Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-08-13

hNN WI tAibukUV kANIo HN mUEl
as you like; and the way Il happened ,yar
Jest so; Father had bin dead 'bouta month
when | cum in late one night from txin
a rail-fenee that one of our oxen hat
smashed and alter I'd sot by the kitchen
fire for n spell, and done a torable stroke
Q supper began to feel leetle drowsy
| warnt to say asleep, but jest SO AS if yu'd
spoke to me sudden, ia hev thought d
minute fore I answered-when, all IL
once, seen father stannin' right 'Rre me
with his big straw hat o one side, and his
high boots. and striped shirt sleeves, and
hts hands IN lAspockcts (Aa war the only
ghost like thing bout him, for wkile lIs
war ALIVE they war mostly in some ont
eises and ho saysto me, says he; b'Cy
my BOP, Imy names Cyrus Jehosapha,
Flint, stranger, and | amt ashamed on IL
Cy, my boy, I've cum back from the
spirit-world toFtell you suthin' vail per
haps be none the wuss o KNOWN. / didn't
leave yu much" says he, "'cause WI all
sIfe to go long single-hapdedV whereas
them two brothers and ave aisters u
your'n will kinder need proppin' up some
fore they can stand by themselves Now
yu jest listen TO me Tomorrow mornin
the very fust Thug, yu up and Job ,opef
tlIe back o. that old cupboard IN the cor.
ner, jest above the top shelf, and thar yu'll
md revolver, the best-yu ever fingered
and may Heavepsb bless &c to yure use And
now kneel down, and receive my blessin.
war jest gwine rtodui It, when all to
once Eslipped off my chair, and cum the
all-t1redest lick with my! nose agin the
fender as ever | seen ! and when cum 10
agin, ther wasn't nobody thar. Wal, GUS
II ! says (tlIOugh that air. language air,it
unIt1 nrnnHr GDr n lNnr ~ tho 81,
hope the next time father comes from,
tother world, he'll contrive to,do it at a
rcas 'nable hour stead o shown UP a'ter
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' l up
ana into the kitchen, and out with the
back o the cupboard, and thar lay the re-
Volver, as sure as ever thing war in the
world And now, stranger, il you don't
believe that air story, here Is the IDENTICAL
revolver, and you can't go again. that no
howf'J LlL'l III iltPL = iioI o
Against such confirmatory evidence it
would have been useless to argaes and |
readily assented, only venturing to inquire
into the mystery ofthe singularly arranged
studs ON the stock of the pistol ''H'
Wei stranger" returned my com
panion, "yu wouldn't guess the trick o
them studs in hurry, 80 III tell-yoa.
Each o them air studs on that revolver
Stands for the life of man that him and
me hev clared off There's eleven on 'em
altogether, and l recon that's pretty
torable stroke O. work for one man and
one weepun."
Used as l am to extraordinary conf
dences, this cool, complacent statement
fairly staggered me for a moment.
Good Heaven!" l gasped, "do you
mean to tell me that you have murdered
eleven men?"
"No, stranger" replied he slowly and
scntentiously; "yu hev got on the wrong
ferryboat in making that air statements
mean to tell yu that I've found it necessa-
ry at different periods O. my life, to rub
out eleven human critters who must other
wise hev offered the same ci-vility to me ;
and1 calc'late yu don't call that murderin'?
Thar's one wantin' yet to complete the
dozen, as yu see but" added he cheerful
fully, that won't be long a-coming,' !
guess"
r"The old cannibalP' said j mentally
"he talks of killing people as. if hek were
only collecting photographs. Pray Heaven
he may not take it into his head to add me
to his museumW
"Thar's one vantage I've got with this
weepun," pursued the Yankee; " | can al
ways tell at fust sight o. Il man whether
I'm a-gwine to kill him some day or not"
"HOw's that" asked /, not without Sc
cret shudder, and slight anxiety as to
which way the scale had turned with re-
gard to myself.
oval, jest this way; whenever meet a
man that I'm bound to rub yout, bime-by,
the hammer O. this re-volver's sureto gin
a sOrter click-so-jest to show that he
knows his dOOty 'spectin' that air individ
GOAL and he never makes a mistake, he
don't"
The perfect air of conviction with
which he said this was the reverse of
agreeable; and could not help rejecting:
A pretty thing if this precious pistol
should have happened TO click when he
saw me first, and he should think it neces-
sary to vindicate its iLfallibility My
countenance probably expressed some dis
quietude, for my companion suddenly
broke my meditations by observing, in an
encouraging tones: a &#
"YuS haint no call 10 be skeared,
stranger; he didn't click at sight o'you,
and I'm kinder glad ont, for you're good
kumpny in yure way; although yu air
tarnation green in the ways of the world, /"
As this estimate Of my abilities was
evidently too deeply rooted 70 admit lof
fefutation, let it pass, merely inquiring
whether the fatal augury had ever proved
false.
"Never, stranger" he replied emphati-
cally. "Yu can't 'spect prophecy to go
wrong, and that air weepun's prophet,
Jest as much as Dan1 or >Zek1 / won't
say that wouldn't hev bin glad, one time,
to catch him slippin'-and reezun good
tew; but you mOut as well 'spect Gin'ral
Grant to be 'fraid, as this weepun to tell o
lie"
And that one time-what was it ~
"Wal, seein' it's yu, stranger, I don't
mind tellin', though l ain't SO precious
spry at talkin' on that air subject, / swear.
It's good few years now sim happened
on = feiler who hailed from village on
the Mississippi called Burnt Clearin', ,
cause of a big fire they'd he'd thar once
on time; and we froze together power
full, and was Just like brothers all at once.
Wharever one went, 'totheT wentt what
ever one did, 'tother did; and if this un
he'd a dollar, that I'm war good for fifty
cents ont, least thing. We went down to
MOO Orleens, ard 1ip tc PhihdelphY by
the cars, and eeaard 70 Charleston on
tradin, spec ana FteHA Aye, we fotched up
the dollars right smart. saved him from
bein' chawed up by bar that looked
plaguy angshusto make his closer quaint
ance; and he saved me from bein'
drowned in fioodtime, when my canoe got
turned oyer -sgip p snags altogether,
stnange.yu mout hev TUX 1s fur David and
Jonathan cum alive agin. But all the
while thar war one thot hanging in INV
mind like risin' cloud in summer, that
spiles the look of thenhull sky-and that
war the recollection that my weepun, fust
ting 0he,eveEl seen this Efeilef he'd gin a
clickpO W ~ 0AI1AA W SEl
The cold, clear tone of his voice at these
last words, slightly tinged with sorrow,
was such as q compassionate Judge might
nss bn prpIippncfhg bent4hce ~ deaih
and to me, guessing as / did what was 70
come, it had a.sonnd indescribably dreary
and ominous.
M II used toitry and laugh myself 6at'o
that air fancy by sayi9' Nhateyer's
quarrelin' 'ud bh like aman cutting hissell
in hall, and fghtin' right hand aRfn left.