Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-08-10

he made answer he stretched out hi
hand for the bottle to refill his glass
AS. his hand came under the gas.ie
above the table q large opal ring OF
his fourth finger attracted theey o
Drake, who suddenly cried g
7r'" BIZ heaven, John, your opal j
full of Blood And, ah,j there's s. non,
in your face nov. Helshard!" he ad
ded, as the other grew deadly whit,
at this unexp ,cted and startling wit
ness Of his crime.
BE recovered himself however, b,
strong effort, and pouring out a.ful
goblet Of, wine, drained, it; to tn,
dre,gs d, at a breath, and answered:
g You're enough to. turn a fellow
white With your Internal suspicious anc
melo-dramatic EXPLANATIONS, Drake
The blood on my ring .fa;
lis your fathers blood. John Hen
shard p exclaimed the man who hac
not before spoken, in q deep, earnes'
voice. ~ -
Henshard started from his seat q!
if aserpent had bitten him, aud star
ed wildly into the face'of the strange
guest for d moment, then sank back
into his. chair. 9'g 3'}
at cannot be--no,.it cannot be 7
he muttered /; "and yet that voice
but" he had recourse to the wine
again" ha, ha, hal your friend
frightened + me, Drake, with his stage
voice and bis ugly mug--he did upor
my soul''
q The captains ugly mug, as yor
call it, was made as it is by the haz.
ard Of war, Henshard replied Drake
/" A caisson blew up under his nose
and saved him the trpuble of disgui.
sing himself, for the future, in case
he ahould want toavoid the recogni.
ton Ct his former arquaintances. ]
invited him to meet US lto-night--the
first of his arrigal-in order to judge
if the change werelso entire as he
believed :, for the captain was known
to you, l think.
John Henshard had listened to
this with fast-increasing signs Of agi-
tatien; and at the conclusion he again
arose from his chair, and said, in a
voice of concentrated rage:
"I.will stand this mystitication no
Logger. I neither know nor care
whom your -Visaged friend may
be; but this l know, that will be
your sport no longet, and SO good
night to both of yoh, and he made
a step towards the loor.
. But the captain was before him,
and placing himself with his back to
the portal, he SAID, sternly:
.Out of this room you do not go,
John Henshard, till you render an
account of our fathers. murder l. Ha
you know me now, for you tremble.
Ay I am Lester Henshard, your
elder brother, whom you would hare
killed by a, lie, even as you killed
my father by q more visible weapon.
saw the blood on ssar riug, and,sI
see the stain OH your soul, parricide
On your knees and confess, or"
But Henshard was by this time
nearly crazed between his rage, the
LIQUOR he had drank, and the con-
seriousness that he had betrayed him
self, as well as rendered desperate
by the startling and unexpected
crises in which be fpnnd himself:
"Out of my way, impester u he
cried, with clenched hands and glaring
ewes, and even as he spoke, he bound
ed upon Lester like tiger, and the
two men fell to the ground, clenched
in deathly struggle.
The strife would have been short.
for John Heushard was powerful
main, and made infuriate by his mem
tal and physical excitement, while
the soldier was enfeebled by wounds
and ;.ness. But drake, after q des-
perate but vain attempt to loosen
the parricides grasp ON the captai Is
throat, caught up . heavy decanter
from the table, and struck John
Henshard heavy blow upon the
temple, which instantly stretched
him lifeless upon the floor. :,
You have killed him, Drake"
gasped Lester, as he arose with sawe
difficulty to his feet,
"Not a bit of il" replied the
other; though ] should not care ii
l had. owe him as much. But
the gallows will not be cheated this
time. See, he breathes. Help me
to lay him on my bed, and we will
soon bring him to hs senses.
70 his senses, however, John hen
shard did not return for several days
during which he was carefully tended
by Lester and his. wife, as well as by
a physician. He had, meantime
been removed to his former residence
and-was it mere coincidence ?
placed in the same chamber, on tht
same bed whereoR his father had un
dergone his death agony.
Drake had surrendered himself tt
the authorities, and after q careful
investigation, had been released OF
bail, to wait the result Of John Hen
shard's wound.
On his murdered fathers bed tn
parricide lay, raving in the fever o
delirium, and by his side, wlpiDg, MI
brow and moistening his parehec
lips. sat his two living victims, Les
ter and Lizzie Henshard, returning
good for evil, and thus heaping coal
Of FIRE upon his head, if only tha
he kneHF it. But alas he knew j
not,
Lester and Lizzie, l said. Yes
the manned and mutilated soldie'
had returned to the wife Of his DO
som; and despite his scars, she nae
known him, and clasped him will
renewed love and JOY to her faithful
sorrowing, long-suffering heat.
r. matters not to dwell upon thell