Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1868-10-15

of a miser thcy say hH h'"
daughter keeps house for him.
aBen. that fellow may have meant
harm to them. | may be wanted at
the Cross Roads" "
aBo,hcr," said Ben Ego 90 sleep.
Yon had a nightmare !" and Ben
plunged in between the blankets, and
was soon snoring again.
also, in ten minutes, slcptas sound
ly as before, but the awakening soon
came again
opened my eyes to SEQ g'n
standing at the foot Of my bed. A
girl in white robes, with golden hair
all about her shoulders, who wrung
her hands and cried; "Oh, wake up;
YOU are wanted at the Gross Roads y
This time / started out Of bed,
bathed in a cold perspiration. ltrem-
bled like leaf had no doubt that
| had received a supernatural warning.
"Ben," cried, "Ben, for the third
time / have been told that ! am want
cd at the Cross Roads, and / am now
going"
And / began TO dress myself as
speedily as possible, listening the while
to the storm raging wilder and wilder
tnan at any period since its COM
mencement.
Ben demonstrated with me in vain.
At last he also began to huddle on his
clothes.
"If you have gone mad must go
with you and take care of you" he
said. "But fancy another man going
out in a storm like this to the Cross
Roads, because a night mare caused
him to do so, and what would you
think of him l'
/ said nothing. All ] could have
answered would have been: 81 am
compelled to go; i must go. l dare
not refuse, whatever may be thought
of me"
In ten minutes we were splashing
through the mud and rain along the
road. 1t was perfectly dark; now
and then a blazed red star in the dis
tance told us that lamp was beam
ing through the rain in some cottage
window, but otherwise we could not
have been conscious of our proximity
to any habitation whatever. AT last,
nearing the spot where the road from
s. crosses the road to P, we
were indeed in as solitary place as
can be imagined.
The house, which abutted on the
very angle of the roads, called in fa-
miliar parlance the Cross Roads, was
the only one for some distance in
either direction, and certainly on such
a night we were not likely to meet
any travellers.
All was quiet as the grave. We
stood quito still. In moment Ben
broke out in one of his widest laughs,
"Well," he said, show nowl Will
you 60 home now and have another
nightmare
But hardly had the wUrde osvapvd
his lips when a shrek broke on the
air, and woman's voice plainly COM
ing from the interior of the cottage,
cried
"Hclpl helpl helpp -
"Ben," said |, "we are wanted at
the Cross Roads," and then under.
standing each other, without more
words we made our way to the win
dow, through which light shone A
muslin curtain drapcd the panes, but
through il we saw an awful sight. An
old man lay on the floor, and over
him bent arufiian, clutching his throat,
and holding a pistol to his ear, while
another man grasped the shrieking
girl by the arm-a girl in floating
night-drcss--with such long golden
hair as belonged TO the girl of my
vision Not a moment was TO be
wasted. Ben flung his weight against
the slender lattice and crushed il in,
and we had grappled the rufiians be-
fore they knew from whence the at
tack came, or how many foes were
upon them.
/ do not intend TO describe the strugs
glej indeed, | could not if / would.
But we were strong men, and inspired
by the cries of the helpless old man
and the terrified girl, we soon had one
Of the villains bo1nd and the other
lying PROSTATE on the floor.
Then Ben started for assistance, and
before morning both were in jail Ben
admitted, as we shook each other by
the hand, that "we were wanted at
the Cross Roads"
The old man was not a miser, but
he had saved some few thousand dol |
lars for his old age, and living more
plainly than he need have done, had |
given rise to the rumor, and 80 brought |
the burglars to the Cross Roads in the
hope Of booty.
The girl a beautiful creature Of
seventeen, was his granddaughter,
and as no story is acceptable to the
lady readers without flavor of 70.
nance, ] will tell them that she be.
came, in after years, not my wife, but
The wife of my darling brother Ben.
The Fifth Military District has 40