The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-06-07
exaggerated what had seen; but 1
cnnII not shake of the memory Of the

so tired and i'll, that l gave up the idea
OF going any further that day. Not to
lose time, however, I determined to take
some sketches of BishAm, and as felt
lnolsposed for any more rowing, took
old Tom Peacock, the fisherman, with
me TO skull: Tom was, as you know, Il
garrulous old fellow, and he soon began
to talk. he rRmbled on for some time
with his fishing stories and his DOach-
ing adventures. all of which l had
heard before, and 10 which, consequent
ly, l paid little attention. Presently,
when the stream OF his loquacity had
run little dry, I asked him, more for
the sake OF saying something than be-
cause felt any interest in the question,
whether the storm had been bad last
night at NARROW.
'Bad?' said old Tom; 'ay, that it were.
dunno as ever l see Bladder, eXCep'
one, three year ago, and just about this
time that were, too. Why, what day of
the month were yesterday?
The twenty.1irst.'
THE tw enty. first of june said the
old man, lowering his voice; why,
that were the very day, it was done,
1T was done? what was donI? What
do you mean?' The cold chill came
over me again, and 1 almost fancied
could see the face again.
Didn't ye hear il afort?' asked Tom.
'Ah, no, remember, you haven't been
this way for some time, and p'raps
you missed it in Lunnon papers. Well,
you see, sir, this was the way OF it.
You didn't know old Kit Garth, the
fisherman, up HRmbledon way, may
be7 No? All, it wasn't over much he
was on the river! He lived best part of
his time drinking at the public, and
don't think he WAS OVer-pRrticulRr as
to how he got his money. However,
that's no business of mine, you know.
Old Kit was terrible old rascal, sure.
ly, and pretty life he and his son. who
was almost as big blackguard as his
father, led poor old Mrs. Grath. She
good for the likes of Kit; and although
he used to beat her, and well-nigh
starVe her sometimes, she never COM
planned. believe she was fond of 'em
both somehow, and certainly the young
'un used to be a bit kind to her by times,
and protected her against the old man
now and then; but you see, sir, it
WASN'T often as he could do that, for in
general, as sure as old Kit was drunk,
young Kit was drunk too. Well, they
went on at this sort o. life for some
time, sometimes in prison for assaults,
sometimes for poaching and that
though there amt much in that, l
think, until one day it came to IL regu,
lar blow up. The two men had been
drinking hard, and the old 'un. so soon
as ever he got home, begun bully
Raging and Il punching the missus,
Well, the young 'un he interferred, and
the upShot of 1t was as there was II reg
liar fight. What happened exactly no.
body never rightly knowed; except one
thing, and that was, that in the morn>
ing old Kit had got awful cut right
across the cheek, and that young Kit
was of. We never saw no more OF him.
Folks said he'd gone for a sOdger and
RhnE EFfmRA. /
know nothing about that. After he'd
gone things went on worse and worse
with the Garths, and old Kit. whose
beauty wasn't improved by the scar
left by his sons parting present, SEEM
ed to go right off his head like, when
he'd got his drink aboard, and
ill-used his wife worse than ev-
er. Well, sir, to make long
story short, one night, it was the
twenty-tirst of June three years ago,
old Kit went home from the public at a
little afore eleven o'clock, not quite
drunk, although he'd been drinking
hard. It was a tremendous bad night,
laundering and lightning fearful, and
deal of rain falling, but old Kit
didn't mind that, and set off for his
cottage, which was about mile from
the river. Nobody seed him on the
road home there wasn't many people
about such a night as that, as you may
suppose. sir. and nobody seed him 90
into hiu house. A little after eleven the
neighbores was aroused by frightlul
screams and cries of murder from old
kits cottage; and although they was
used to strange noises from there now
and then, some of'em thought itsound-
ed more serious this time and turned out
to see what was up. They found the
garden-gate and cottage door both open
and between 'em, as If she'd run on:
with her last strength, they found the
@JI far
had been all battered In with some
heavy instrument, and l was told by
them as picked her up that 1t was
most dreadful sight to see. She was
stone dead, o. course. There wasn't
much doubt about who'd done 1t. The
poor old creetur had got hold of n hand
tul of grey whiskers and q piece OF old
Kits neckcher, and old Kit himself,
and his gun, was not to be found. Inc
alarm was raised, and the constables
came, and they hunted about for old Kit
all that night, but managed of course to
go every way but the right, until it was
too late. AT last they goes down to the
lock. and they says to the keeper, who
hadn't heard nothing o. what had been
going on, 'Ha' ye seen anything O. old
GARTH? "Yes,' says the lOck'keeper.
He'd come down there about two hours
ago, and jumped into his punt, which
was lying just outside the lock-gates,
and gone of up the river. The keeper
told lem he didn't half like the old
mans looks. He Just see him by the
light of flash of lightning, and he
said his face looked like death, and as
II there was somethin' horrible after
him. He'd got his gun with him, the
keeper said, and his shirt was all tore
about his throat, as ifhe'd ha' been hav-
ing fight. The constables they went
off to Henley, hot-foOt, but they didn't
find no Kit, and for good reason, too.
The next morning his punt, with moth
ing in it but the gun, was found among
the piles OF the weir, and when they got
the gun, they got the thing as the muir
der was done with, for the poor old wo-
mans gray hair was sticking to the
butt AS for Kit, he turned up ABOUT
three days after, washed up against the
lock- gates, and it was pretty clear how
he came there, for he had a shot hole In
his breast big enough to put your hand
In. That was just such another night
ga last night was-I mind 1t WELL
That was the story old Tom told me;
I remember every word he said HIS dis
tinctly as possible. 1 knew when he
began, by the feeling of horror that
possessed me, that l was going TO hear
the explanation OF my last nights mys-
tery. felt then that what had seen
was not of this world. don't think 1t
had SO presented itself to me before,
except by the unreasohing terror with
which the thought of It filled my mimi.
Isuffered greatly for some time after
wards. have never yet completely
got over the remembrance of that aw,
ful face; at first 1t was terrible hao
not been to Henley since then I'M
til today, and il had known When
we first started that you would nave
stopped at the Island, l could nave