St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-04-17

]
And so we cantcred alon" the darken-
ing way, with the same nonchalent as
surance with which we would have gone
out from Illinois homes for an evening
ride. Arrived near the gateway OF the
farm, following a habit formed when we
began our visits, we turned short into the
dense wood opposite, and concealing our
horses in its depths, proceeded on foot to
the house. The sulky boy WAS hanging
iaZlly over the gate aS we passed in, and
greeted us with Il grutf "IIow are We, ."
and Il jerk of his thumb towards the
house when we inquired for his sisters
Farther up the path we met old Harry
one of the servitors about the place, who
accoetcd us pleasantly, and then. coming
closer, sud conlidcntiallv. that he had
| seen four or five 'miThtv suspicious
lookin chaps ridm@ past the house two
or three time, on the preceding day, and
/ lac thought that sons OF Buck Browns
"wlIackers' were about.
We were alone and totally unarmcl.
y sudden SENSE of danger struck me like
Il chill. and | AT once suggested to the
Captain that. rs our friends did not vet
know of our arrival, we should return 10
our horses and ride back to our regiment
| postpo-ing oar visit to some more auSpi-
cious occasion. lie, however, rather
/ laughed 1T what lie termed INV nervous
ness. and argued that aS the boy had al
ready seen II, we would be heartily laugh
! Il Il,
| least show ourselves To the sisters. If on
" for ten minutes. knowing into what
colossal proportions the Captains ten
minutes We're likely 10 expand. adher-
ed TO my suggestion, and during the
short conference which followed we walk
ul back TO the gate. The boy was zone
and assuming that he had zone TO the
house by some other path, and, probably
had already apprised the inmates of our
presence. we turned again and walked
without hesitation 10 the door.
At Tie beainnin" OF the war the ma
nor-hou>c ot the plantation had been
burned, and lis proprietor murdered ;,-
an aboltioni>t. and the family were now
I living in an old tenant house, whic! WAS
of lo@> and built III Il manner familiar
throughout the vest and Southwest. \
wide pa>>agc-way. rooted and tloored, but
not inclo~cd at the ends, ran transverse
" through tn centre. ON one side ut
which were Il kitchen and lleiug room.
and on the other. three or four small
sleeping rooms All these rooms opr.cd
INTO the pa-slgc-way above named, and
in none OF them was there any other
door. In the pas>age-wav itself Were
kept harness. saddles. hoes, spades, and
Il variety Ut outdoor implements.
Inside the sittln--room there wa>
warmth and light and pleasant welcome
There, too. the widow, with tinge of
anxiety, mentioned the suspicious horse
men of the dav before Again the chill
ran over me. and the impulse to return
at once came stronger than ever. But
the merry-hrurtcd sister and the Gallant
captain laughed our fears TO scorn, and
daclared the horSrmcn were but idle ne
groc- or stroling Federal soldiers. These
latter knew they were not. But we
were within the charming circle. The
temptation to stay WIS present. visible,
glowing with beauty and welcome. The
possible danger was rcmote-barcly sus-
pccted, if even that. l. il Il wonder that
we STAYED
AT all events" said the winow, ''Ill
20 and have VIII keep 4 good lookout
while you are here, and report at once
aaythia. suspicious he may sec
With these words She passed out "t
the room. but after a brief absence re-
turned with the in,c!li-enc that Will
was nowhere 10 5c found, and that his
saddle and bride also had disappeared
from the passagc-way.
''Thcn of cou,r," said the younger
sister "Will has gone up to the Brown
place to see Charlie, and if anything is
astir in the country, those two boys Will
be sure to discover it and let you know.
"Yes," replied the widow, musingly
sit must be 50. Anyhow, it will be satl
for you to stay little while, till the
Captain sings us one or two of thoSC
= German ballads"
Captain Blake was no mean pianist,
and perhaps there is no better evidence
of the flsimation which led him to thl:
rude farmhouse, than the fact that, be
in. such, lie could, without wincing, Sli
down TO an old aSthmalic melodeon, and
faithfully essay to accompany his voice
: in some of the quaint ballads OF tho
: Fathcrland.
The evening Wore away in music and
} pleasant chat. We had separated into
f couples, and on one side of the room thu
: widow and myself, half hidden behind ;
huge, old-tashioned >idcboard, converse
titfully i'll tones scarcely audible to our
e selves, while in the farthest corner, th'
l sister and the Captain, with dOwncas
( eyes and trcmulous voices, held tender
= converse. The last stroke of ten rans
c out from the old clock that stood on tn
sideboard rs the door suddenly opened
l and old Harry stole in, his round eye,
i distcnded to their utmost, his grisly WOO
; almost erect with fright
We sprang to our feet simultaneously
. "NIaste' Cap'en," said Harry, in
t loud whisper, Il jis see four, seben mel
i climb obcr do garden fence, an | hca
v horses in do road. You hab for to rur
n light now, or Buck Brown hab got you
c shu :"
Even while the old man was speakin;
+ there was heavy tread in the passage
way, the door was pushed rudely open
: and half-a-dozen motely-looking rutfians
r armed to the teeth, strobe in, seized tn
d old negro by the throat, damned hi
1t "black SOUL" and, roughly thrusting hin
:. into the outer darkness, closed the door
s Like neallY all loo-hOuses. this was Q