The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1867-11-07

- L was on my fcc6 once sm0Ie, anu caught
Ben's hand as he came over towards my bed !.
"What ails you p he cried. ah =
"Nothing," said I. "Did you hear a voicci?"
"Iours," said Ben, cycling wokemo up !;
you fairly frightened mc.1 sa.lt 3, 55 #.
7. "Bcn," said [, s'wait till light lamp;
heard another voice. Must be some one iii
tho hous yor outside" -if. aaf.l t.'l
So again lit q lamp, but we searched in
vain. .-qsA aB 49,
Nightmare" said D., vhcn told him my
story.
"Bcn," said 1, "what is there ut tho cross
roads, lv
ga house," said b. Hc had lived in the
,ncighborhood long while, and not long.
"One little house, beside two oak trees
and a fence. An old man lives therc-a rich
man, and bit Of miscr, they say. His
grand daughter Keeps house for him."
+ "Ben, that fellow may have meant harm to
them. ! may be wanted at the cross roads"
Brother" said Ben, $50 to slecp.d. You
had a nightmare" and Ben plunged in be-
tween the blankets, and was snoring again
BEFORE but the awakening soon came again
Iopcncd my eyes, to see a girl standing at
the foot Of my bed. A girl in whites robes,
with golden hair all about her shoulders, who
wrung her hands and cried: ooh, wake up,
you arc wanted ut the cross roads" .,li, -
This time I starte out of bed, bathcd in
cold pcrspcration. 1 Irrcmbed like a leaf l
had no doubt that had received supernatural
warming N' ~
"Bcn," 1 cried, ''1sen, for the third time l
have been told that anl wanted at the cross
roads, and am going" "a
And | began to dress myself as speedily as
possible, listening the while to the storm rag
ing wilder and wilder than ut any other period
since its commencement. 4Ro .D,,et,og
Ben demonstrated with ME in vain At last
he also bcganto huddle on his clothes
5s.If you have gone mad, must SO with you
AND take care of you,S ;hc said, ,ts 8 .
fancy aliotl ontSin; d
:slis
Shtniare caused him to do 50, nd what YOU
think of him?" sss s.' s. {; u
j said nothing. All I could have answered
would have been -;
tf, u am. compelled to go; must go.4 / dare
not refuse, wllatcycr may be thought Of no p,
In ten minutes wcswcre spl.shing through
the mud and rain along the road 1T was
perfectly dark; now and then blazing red
star in the distance told us that lamp was
bcan,ing through the rain III some cottage
window, but otherwise we would not have
been conscious Of our proximity to any babitu-
ition whatever. At last, nearing tic spot
whore tho road from, S. crosses tho road to.
P-,wo wcro indeed in as solitary n place
as can be imagined. s. Y 1is'l 70 -'sf'i
The house, which nbuttcd on the very angle
of the roads, called in familiar pnrlancc the
Cross Road, was tho only one for sonlc dis
tancc in either direction, and certainly on
such afnight We were not likely to meet many
travellers bi 5,;nu
z All was quiet as the grave. We stood quite
STILL In a moment, B. broke out in one of
his widest laughs. f2f@'~'f@
"Wcll," he said, show now ?"-Will you 60
home now and have another nightmare?Y
But hardly had the words escaped his lips,
when shrick broke on the mir and woman's
voice, plainly coming from tho interior of the
cottage, cried: "Holp! help! hclp!"i :.
: "Ben, said I, ''wc are wanted at the cross
roads" and then understanding each other,
without more words VIC made our way to the
window, through which light shonc A mus
lin curtain draped the pancs, but through it
we saw an awful sight s'ft'' "f
An old man lay on the floor, and over him
bent q ruffiian, clutching his throat, and hold
e a|sEs} g his aaE I'll aRatAaS s| 1nan