Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1868-12-10

1t was 80 real, 80 palpable, that when I started
broad awake, I actually believed that some ONT
was IN the room the man who intended robbery
[or violenee., But when had arisen and HI ms
lamp, the room was empty, except myself and
Ben, who lay snoring On his pillow. .aH ~ !a!a
Iwsnt to the door; it was locked Event ttr
the window, the crash of rain against les pains wai
all heard Il even went scrus the passage to ms
mother room. She was awake there had besz
no unusual sound, she was sure. s'rF''n : =
Only dream born of my meeting the strange
man in the road, I felt, had awakened me. .Iweu1
to bed and fell asleep again. Again Twas awaken
ed by the same words, this time shreked in my ea1
!! by an unearthly voice. r.a,ca - -sa}7zg txaj
"Wake up, wake up. You ara wanted, at the
cross roads % ,eIg .i..,.c Is. ,,,a., II
| Twas on my feet once more, and caught Ben,
band as be came over towards my bed. i ,a -yen
What ais your" he cred.,a. st &. sgiq.7e
Nothing" said ]. ''Did you hear voice p p
"Yours," said Ben, yelling woke lpe, up ; You
fairly frightened me- >. -,
'.Ben," said T.. wait till light lamp; Iheaid
another voice. Must be some one in the house OF
outside a. = 90. ,''' 90
So again lit q lamp, but we searched in vain.
Nightmare" said Ben, when told him! my
story. '' s''.' :. -
":Ben," said I, what is there st the cross
1roads?" p. ''' - 2"' r., ''''I' .'s.r' IT,
"a house." said Ben. he had lived in the
tneighborhood long while, and not long. 9'7'
Zone little house, beside two oak trees and "a
fence An old man lives there-srch man, and
ID bit Of a miser; they say. His grand daughter
keeps house for him" ".a'< t. .-., .,@.a." .,.:'
I ,"Beu, that fellow may have meant harm to
them may be wanted at the cross roads, a.rs
"Brother,'' said Ben, ''go to deep You hads
nightmare" and Ben plunged In between; the
blankets, and was snoring again . ~ 7ae, Z
I1also, in ten minutes, slept Is soundly a. be-
fore, but the awakening soon came again. a1la
opened my eyes, to see girl standing at tn
foot of my bed. A girl IN white robes, With golden
hair al about her shoulders, who ruBg her hands
and cried: '''Oh, wake up. you are wanted At the
cross roads. y, .,ssrs> ~ sn- .,,G a.d.iy.
This time I started out of bed, bathsd in cold
perspiration. I trembled like q ieaf I had nc
doubt that had received supernatural warning,
Ben" cried, Ben, for the third lime ! have
been told that am wanted at the cross roads, and
| I am going" -.,.g.r, r,,tr t,.sz 9aI .4-.l 1s#
And 1 began to dress myself a. speedily as pos.
sible listening the while to the storm raging Wild.
er and wilder than at any other period since its
commencement. .?,.ai = 9s.l- 7pgsa =; = =!
Ben demonstrated With me- in vain. At last he
/ also bssan to huddle on his clothes 9, ga.f.,:
you have gone mad, 1 must go with You and
take care of you" be said. ......ea j lI.g,Q }
"But fancy another man, going ont in storm
like this to the cross roads, because nightmare
caused him to do 30, and what would you think o.
him?'
T said nothing. An I could have answered
would have been: e =. ..-.-.,.,. ..,.i -
"I am compelled to 60; ! must 60; l dare not
refuse, whatever may be thonghtof me r
In ten minutes we were splashing through the
mud and rain along the road. 1t was perfectly
dark; now and then blazing red star in the dis
tance told us that lamp was beaming through the
rain in some cottage window, but otherwise we
would 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 49,.
The house, which abutted on the very angle Of
the roads, called in familiar parlance the Cross
Road, was the only one for some distance in either
direction, and certainly on such night we were
not likely to meet many travelers.- -
An was quiet as the grave We stood quite
still. In a moment Ben broke out in one Of his
widest laughs.
"Wen," he said, 'how now?'' VIII you g
home now and have another nightmare p" w
But hardly had the words escaped hishps wher
shrek broke on the air and woman's voice
plainly coming from the interior Of the cottage
cried: "Help helpl helpl"
"Ben," said I, "we are wanted at the cross
roads," and then understanding each other, with
out more words we made our way to the window
through which light shone. A muslin curtain
draped the panes, but throegh il we saw an awfu
sight 5 '. ~ ~ ,.....' .-..l
An old man lay on the floor, and over him benz
rufiau, cutching his throat, and holdng pisto
to his ear, while another man grasped the shrek
ing girl by the arm-a girl in floating nigh
dress-with such long golden hair as belonged Il
the g1iri of my vision, Not moment was tebt
wasted Ben auLg lls weight against the slender
lattice and crushed it in, and we had gappled the
rufians before they knew whence the attack came
or how many foes were upon them.
I do not intend to describe the struggle; indeed
could not, if I would. But we were strong mer
and inspired by the cries Of the helpless old mar
and the terrified girl, we soon had one Of the vii
lians bound and the other lying PROSTATE on thu
floor. . >-
Then Ben started for assistance, and, before
morning, both were in jail Ben admitted, as W
shook each other by the hand, that 1--WE were want
ed at the cross roads.
The old man was not miser, but he had savec
some few thousand dollars for his old age. and liv
ing more plainly than be need have done. had Civ
en- rise to the rumor, and 50 brought the burglar
to the cross roads in the hope Of booty.
The girl, beautiful creature Of seventeen, wal
his grand daughter, and as no story is acceptable
to the lady readers without flavor Of the romance
I will tell them, that she became in after years
not my wife, but the wife Of my darling brother
Ben
GUARD AGAINST VULGAR LANGUAGE
is as much connection between the words and tht
thoughts as there is between the thoughts and 40
tons. The latter is not only the expression of tht
former, but they have power to react upon th'
soul and leave the stain of corruption there