The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1869-06-10

white robes, with golden hair all abou
her shoulders, who wrung her hands
and cried: ooh, wake up, you ar'
wanted at the crossroads
This time | started ont of bed
bathed in cold pcrspiration. l trem
bled like leaf. had no doubt that
had received supernatural warning.
"Ben," l cried, "Ben, for the thiro
time / have been told that / am wanted
at the crossroads, and am going"
And l began to dress myself a:
speedily as possible, listening the while
to the storm raging wilder than at any
other period since it's commencement
Ben remonst rated with me in vain
At last he began to huddle on his
clothes.
"lf you have gone mad, must &C
along and take care ofyou," he said.
"But fancy another man going ou
in storm like this to the crossroads
because a nightmare caused him to dc
so, and what would you think of him ?
said nothing All could have an
swercd would have been:
II am compelled to go; I must go
| dare not refuse, whatever nay bt
thought Of me-" -
In ten minutes we were spIashine
through the mud and rain along the
road. 1t was perfectly dark; now
and then blazcd red slar in the dis.
tance told us that lamp was beamne
through the rain in some cottage win.
dow, but otherwise we would not have
been conscious of our proximity to
any habtation whatever, At last
nearing the spot where the road from
S. crosses the road to P, we
were indeed in as solitary a place as
can be imagined.
The house which abutted on the
very angle of the roads, called in IA
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 many
travellers.
All was quiet as the grave We
stood quite still. In moment Ben
broke out in one of his loudest laughs.
"Wcll,' he said, chow now? Will
you go home now and have another
nlghtmare?'
But hardly had the words escaped
his lips when a shrek broke on the air,
and Il woman's voice, plainly coming
from the interior of the cottage, cried ;
"Help! help! help.'
"Ben,' said !, "wc're wanted at the
cross roads" and then, understanding
each other, without more words, we
made our way to window through
which light shone. A muslin curtain
draped the panos, but through it we
saw an awful sight,
An old man lay Oh the door, and
over him bent q ruilan, clutching his
throat and holding pistol to his ear,
while another man grasped the shrek
mig girl by the arm-a girl in flowing
night dress with such long goldeu
hair as belonged to the girl of my
vision. Not a moment was to be
wasted. Ben flung his weight agains,
the slender lattice and crushed it in,
and we had grappled the rutlians before
they knew where the attack came from,
or how many foes wcr. upon them.
do not intend to describe the strug-
Gle; indeed, | could not if ! would.
But we were strong men, and inspired
by the cries of the helpless old man,
the villains were soon bound and lay
PROSTATE on the floor.
Then Ben started for assistance, and
before morning both were lodged in
Jail, Ben admitted. as we shook each
other by the hand, that We were
wanted ut the crossroads"
The old man was not a miscr. but he
had saved few thousand dollars for
his old age; and living more plainly
than he need have done gave rise to the
rumor, and so brought the burglars to
the crossroads in hope of booty.
The girl, a beautiful creature Of sew
enteen, was his granddaughter; and
as no story is acceptable to the lady
reader without flavor OF romance, |
will tell them that she became in after
years, not my wife, but the wife of my
darling brother Ben.
How I Did 1t.
| 7 h;t.h oJ my choir nlncn nm In horn