The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-03-01

period. lneSe men were always very
civil to me, and Of course was to them;
and yet, some how or other, l contracted
dread Of them which could neither
overcome nor combat; and when some
times one or the other Of them would
stroll up pipe in mouth, to the edge Of
my pit and ask me how was getting
on, I used to fancy it was only done to
see whether | was turning up anything
good, and consequently worth robbing;
and l used to conceal my gold in all
sorts of out of the way places to elude
their suspected designs.
One night heard a horrid revelation
that confirmed all my suspicious against
these men. And now | come to the very
subject matter of my story.
/ have said that my tent adjoined that
Of my two mysterious acquaintance;
in fact the canvas Of one tent touched
that Of the other, and from my tent l
could hear the conversation carried on
in theirs very plainly. ! had never be-
fore listened to their discourse, but one
night, just as | was retiring to bed, l
heard one say to the other, Yes, this
little knife did for him; killed the old
man with one blow, sir"
The horrible admission staggered me,
and felt that | must listen to the end
of the discourse now, at whatever risk to
myself, SO glued my ear to the canvas
in time to hear his mate reJoin, Did
YOU, now? And did the fellow resist
your
Faith and he did, replied the assas-
sin. He grasped me till he nearly
pressed the lite out Of me, and tried to
rip me up with his spur; bnt | drove
the knife into him up to the hiIt and
then | cut his head off,
Bravo, CharheI cried the other
that makes the seventh old NAH We We
killed since our arrival in the colonies,
don't ito"
mo, the eighth was the reply,
Don't you remember the black fe'-
low !?
ooh, all, to be sure, right you are"
but what have we done with the Illus
trious dead in this present instanceY
"Why, l left the body in the bush,
with the exception OF the legs, which
are here in the tent.
The conversation here ceased and was
not resumed, in fact q stentorlan
snoring soon told me that II was
very improbable that it would be 80 for
that nig ht, at the least; so crept into
my bed, not to sleep chow could |, after
so horrible discovery p but to reflect
upon all that | had heard.
The eighth old man they had killed
and one OF them an unfortunate black
fellow. Oh, the wretchcd miscreants!,
| muttered to myself; and then my mind
wandered away, and wondered why it
was that their last victim tried to rip
his murderer up with a spur, such an
extraordinary weapon OF defense, and
what on earth had induced the assassin
to cut off his victims legs and bring
them into his tent. At last, however,
| did sink into a disturbed, unrefreshlng
slumber, and was afflicted by frightiul
dream, in which | fancied that one OF
nv next door neighbors was kneeling on
my chest and cutting my throat from
ear TO ear.
NV dream had, in fact, some slight
foundation, for | was awakened by a
rough hand shaking me BY the shoulder,
and my eyes, on opening them, rested on
the roughly bearded face ofthe very man
| had been dreaming Of
was about 10 scream Murder :! for
/ thought my last hour had come; but,
glancing around, saw that it was broad
day light, and that the fellow was mereyl
asking me for a match to light his piep
with. This | Immediately gave him
and he went away with a muttered ex-
preston Of thanks.
That day, instead of going to work, |
set out for the tent Of the Police Com
missioner, and after long walk sue
ceeded in reaching it. | had to wait
very long time before | was granted an
audience; but when | was ushered into
the presence Of the dread functionary
and told him, as succinctly as possible,
the circumstances of the case. and how
had heard the rascals confess their
numerous crimes, and particularly their
last murder, the goods whereof that was
within their tent, the enthusiasm OF the
Commissioner was fully aroused, and he
felt as anxious for their capture and pun
ishment as myself. He suggested that
two policemen, disguised as diggers and
we'll armed, should come to my tent that
evening on the pretense Of paying me
visit as old acquaintance, and that after
it was dark and the two murderers had
turned in for the mig ht we should rush
into their tent and secure them.
This was a very feasible plot, and |
heartily entered into it; so | infinitely
described the position of my tent and,
to make it still more easily discoverable,
promised that a bright red pocket hand
kerchief should be hanging on some con-
spcuous part ofit.as though to dry; and
having made all these arrangements |
took my leave.
Well, got back to my abode by about
one o'clock in the afternoon, and after
hasty meal, not wishing to lose whole
day, l went to my claim, and set to for
a three hours dig. Strange to say, |
had not been al work five minutes when
/ came across very pretty little nugget,
of about the size OF a walnut, and a few
minutes later picked out another as large
as a crab-apple. l was about to pocket
this latter, when | looked up and saw
one of the assassins gazing down on me.
Lucky find, mate" said he, with a
broad grin, that in my prejudiced mind
1900, II 80 CO, UAu hnt N will ba mine