're in the
process Of milling coin. In a moment
the whole truth burst upon me. Here
was the gang Of courterfeters was in
search Of, and the landlord and his wife
evidently belonged to the same band. for
in one corner perceived them employed
the polishing of some balf dollar peic-
/ es, Just turned out OF the moulds, while
the woman was packing the finished coin
into rolls.
had seen enough and was about to
return to my apartment, when l suddeno
ly felt heavy hand placed on my shoul-
der, and turning my head round, to my
horror found my yself n the grasp Of as i'll
looking a scoundrel as ever escaped the
gallows.
"What are you doing here, my good
fellow" he exclaimed, giving me a shake
Taking a stroll by moonlight" re.
piled, endesvoring to maintain my pres
ence of mind. :
"Well, perhaps you'll take a stroll in
side, will you?" returned the rufian,
pushing open the door and dragging
me in after him.
Al the inmates in the barn immedi.
ately stopped work and rushed toward US
when they saw me.
"Wby, what's all this?" they exclaim
ed.
"a loafer l found peepn outside"
said my csptor.
Hes traveller that came to the tav- I
ern last night and asked for lodging; the I
last | saw of him be was safe in bed," c
said the landlord.
The men Withdrew TO a corner Of the
apartment, leaving one to keep guard :
over me. soon saw they were iu earn
est consultation, and were evidently De. S
batting some important question, The ?
one keeping guard over me said nothing I
but scowled 6ercely. l had not said
single word during all the time l had
been in the barn. | was aware that
whatever might sa Y would, in all proba-
bility, do more harm than good, and it
has always been a maxim of mine, to hold
my tongue when in doubt. At last the 6
discussion seemed to be ended, for the
blackest and drtest Of the whole crowd n
came forward and without any introduce
tion exclaimed b
Il say, stranger, look here, you must
die!'' 81
l did not move a muscle nor utter a
word. a.
You have found our secret, and dead
men tell no tales" al
l was silent.
ave will give you ten minutes to say II
your prayers, and also allow you tie
privilege Of being shot OF hung" a.
Suddenly an idea struck me. l remem
oered something that might save nv life h
burst into violeut ct Of laugh ter, 10
act it was hysterical, but they did not q
now it They looked at one another iu N
Imazemeut
"Well he takes it mighty CO cl, any. c'
Iow." said one.
81 suppose he don't think we are in G
arnest," said another.
"COme, stranger. you had better say
our prayers" said the man who had
irst spoken. "time flies" ;
Nv only reply was a ft Of laughter