Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1872-02-29

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got In by hisseif.s ,i'ss1v q e6x
"An right" I said, irse - -
stretching myseifson tie Pr s.t1l
get into the next carriage - -
there, are there r
"D'ye call me nobody Y.ss 4 Rs;l-
ly. lonking out of the ui6d61 AJnmp
in. Billy, me bhoy s. fvs slse lous ~
rest of the company; yen insrs 3, H.
tie fresh capital into the ccdeer =
What . contrast 10 ths sasnS seaaf quit-
ted was the ch~~rfel. s;sat<u' casrixRe;
with its occupants. all brother-ol6eers Of
mine, smoking. chatting. and playing loo
on a rug stretched -oxer their knees! Sure
ly the whole Of the previous scene had
been dream. or could it have been an
incipient attack Of D. T.! not brought on
by drink. indeed. for l was not given to
that, but by irregular habits and stress Of
mind.
II wasn't till had reached my owa hut
at Aldershott, that thought of the paper
which the ghost had given me, aud which,
in my delirium, l had imagined I had
thrust into my waistcoat pocket Here
was a test, at all events If there was a
real paper, bearing signs ofits ghostly eri-
gin. then was still sane. and the appari-
tion ] had witnessed was not delusion of
the brain.
In the corner Of my waistcoat pocket
was crumpled piece Of fimsy paper; I
unfolded it. and found it a Bank Of Eng
land note for one hundred pounds
From that time was an altered man.
| paid my gambling debts confessed all
my embarrassments to my friends. who
lifted me out of the mire; never touched a
card or die; studied for the Staff COL
lege; passed a good examination; went to
Sandhurst, came out with high honors.
and having little interest at headquar-
ters. got an appointment as commissioner.
to watch the operations Of the American
War Of Secession. on General ----'s
staff
1t was at the close of bloody but des-
perate battle. or series Of battles. which
resulted in the retreat Of the army Of the
South, that visited the fieli hospitals at
the rear Of the army. in search of q friend
who had been wounded during the day.
The doctors and attendants were too busy
TO pay any attention to my wants. and I
walked down the long rows Of hastily i'm
rrovised couches, trying to recognize my
friend
Scraps Of paper. on which the names of
the patients had been hastily scrawled,
xro-a xx:,,,,rI - >ko ~o~ns:o~ ~r1 ss~.x
ed as read on one. William {! fisS,se,
my own name. The man, appSasalsa rs
be sinking from exhaustion. but he bright
ened up when he heard the tones of a
friendly voice
knelt down beside him, and asked If
/ could do anything for him.
He nodded his head. You're Eng
lish he whispered. -
Yes. | am"
$50 am I II you should Be in the
neighborhood Of Bedford, and should be
able to hear Of an old man named Heath
cote. retired draper. viii you tell him
his son died in creditahle way7 Twas
a disgrace to him. sir. when 7 was slire;
but when | am dead, perhaps he'll think
kindly of me again. I'll tell you my sto-
ry. sir. / was n rogue-I was an under
taker. but I was collector of taxes too !;
and | entered into conspiracy to defraud
the government. It came out; but had
warning in time. slammed dead, and
got away in one Of my coffins with all the
swag. They wasn't very keen after me :;
| don't know why: but just at the last
moment | thought they'd have me. A
detective followed me right to. Woking !:
but I squared him with hundred pound
note. and got clear away to America by
the Southampton packet II never pros
pcred me. that money; and l got lower
and lower. till I listed as n soldier. and
here am. I'm getting tired. sir. Don't
forget Bedford-Hcathcote, retired dra-
per" r."
passed on in wonder and astonish-
ment; and. ifI mus. confess, little disap-
pointed and disenchanted. was no spe-
cial care. then, Of any overruling Provi-
,ience. as had fondly deemed myself
My wonderful warning and deliverance
was mere affair Of chance and accident
As passed the mans couch again, be
lay on it stiff and stark and dead.
On my return to England, made in
quiry of the officials of the revenue de-
partmcnt. and found there really had been
fraud Of the kind in question. that the
collector implicated in it had died sudden
ly-hy suicide. it was thought. As to
the defalcations. the defaulter's surieiies
had paid part-one Of them. his father.
having been sold up in consequence-and
the rest had been paid oyer again By the
parishioners he had defrauded.
So found out the old man a. Bedford
lie was living with a daughter. in abject
poverty. and paid TO him the hundred
pounds with compound interest. To him
I seemed celestial visi,ant
The Cold-meat Train is now thing Of
the past. I believe A luggage train car
rics bclated officers back to camp; but. TO
this dsv. I confess that always prefer to
rass wckiuc in broad daylight. and that
| carefully look inside the carriage before
enter it. l desire no more Loans from
the Dead. a fs-f.ss sHFT-