The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1872-09-03

empty gamebag, came down the road with
the slow slouchiog gait peculiar to him.
As soon as the landlord saw the man,
his face Frightened up.
ooh, here's john" he said; IL
thought he had gone over tu the island.
He dosen't seem to have had much luck
he'll be glad to drive you over tn Centre
vile, guess, Mr.. Wilson, ohm" he
called out, IL want you to take this gen.
tlcman tu the depot, right away. Can
you 20 ?"
"Nlo 60 !" said the half-broed. "IIow
much give"
"a silver quarter" twenty-five ceuts)
was the reply.
"And glass rum p added John.
"Yes, and glass of rum" rejoined the
landlord.
Rum now % said the other, intcrrog.
atively.
No! When you return" replied
SnedcoI, adding to me, S0tto coce: elf
gave it tn him now. very probably he
would not stir an inch forwards, but be
right down on the ground and 90 tu
sleep"
The half.breed nodded sullcnly, to in
timate that he accepted the proiiercd con.
ditions end as soon as my luggage had
been deposited in the wagon we drove off,
John placing his rife beside him on the
front seat.
That John had been drinking already
was tolerably obvious not that his speech
Yves thick, or his carriage unsteady; in
toxication rarely manitests itself in this
form in the Indian. But there was a
lndicrous assumption of dignity about the
felow-characteristic of his race when
drunk-which at once revealed to me his
condition.
pause here to observe that the mo-
tives which induce the white lnan and the
Indian to drink, are totally opposite in
character The former drinks from good
fellowship, or because he likes the liquor ;
with him, as rule, intoxication Is the ac-
cidentll result OF over indulgence. The
Indian, on the contrary, drinks simply -
get drHHE it is but Il means TO an cad
Hence the story Of the Comanchc brave
after imbibing as many glasses Of we'll
watercd whisicy as his stomach would
hold, went to the seller, and in an ag-
grieved tone sad: : ME full up, and
drunk no come yeti"
The road, after running along the shore
for about thrce-quarters ot mile, branch
ed off nearly at right angle, into the
woods ; at thc expiration of half an hour
we came to a spot where it divided into
two forks. The half-breed, somewhat 70
my surprise, for had an impression that
Centrevilc lay in the opposite direction,
took the road to the right Still | said
nothing, knowing that he IN ist II ccessar-
lily be better acquainted with tho way
than was
Before long, however, became con-
yinced that we were going wrong. The
road, or rather lane, we bad entered upon
seemed but little travelled. the grass in
many places in the whcel.ruts, which it
was scarcely credible to suppose could be
the case with road traverscd so fre-
q1cntly as the one between Babylon and
( Centrcyille. The forest, too, seemed
denser and denscr. Even at midday
the sunlight penetratcs but feebly through
the masses Of foliage which crown the
heads Of the tall pine trees in these woods
aud now, as the evening began to draw in
the darkness was very pcrccptble.
was half disposed to believe that
John was really more intoxicated than he
appeared to be, and that, Notwithstanding
the provcrbial sagacity of his race in such
masters. he had taken the wrong road uu
consciously | therefore decided to speak
to him without further delay. said
that It was evident we were going in the
wrong direction, and l desired him tc
turn back at once, The fellow evinced
not the slightest disposition to comply
with my request, but continued to drive
doggedly on, only replying il, sulky
tone John on right path. Know hin
well stranger don't"
The situation was becoming awkward
That any individual having Indian BLOOD
in his veins could, under any circumstan
ccs, lose his way, was not easy of belle
to one who had read Cooper's "Lcather
stocking" tales, and who, at that time
was dovout believer in the fidelity o
his scriptions of the red man. Yet
that the halt-brced bad taken the wrong
road | was pretty well certain. Was i
not more likely, then, that he had don,
so intentionally and if SO, with what mo
tive? In an instant there flashed acr ;.
my memory the incident in the boat a|
ready referred to. remembered. too
that when | had looked at my watch thl
evening, as | was getting into the wagon
there had como suddenly iato the hlli
breeds eyes the same fierce, ,coyctous lish
| had noticed on the previous occasion
Were his intentions evil what opportaui
~ could be more favorable for their exc
cution than the one which nov presented
? itseli-hcre, in the heart Of the forest
miles from any human habitation tn,
: weapon two in his hand All ther,
was the question-and my heart bea
quicker as it suggested itself. Was tn
rifle charged or not? If not, woul,
take very good care to prevent his load
ing it.
But if it We're? Well, even then bo
ing on my guard, my chances were no
: altogether desperate. 1t was true | wa
unarmed, my gun, the barrel unscrewe,
from the stock, being in mahogany bo,
under the front seat But was, | fiat
tered myself, far stronger man than tn
half-breed, and bar firearms | had bu
: little apprehension as the result Of tn
} struggle between us, if once closed him
His position, too, on the front seat, witt
. his back towards me, gave me this com
pletely round ; aud his doing so would,
, believed, afford lie tine to place mysel
on the defensive. | resolved, therefore
tho very instant saw his hand directe,