Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-08-22

proposal had been mine, and, further,
more, If mischief was meant, any indi-
cation on my part that suspected my
companions would only hasten the evil
moment There was nothing for me but
to keep on, and trust to Providence to
show me some way of escape.
The moon was now shining brightly
upon the group. The addition, to the
| party / discovered to be short, thick
set man, with low brow and large neck,
lust the figure, it seemed to me, for q
lrufiian. He was apparently Of great
strength, and / thought what quick work
he could make of me, even if he de-
pended on his strength alone. .sl
This is to be lonely walk, friends,
| | said. Have you shooting-irons2p
No" they replied; and they eyed
me in sinister manner. ,..t., .s
| Armed or not, they were evidently in
league, and | was to be the victim. They
could dispatch me easily enough without
the nse of firearms. The thunder OF
the falls would drown any scream for
help, or pistol shot either, for that mat
| ter. MN.
There was nothing for it but to keep
as cool as possible, and at last | said,
Forward, is it2 and Forward it is, "
was the answer. So we moved on, still
in the same order, except that two
walked at one side, and one on the
other, / fell back and pretended TO be
gazing at some moonlight effect, but it
was of no use. My vigilant keepers still
maintained the order they had chosen.
This maneuyer was repeated several
times Once, when the moon shone out
brightly, / found that the latest arrival I
the one | had set down as the arch
villain of the party-had taken up his
position in the rear, so that was com
pletely surrounded, and, try as might.
this order was preserved all the way. Il
startled them at one time by abruptly
leaving them and jumping upon bench
at the roadside, under pretense of look
ing at the yiew.s The arch-yillain imme-
diatelyI took his place beside me. i
turned my gaze upon him, and looked
steadily into his eyes, and he returned
the look. For o moment we stood re-
garding each other fixedly, vainly en-
deavoring to read one another A
wicked face, i felt sure, but there could
be no doubt about the mans strength.
My eyes still riyeted on his, ] put my
hand into my breast as if to grasp the
revolver | did not carry, but which de-
voutly wished i had, and ! thought the
time had come. But no; he stepped to
the ground, and turned as if expecting
me to follow. Still keeping my hand in
my breast ] got down. and we walked
on-always in the same order--one on
either side and one behind.
IA As we went on, the path seemed very
dismal. Great black shadows fell across
our track. Sometimes itwas quite dark;
again the silver moonlight made bright
ness in vivid contrast with the surround
ing obscurity,,y5" 1t will be here, |
thought, land there could be no better
place for an attack. No chance that a
cry for help would be heard. Us Still we
hurried on; / could hear the quick
breathing of my companions, but no
one proposed to retard our steps-on
through the woods till the tower rose
before us, and thought that would be
the spot chosen for the murder. A body
thrown from there would be dashed upon
the rocks below, and the water would
swallow il up in an instant. The tower
reached, there would be no choice for me
but to go up, for | had proposed coming,
| had set this tower as the aim of this
wild night walk, and must not appear
TO falter. At the lower door, one of the
men, l. could hardly distinguish which
one in the hall-light, stopped.
f'Aren'tyou going up2'll demanded.
I S"No,p he replied, " l have been up so
often that l believe / will wait for you
here; have you cigar? ...
"No," Ireturned; butI knew that he
only wanted me to remove my hand
from my breast where / had kept it
without change all through the walk,
that might thus be attacked and more
easily overcome. | knew he declined to
90 up, that he might stay below to watch
the door and prevent any one else from
ascending till the diabolical work was
accomplished. hesitated for a mo-
ment, SO did the others; but | felt hesi-
tation was useless, and stepped in.
Once on the dark stairway went up as
quickly as / could, determined that /
would not be seized and murdered there.
Quite out Of breath, | gained the top
and walked out on to the balcony that
encircles the tower. / listened, but
heard no approaching footsteps, and l
knew the three villains were still in con
sultation below, | was determined to
make fight for my life and to die strug-
Cling. / had not even a penknife, hav-
ing lost mine in my mornings ramble.
] stood with my hand concealed in my
breast, awaiting the coming OF my enc
mics. They came at last; the man we
had overtaken on the bridge came first.
Looking intently at me, they made no
pretense of noticing the view. l stood |
perfectly still, giving them look for look. |
The wind was blowing furiously, and |
presently one of the two proposed |
that we should 60 down. / dreaded
going down the long, dark stair
way, and l almost wished that We
might stand gazing at one another tin
but / followed them down.
+" When they attack me, thought, T"
will endeavor TO push them down the |
stairs trusting thus to disable them. |
went down slowly, listening to their foot
steps in advance Of me. / heard them
stumble, for they went quickly. At the
door heard their voices as they spoke
to the watcher posted below. When
Joined them they we're not speaking, and
almost in silence we began our way to-
wards the home / feared / should not |
reach. The dark wood was to see my
fate decided. / understood that my air
Of determination, the weapon was be-
lieved to carry, and, perhaps, other rea-
sons that did not know Of, had COM
bined in my favor to postpone the mo-
ment Of my murder; but was sure that
il was only deferred. had heard their
hasty consultation, though not their
words and believed that some new