Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1871-06-01
The Story Of a Night.

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n am going to relate oiyeu an
episode in my life, which occurred
when 1 Was qniteTa you9g girl
and of which / can scarcely thihE
now, without a thrill of terror
'Epervadng my frame, / was visit
ing my brother, young physi
clan, lately married, who was ,liv
ing in the western, part Of Illinois
quite a new country then, and
! very thiniy settled. His family
was small, consisting Of himself
t and wife, and a hired man; anc
his house, a simple log cabin, con
! tanning two rooms bel0w--ons
serving for Kitchen, and one fol
sittingroom-and asmall chamber
above /; beside this a small, room il
the yard served himself for an. OF
flee ard his man for a sleeping
, apartment. -
1t was before the eralofl ] rail
roads, and, during the sammer, i
became necessaryalorahiIn to 60 Il
a distant town, to replenish Lhls
stock of medicines. lresz
n 81 may be back Tonight he
said, as he stood at the door, draw
ing on his gloves; ributI think
there will be be no danger what.
ever in your remaining alone, and
Anne, / know, is no coward. .ni7rg
g "Oh no" replied she, laughing.
lightly; "bnt you must leave your
revolver, Harry, or shalhnot feel
safe" -,
"My revolver !" he answered,
why, you could not use tiff you
had it, ~
"Indeed, but I cam" she replied.
-"That was an accomplishment l
acquired when,I found was TO
be the wife of a baca woodsman.
Harry laughed, but he gave her
the pistol, aud with an admoni-
ton not to shoot herself, seated
himself in his buggy, gathered up
the reins, and drove rapidly down
the smooth white road, until he
was lost to view in the dim recess
es ofthe forest. | fingered at the
gate long atLer his departure,
drinking inthe beauty of the cool,
quiet morning, with its blue sky,
ribboned and dotted with clouds,
its wide-circling, dewy fields and
woods, whose depths were now
vocal with melody.
When | returned to the house,
Anne, busy about her household
avocations, met me at the door.
"Can you really shoot?" Iasked,
"would you not be afraid 2"
"My brother taught me, when
| was a GIRL" she answered, "but
that has been SO long ago that ]
do not know whether | could now
or not" "aa ttrF ,tsaoN =,
However, l donot apprehend
any danger, Grace our neighbors,
although rough are honest, clever
people, and no one knows any
thing about the money Henry
has"
| knew that sometime before
my brother received a sum of
money to make payment on his
land, but was not aware until that
morning that he had it with him,
and the knowledge did not add to
my sense of security, although
Anne assured me again and again
that Do one knew anything about
/ it. s.
In household duties the day
passed rapidly away. ! swept
and arranged the sitting,room,
and thought then, as have often
since, that | had seen far more
pretentious apartments not bali SO
cheerful.
There we're pictures on the
whitewashed walls. and at one end
of the room a row of shelves con-
taining Henry's library. A neat
rag carpet covered the floor, and
white curtains draped the small
windows. A large open Fireplace,
which almost filled one end of the
apartment, was every morning filled
with green Loughs, and on the
shelf above vases of wild roses
diffused their fragrance ON the air.
| In the afternoon as Anne and |
were seated with our sewing, try
ing to disguise our loneliness from
each other, step sounded on the
gravel walk without, and one of
our neighhors presented himself
at the door. He was a man i
had never liked, although far su-
perior to any around him in cub
ture and education. Coming, no
one knew from whence, for the
purpose, as he said. of specializing
in land, and lodging with a family
who bore rather a disreputable
character, although nothing hgd
ever been proven against him.