The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1869-08-05
HOYT 6 CO., Proprietors.

me for a cent, any time fore mornin'.
| But as soon as it war lie bit, | cum out,
and thar I seen one feller lyin' dead be-
side the tent-door, and track O. blood
all whar t'other had run off, jest like
stick O. molasses 'cross buckwheat cake;
and, says 1: Thank Heaven. I've hit
'em both p and the weight that war tool.
| off my mind in that air moment-stran-
ger, thar amt no 'scribIn' it F"
The real tervour of his tone as he ut
tered the last sentence, with all the air OF
O. good man whose conscience has just
been relieved of some overwhelming bur-
den, cannot be conveyed in words.
II daresay yu'd hardly guess, now,
stranger, that first saw this revolver in
a vision; but I did, though, stare as much
as yu like; and the way it happened war
Jest so: Father had bin dead bout a
month, when 1 cum in late one night from
fxin' a rail-fence that one of our oxen
had smashed; and alter I'd sot by the
kitchen-fre spell, and done toPable
stroke O. supper, began to feel. a leetle
drowsy. l warn't not to say asleep, but
Jest SO as if yu'd spoke to me sudden, Id
hev thought minute 'forc l answered =
when. ali at once, seen father stannin
right fore me, with his big straw-hat O
one side, and his high boots and striped
shirt sleeves, and his hands in his pockets
(that war the only ghost-like thing bout
him, for while he war alive they war
mostly in some one else's), and he says to
me, he says: 'Cy, my boy my names
Cyrus Jehoshaphat Flint, stranger, and L
amt ashamed on it]; 'Cy, my boy, I've
cum back from the spirit-world to tell yu
suthin' yu'll p'raps be none the wus O.
knowin'. I didn't leave yu much,' says
he, "cause yu air safe to so long single,
handed, whereas them two brothers and
FIVE sisters of yourn will kinder need
proppin' up some, fore they kin stand
by themselves. Now, yu jest listen to
me. Tomorrow mornin', the very fust
thing, yu up and job open the back o. that
old cupboard in the corner jest 'bove the
top shelf, and thar yu'll find revolver,
the best yu ever fins gered and may Heav-
en- bless it to yure use. And now, kneel
down, and recei7e my blessin'.' | war
Jest u gwine to du it, when all to once
Slipped off my chair, and cum the all
fredest lick with my nose agn the fem
der as ever I seen; and when l cum-to
aein, thar warn't nobody thar. 'Wal,
cnss it = says l Though that air language
amt quite proper fer member o. the
church,, Il hope next time father comes
from 'other world, he'll contr;ve to do it
at a reasonable hour, stead O shown up
alter bedtime, and maxim his own flesh
and blood break his nose in this here
fash'n.' But for all that, didn't forget
what he said and fust thing next mornin
| up and into the kitchen, and out with
the back O. the cupboard, and thar lay the
the revolver, sure as ever thing war
in the world. And now, stranger, if
WI don't believe that air story, here is the
IDENTICAL revolver, and yu can so again
that, nohow!"
Against such con6rmatory evidence it
would have been useless to argue; and l
readily assented, only venturing 10 in
quiro the mystery Of the singularly ar
ranged studs on the stock of the pistol
WAL, stranger" returned my compan-
ion, "yu wouldn't guess the trick o them
studs in hurry, so Ill tell yu. Each O
them air studs on that revolver stands
for the life of man that hm and me hev
cleared off. There's eleven on 'em alto
rether, and l reckon that's a pretty tol-
able stroke O. work for ono man and one
weepun.'
Used as I am to extraordinary conf
dence, this cool, complacent statement
fairly staggered mo for the moment.
Good Heavens l gasped, "do you
mean to tell mo that you have murdered
eleven men?'
mo, stranger" replied he slowly and
sententiousIy: "yu hev got into the wrong
ferry-boat in maxim that air statement.
I mean to tell yu that I've found it ne
cessary, at different periods o my life, to
rub out eleven human critters who mout
otherwise hev offered the same ci-vility to
me and l calclate yu don't call tnat
murderin' Thar's one wantln' yet to
complete the dozen, as yu see; but"
added he cheerfully, chat won't be long
a.cumln', l guess"
"Tho old cannibal!" said mentally;
che talks of killing people as if he were
only collecting photographs Pray Heav-
en- he may take it into his head to add
me TO his museum -
"Thar's one vantage I've got with this
weepun," pursued the Yankee; 81 kin al
WAYS tell at fust sight O man whether
I'm gwine to kill him some day or not. D
"How's that ?" asked l, not without a
secret shudder, and slight anxiety as to
which way the scale had turned with re-
gard to myself:
"Wal, Jest this way: whenever meet
q man that Pm bound to rub out bime-
by, the hammer o this re-volvor's sure to
Gin sorter click-so-jest to show that
he knows his dooty 'spectin' that air in
dividooal; and he never makes mistakes,
he DON'T .,