Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1869-03-18

must cooperate Win He. Anu
now listen to what / have to say:
Tonight, at twelve o'clock pre-
cisely, do you two visit the old
building. l will be there. Ask
for the young woman who applied
at nightfall to them for shelter
Let your object be, apparently, to
arrest her."
''But | do not understand!'
"But you will. l am going
there at dusk, disguised as a beg
gar-girl. By the time you come
my information will have been
collected" She rose to her feet
as she spoke, and now indeed she
wore the appearance of the Mem
esis had likened her to at first,
Beautiful, but rigidas fate, looked
that set, determined face. The
beautiful eyes had lost their soft
ened lustre, and shone with pas
sionate light almost cruel. The
lips were pale, but rigid as iron,
and the beautiful nostril dilated
with an expression of heart-con-
Stunning vengeance. 81 will read
the guilty secret" j" she said, 'if the
criminal is there, however deep
in his heart he may bury it.
Strange as it may appear, |
made no attempt to dissuade her
from her purpose. I could not
| felt as if the beautiful creature
exercised over me a magnetic
control. And with this under
standing we took our leave, to
prepare for the night visit to the
old house and its dangerous in
habitants.
Those acquainted with the city
at that period can form some idea
of the danger Of the plot we had
formed. To US it was a matter
of daily occurrence. But for the
young girl, inexperienced and
tenderly nurtured, to thrust her
self into the very house of the
unscrupulous and desp'rate wretch
es who were suspected of this
crime, was simply appalling. 1t
would not do, however, to go to
the place before the hour appoint
ed for our coming, for that would
defeat the object in view. 1t was,
therefore, with many misgiving,
and an uneasiness but poorly con-
cealed, we bided' our time. But
we determined to be there at the
very moment, and the clock was
on the stroke of midnight when
we knocked at the door. The
outside of the house gave no signs
of life within. The shutters were
securely fastened, and no ray Of
light penetrated the darkness;
but the .muffled sound Of voices
reached our cara until our knock
hushed them to whisper. There
was a momentary hesitation as if
of counselling together, and then
the door was opened wide.
It was long, low room, dusty
and brown from age. About a
dozen persons were seated around,
but every eye was turned to the
door. Two men had raised to their
feet and stood in an attitude, which
might mean defence, before the
fireplace; but the Object that at
tracted our attention most was a
young girl sitting in the center of
the apartment. Her face was dark
as gipsy's and the long hair hung
loose on her shoulders. Her
dress was of poor material, ragged
and unclean. Patches and rents
had almost changed It's hue and
disguised its texture. She seemed
too thinly clad for that cold night,
and her slender frame shivered,
as if from cold, as the chill air from
the open door swept in.
"What do you want? 2" was the
stern question addressed to us by
one of the men at the fire.
Before l had time to reply, the
girl sprang to her feet and spoke
instead: "Arrest these men!-
Her voice was low, but the face,
flashed in the light of the fire,
was that of the Nemesis l had
seen that day.
There was a short fierce strug-
gle, and the men were in our pow
er. The girl then walked to a
place in the floor, and touching a
concealed spring, raised a trap
door She bade Mr.. I. lift the