Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-06-22

panioA, who, as looked. sudden,v ann.
ed himself. closed his eyelid with his Sin
ger. shook his head a II warning M
against sleep. then drew his finrer r,n;d
ly across his throat, Confhsed and star
tied ~ this mysterious intimation. with
bewildering feeling I followed nv con
ducfress up a fight or rickety stairs, int
small attic room, where Z cot was pre
pared for my use The woman set In
light upon a stool which served as a table
sud left without word. Alone with m,
thoughts. | began to question the sssion
Of my companion. Even supposinR Chi
couple intended yiclea~. wsauere q man,
rs they, wei armed. afid capable Of strons
resistance. Certainly there was no,hin:
around me TO awaken suspicion. Neithei
antiquated wardrobe, nor moldering tapes
try. nor curtained bed afforded a hiding
place to the midnight assassin; on tn,
contrary, nv room was close to the roof
containing the cot and stool before men
TONED. an old sea chest. bundle Of bed
ding in one corner, pair Of antlers anG
SOulS tftpnicS VI the cUISc.
Then again. thought he might hav,
good reasons for those signs. Perhap.
he understood their gibberish. At any
rate. there was scme mystery which
could not solve. I threw myself down
without undressing. having a knife and
pistol beside me in case Of attack. Itried
to keep awake. but the pattering storm,
against the roof, lulled me into q doze,
from which was aroused by the tapping
on the window beside my bed. listened
breathlessly. and found the noise was oc-
casioned by small stones. thrown against
the glass from the outside Ipeered eau
tiously out. and recognised the figure and
voice OF my companion. who begged me,
in Gods name, TO escape. saying we were
in dea of cut-throats. at the same time
placing strong sapling against the win
dow. quickly descended. He grasped
my hand and we moved on in silence. -
Behind an old out house VIC found horse.
which my friend said we must both mount
and get into the highway with all posi-
bic speed
/ hesi,ated to do this, saying my own
horse mus, be near; but he said, mo,
the old villain has taken yours; and gone
to summon comrades near by. I'll tell
you how know all this as we hasten on. "
| mounted behind him, and we we're
soon on the road, when my friend contin-
ued
Il have always bad remarkable fac
ulty for remembering faces, and as soon
as | saw the old mans face. remembered
having seen him in criminal court under
conviction for horse. stealing. l gathered
from their broken conversation between him
and the old woman that this was u gener-
al rendezvous for characters like them.
selves. and some of tncm might be ex-
pected at any time and there were many
significant surmises regarding ourselves
and business. | once served for q short
time on the detective police, and was on
the alert for making observations. After
you went to bed, was shown to q room
on the ground floor, containing one small
window barred from the outside. The
light was withdrawn. and the door fasten.
ed upon me. lighted a small taper,
with which am usually provided, and
proceeded to examine the premises. The
room was separated from an adjoining one
by thin board partition. in which was a
small door. fastened on the other side by
= wooden t.h.
There might be means of exit there, I
took my knife and Gu, the latch. through
the slit between the boards, and STEPPED
into closet. from which came forth a
death-!ike odor. 1t apparently contained
nothing but pile of skins, and a window
easement covered with leather. l was
extinguishing my light to make my escape
when a foot. protruiing from the hides,
caught my eye. Removing the upper
lost, sight met my gaze which froxe
me with horror. The body Of man Law
stretched out before me. which had evi-
IDENTIFY hrcn dead for two or three DAYS.
His clinched hands, battered head and
b!ood-smeared clothing gave evidence o.
n fearful struggle For moment. stood
unable to move, the next, tearing the
leather from the easement. l was in the
open air.
Il heard you ascend .h. stairs, and
knew from the sound of your footsteps the
direction You had taken. and determined
to save you if possible"
During this recital lie often stopped
TO listen. while We made what progress
we could over the rough and uneven
ground. We could not have gone more
than three miles when we heard the bark
ing Of a dog"
My God. they arc after us, II we
only had our rifles exclaimed nv COM
panion; but we mus. make up our minds
TO sell our lives dearly with what we have. p
We could now distinctly hear the shouts
of our murderous persuers. and in our
haste and confusion, TO our great conster-
nation. found we had taken q new course
tha. terminated in n dense thicket. Il
was too late to retrace our steps, so we
decided 70 leave the horse TO his fate and
rely on the forest for safety. They SEEM
ed to have lost our track for short time.
bat were soon on it again, and surely
gaining upon US. Shortly after there
was rustling among the limbs, and a
ferocious creature bounded out, making =
spring at the one nearest him. NV friend
bad bsrcly time to artieulate, Your
knife" when blade was plunged into
the animals heart.
Breathlcssly. and with increasing speed
VIC pursued our fight. We had been
for some time following a ridge of rocks,
wksn surning an ahrups eorray ro ..~-