The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1867-12-17
A PINcu or SNUFF.
prA CANADIAN surLrR,

! toUeT, lell my pace OF JUSTICES 10 wv
city Of MontreaI, and started to walk
home. Mr. house. was about ihrse miles
away, and stood alone in very desoIa'0
spot, the only approach 10 which was BY
a bleak and lonely road. Habit, how
ever. had so affected mo that | was neveI
troubled 10 the slighieA! degree, either by
renro: suspicion. generally trsyersed
tho lonely road without thinking of 'ho
length oil the way or the gloom of the
scenery.
On the night of which Iallude, I car
rlud uilh mo bundle oontdiulng cou-
siderable sum of money, 1t was this,
perhaps, that made me somewhat ner-
vous and cautious. For tho frat time in
my life l bsgsn to bo troubled with foars
OF robbery.
thought ofthe dangers Of tire way, Of
the winding road; Of the rocks that ta-
vorcd concenlmsns; of the thick shade oil
trscs that invited ambush. Every story
ofrobbery that l had ever heard of now
recOrrod to me, until a lsnGtS the idea
took oompIate possession of me, | could
think ofuothins clss. In vain | tried to
sxpeli thrse thoughts irom my mind; |
could no mora coulrol them than the
winds or heaven, so | now walked on
looking scspiciOusly al every rock, trans
forming every hush into lurking foot
pad. Itithrd beea possible. would
have tqrne, bach, bat tl,is was not N h4
thought Of far Gus moment. Ny family
and uy ff!cuds were all IL houc and |
vas al~ays punc.ual, sny delay now
would have flei them with immoAsura-
aIe anxiety, Ny only coufso lay on
ward and onwari | felt that | must 60,
So onward wcn', bitterly lancnliDg my
folly in not takiug carriage from tho
town which would have tNkon me to my
homo SO quickly And SO easily, aaJ spaced
me all my present anxiety
Full of these thoughts. I arrived at a
solitary house which stood ball way on
s@y iopsasY.
zte 81 4 ssrUSms;ttfrem- .ths
windows across tho road, Illuminating
the sCene. jus! as l approached ii.
dark dgurs. dashed from behind the
house thro' tho ligt and into the gloon
Of tho road. up which it walked with
great rApidity. was startled at Tho
suddeunoss; caught glimpse Of the
man lace as he started at me, but coul1
not distinguish his features. IOnly saw
that he was mulailO and no moro. y
His whole act showed that he had been
waiting for me at this particular placeH
Why dart forward and walk ahead ofme1
was what troubled me.
All this time l was walking on, !
tried TO catch up with the man and pas,
him. 1t was impossible / qulckenod
my pace till it became almost run; but
the more increased my speed, SO did
tho man increase his, The reault of this
was to confirm my worst suspicious and
to prove most clearly that he had sinister
designs upon me.
AT length l came to tho fool oil a long,
hill, ...r F
Up this the man went with unabaIod
velocity; but here | paused and slacken-
ed my speed. At thetop oftbs bill
was the lOnelicst place on the whole
road. Not a house was near it, except
the ruius of an old bocshouso, which
was fest going TO decay, II this man in'
tends to attack me, here, / thoughtwOula
bO the place. So tho only thiag for me
to do was to prepare myself for tho
worst, ..
was absolutely unarmed, not even
so much as penEui(o about mo. |
sought TO find stick, but could see
nothing Of the kind. l was forced to
conlcut mysclf with a large, sharp slono
which 10y in the road. ThOn, taking Of
my shoes, l deposited my precious bu'-
den in each, in equal d,Sisious. All this
consumed some timo, aud acer put my
shoes on again, was forced to walk
slowly. Tho result was that rogainol
my freshness, and dtow near the summit
r A.. a.