The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1871-07-14

wen hOpe there IS aotD1ng INT
matter. -
He thought SO much gas had affec,
J ted him, perhaps; but he should bC
, all right IN q moment
I'm 50 glad you are here; it's
such q pleasure TO have some one to
talk to about Alice, and yOu know
whats dear little girl she is. Do yOu
know, was ass enough to be jeal-
GUS OF you once however, lean only
say / am sorry for my stpidity, and
hope we shall see a great deal of you
when we set up in our little estab-
Hshment. / am sure you are not
well-there's some brandy in that
room do you have some"
He once more assured me that he
was well, and the curtain rising for
the second set, / had to leave him to
/ look after the BUSINESS of the scene.
There was not so much applause at
the beginning of the second act, for
viliainy seemed to be having rather
the best of it but / prOpheticaIIy
| fOresaW the enthusiasm which would
accompany the downfall of Sir JAS
per's evil designs. and the triumph of
virtue in scene three ;anditlie scOWIs
which LenchfoPd emitted from his
well-darkened eyes, and the depth to
which his voice decended as he strobe
about the stage, proposing to murder
most of the o}rdnsdtLS persons. and to
immure the rest In deepest dungeons
beneath the moat of his castle, eVi-
IDENTIFY thrilled the audience. Har-
ley's song went beautifully. l had
introduced some hits at local affairs,
praised ShoFeYille and its inhabi-
tants, and represented all other wa
tering-places within fifty miles as
hOtbeds Of fever and plague, popula-
ted by robbers, and these sentiments,
set to q popular air, were vigorously
encord.
''The audience appears very well
pleased, Mr. Thomas remarked as
rejOined him. "DOy you go on again
soon f' 71
"Yes, I'm on directly" I replied
''the next is the great scene which I
hope viii crown the success of my
piece. The people in the county
have not grown tired of brcad-swOrd
combats, and letting off gun or a
pistol invariably brings down the
house ; SO we are going to give them
plenty of steel and gunpoWder. My
cue will be given In few minutes
.EYOun discover that there's more
behind, Sir Jasper; when hear that |
i rush on with my smugglers, fire off !
two pistols, and fight furiously with |
Sir Jasper, and kill him. It would |
be better TO finish the piece then, but |
Delamere has a scene which he wish |
es to show, so We finish in front Of |
the castle,-Excuse me, / must lis /
ten.7
/ shall never forget that moment, !
which subsequent events have fixed !
so firmly to my remembrance. ] |
hear now the heavy breathing in my
ear, as / stood by Thomas's side, and |
can see his face-his cruel tace-With |
lowered eyebrows and q drop of |
blood which tTickled from his lip, as !
] turned for a second toward him. !
But had teO much to think about |
to wonder why he should bite his lip; !
I was listening for the cue which |
prefaced my great scene.
At last it came:
"And I'm afraid you'll discover /
that there's more behind Sir JAS
per-"
We rushed on to the stage, where /
were Sir Jasper and his band. /
fired nay pistol in the air there was a /
crash in the orchestra firearms went |
off on all sides then-I felt a burn |
ing pain in nay left side, and ] re-
member no more.
l cannot describe the whirl of
tangled ideas which rushed through |
my mind with returning conscious
ness. / was in a strange bed, in a |
strange room, bat by my bedside 1
was the familiar face of Harding.
s.Harding what is all this? Where |
am / What's happened? Why am
all tied up? How did I"
"Hush dear old fellow, you mustn't /
talk. The doctor will be here direc-
y. I've got great deal to tell you,
when he says I may"
/ need not prolOng my story,
soon pulled thTOugh-that process
being materially assisted by the care
and tenderness of an attentive little /
nurse, who soon appeared on the
scene-and heard all that had happen
cd.
Thomas had visited Shoreville on
a concert-giving tour, to his aston
ishment, had seen me. He followed
me to the theatre, as he had informed
me, and when there had seen the
third scene. The idea had struck
him, that if in the skiFInish a bullet
was fired, no one would know
whence it came, and 1t would be at
tributed to accident. Convinced
that if were out of the way Alice
would look with favorable eye on
him, he had procured q revolver,
made his way behind the scene, as /
have described, and put his plan
into execution, firing at me the mo-
ment left his side. In making his
way hurFiedly from the stage, in the
midst of the excitement which fol-
lowed the "accident he had fallen
down the chasm through which some
scenery was to have been raised for
the last scene, and had fractured his
skull so badly that he mad since died,
having previously given a resume of
his anliable intentions.
Ny cousin had heard of my expe-
dition, and, wishing to save one of
his family from what he was pleased .
to term " profession of a lowering
tendency" had called Cn Hsrding,
knowing him to be an intimSte friend .
Of mine Harding informed him of
the reasons which had influenced my
movements, and he had proposed to ]
allow me \ sufficient sum TO crafty
my sishes. Harding had arrived at
ShOfeYille on the evening Of the
performance, aud made up his mind
to see my play frcm the front. What
iI0 ssw the reader kBo8s, and he
superintendent my removal to the
hotel, snd took care of me until my
own little nurse arrived.
How pleasant cOnvalcseencf was
at little village in the neighbor-
hood, need not say--we left Shore
willie as soon as / could be moved,
for when the story was n8do known