The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-04-29

storms 1t bad ever, been my lot to b(
out in. The rain fell IN torrents, the
mud stuck to my feet and retarded my
progress. ! had no umbrella, 0onse.
quently I was soon wet through, hut ]
stood it like a veteran and pressed on
towards my goal. And / was right
glad after walking another hour to see
the promise of shelter in the. friendly
!. formof an old red tavern that stood by
the roadside. As it was the only
house had seen since the rain COM
menced to fall, you may be assured
that to me, dripping with water, and
almost used up with travel, the old
building almost seemed a palace of en-
chantment raised for my personal bene-
fit by some good genie. Nde Beau
ty and the beast.") 1 sailed into the
bar-room in every sense of the word,
and ordered hot rum, which drank
with great gusto, and asked if could
have change of clothing. "Most
certainty was the response, and short
ly was rugged with suit of the land
lords which, though several sizes too
large, suited me admirably at that mo-
ment. / believe / would have been
satisfied with most anything i'm the
shape of clothing, in order to have got
rid Of my dripping habiliments, which
clung to me closer than the bathing
dresses of blondes at Long Branch last
summer. / found, on inquiry, that /
was still some two miles from w., and
as there was little if any prospect of a
let-up in the storm, for that night at
least, and as it would require some time
to dry my wet clothes, besides being
assured that could have good accom-
modations for the night, l concluded to
make the best of bad job, and not to
proceed further until the next morning.
| The promises were substantiated in
every particular, for had an excellent
supper, and found some of the latest
New York papers, over which, with
the aid of a good cigar, l managed to
pass the time agreeably until / was
ready to proceed to bed. also found
my host to be first-rate companion,
and enjoyed one or two of his merry
stories SO heartily, that 1 almost
thought should die laughing.
On expressing a desire to proceed to
my couch, the landlord took up tin
candlestick, which shone like silver,
and in which there was tallow dip,
and lighting 1t, escorted me up q stair
HdIs WCll WWh W1lA oNAN1SOt " AAy
room, which was on the second floor.
1t was one of those large, old-fashioned
apartments that one sees nowadays
only in the back country houses, which |
are rapidly falling into decay; curious
ly panneled, with oak rafters over
head, quaint old furniture of Aayfow-
er pattern, mantie-shelf Of the same |
material; and it being late in Septem-
Der, huge pine wood fire had been |
made, and crackled and blazed ON the |
antiquated Dutch andirons, with bright
ly polished brass tops, in the wide open
fireplace beneath. The high, queer
shaped, old-fashioned clock standing in
the corner with its bright open face and
friendly hands, spaEkled in the fire.
light with a genial glow of welcome,
and licked out its appreciation at my
coming, and the clean, white, uncarp-
eted floor resounded beneath my feet
with an elastic response, as if answer
ing to their greeting, with a "glad to
see you come again " There was
nothing gloomy or ghOstly about that
room, you would remark, to inspire a
person with dread of spirits, even if
he had any belief in such midnight
visitors, and never had. The land.
lord pointed to my lied with an honest
expression of pride, which might have
well been pardoned, for softer, bigger
feather bed and pillows / had never
seen before, nor whittier or sweeter smell
ling sheets. After inquiring if there
was anything else he could do for me,
and being assured on the contrary that
l was more than satisfied with the ac-
commodations furnished, he placed the
candlestick on the mantle-shelf, and
bidding me "good night" left the
room.
secured the door and looked around
the room again after he had withdrawn.
and was better pleased at the second
glance at my quarters than before.
There was a certain air of home COM
fort prevailing that soothed me. Aftert
seeing that my revolver was all right,
l placed it under my pillow, and drew
a chair in front of the blazing logs that
filled the fireplace, set the candle on
stand near at hand, and seated myself
TO think over the affairs of the day,
and watch the playful fire as it gently 1
crept out of the wood in little tongues
of flame, with a simmering sound, or
flashed and blaZed up in the broad,
open chimney, witlsa roar of delight
as if glad to escape from its bonds. 1
could well afford to sit there, in the
front of that warm fire, and shake my
fist at the tempest that held sway out
side. "Blast it, let itblast :" What
cared so long as l was comfortable?
was even selfish enough to smile at
the idea of some other poor fellow be-
ing out in the tempest and undergoing
what 1 had gone through that after
noon; but l consoled myself for this
with the wish that any such sufferers
might have it all end as well as had my
journey. / thought of New York and
my friends there, looked at my out
landish big suit, and laughed outright
at the idea of how amused they u ould
be to see me in my present plight; then
I thought of certain darling little n
woman who was perchance thinking
of me. / thought herarms were round
my neck, felt the pressure of her warm, (
red lips against mine, the fragrance of
her breath famed my temples-and {
then 1 didn't think of anything for II
while; I must have fallen asleep where y
I sat, and how long I slept I do not {
know. had an idea that it was about {
half-past nine or ten o'clock when ! 6
came up to my room; but / was awake
again, and felt chilled through; the fire
had burned down, and the backlog T,
fallen in two pieces from the andir0ns, {
formed two great red eyes that giared {
at me from the darkness of the fire
place in a manner weird and fantastic G
al, like some of those hideous ogres' I
eyes we have seen in the pictures ofthe q
fairy stories which we read when chh- S
1ren. i started back at first, but soon !
realized the cause of the ffightful Wis
ion, and laughed at my momentary /
terror. / took up the candle, which ,
had a long black wick on it with a red I
tip falling over to one side, scarcely I
giving any light and forming what the |
Did folks used to call a winding-sheet.
endeavored to clip it with the snuff q
ars, but being no apt hand at the busi-. !
ness, only managed to put it out, and c
was left in darkness. AT this moment
4 wild, unearthy shrek swept down the /
with shrill blast, and re- q
through the room like the last s
lying moan of some despairing sinner. Q
SO sudden was it, and SO appalling, b
hat l dropped the candlestick and a
'nuffers and stood trembling for mo-
nent, unable to move; then, ashamed a
,f my fears, felt for matches on the :
ard on the stand near Il
he fireplace, but could find none r
hey had evidently been forgotten.
must confess that this annoyed me, for u
was certainly nervous after the two !!
asst occurrences. / never thought of /
blowing the embers on the hearth into Il
, da,,.a and fh,,S roliUl,tip or m, n x.a r,dlo N