Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1872-11-14

man as you would not cale 10 be With in thu.
dark. But was broad day light. and when
he asked me, witha strange, almost angry
vi.ice, to ,.walk in,'' certainly expected
nothing more than prl,aps afew r,ale Words
if a,l mistaken him for the Smith of nay
search.
..Sit down, sir,' kr said. Take chair,
and he pointed to a rickety old stool quite at
the other end OF the room. Taking of my
hat, Ibid as ne said. and then politely intro
sdueed tic object of. my visit.
..sioar name, .Iintcrrogatetl, lis. believe
Smith. and Was informed by Mr.. Marshall
that you had small parcel for ME.
whats In the PARCEL liz demanded,
rather than asked. ss
'.Booas and papers. believe ".
..'Oh! aye! books he said. There are
books. There they are" pointing to a few
old vol,lms lying ona chest oil drawers in the
corner. You can see them there,I sup
poser
YES. Irepli.d slowly. ii certainly do
see some books, but surely they: are not the
ones which lie le1I -. .'.sasa za sa#ss4-l
.'Sr.'' he exclaimed, with a loud voice. II
will speak to you frcelcy. We are alone
now, and concealmcnt IS useless. | must
and will speak 10 you"
l Was perfectly asrenislled at bis speech
for Icould not, for the lite OF me, see What
lie meant; bnt my amazeinent was still grca-
ter WREN, with angry gestic,lation and a
flashing eye. he rose, went to ::the dnor and
locked it, putting the key ip his pocket. |
suppose my face betrayed the wonder til:t
telt, for, turning to me, he shouted:
ssay not word! Your honr has conle..'
Tie thei, took from a drawer Il large wle:-
stone and 4 long. black leather CASE, and
pulling his chair to the tallle he placed them
upon it and sat down, staring me full IN the
face. Then, in a deliberate voice, he sa'd:
.'Yes, man, your time has core. I haze
had it revealed to me, long years ago, that
should see you this day. The stars IN theil
courses predicted your destiny and this day
| it is decrerd that you should be offered up .
glorious sacrifice to the powers of Heaven.
We are alone, and will tell you, truly, the
star Of your destiny i IN bloody house.
tell you your destiny is fulfilled I say. yor
die to-day--this day YOU die -
4 must admit that whenI saw him shu
and lock the door. certainly did feel som,
apprehension of violence. But when saw
him sitting there. glaring upon nae viii
fierce. blood-lhirstr, eyes, and talking sucl
nonsense, which nevertheless implied I;
threat saw at once that was locked II
with a ,nadnan, and he. too, evidently
dangerous Que. What to say or TODD lcouls
rsf tal. am a small, weak nlan. and h
very powerful; and even had tie case. bcel
reversed, every enc knows that lunatic
possess an almost supernatura. strength. H
had the key in his pocket, and his back wa
to the door. To shout ott would, knew
be useless-no Que III the house would hear
We were three stories above tao street, so t
leap from the window was imp possible; while
il Iatlempted tile open to. window IN order t.
call for assistance, the first move Oh my par
would probably be the signal tor violence o.
his. / could think Of nothin. feasible, AIT
so sat in silence. trusting to the chapter 6
accidents o. some happy idea for deliveraac
from M perilous situation. *'@ 4'''A s.
Seeing that l was silent, he paused for
few minutes, all the while ste adtastly tixin:
! his bright eyes tiercely upon me. He thel
abruptly said:
Il must talk with you; must reason am
prove to you the heavenly mission which
have. The stars themselves have given yo'
to me by an eternal decree. Show me you
hand, and will prove it. Show me you
hand ~ .s,#..s.s 4.ssss.ssse a
/ (which nand2'' asked. s
','rhe. risht,th dexter hand-that ham
upon which the planets, have written you
destiny in lines Of blood. Your hand,
say ~ q4#
i went over to where lie sat, andycry calm
4 held ont my right hand toward him. Il
took it by the tips OF the fingers and locke
4 inteutiy upon the palm. There Eseest tho
j that p, iie exclaimed. pointing TO long,
i regular line which RAJ across the palm
.s7hers lis thy slestiny-clear that all til
4 world may read it and justify my deed te
day. That is the line of life. zee how
branches of and lnelts away-a sure token
I'm earlv and bloody dissolution. My part
to offer the sacrifice; yours is TO endure
II There sit down! When that clock strike
] one. You will depart TO wander among ii
stars = !.
So saying, he thrust my hand away. and
quietly sat down. saying nothing. lie leane
back in his chair, folded his arms upon b
breast. and gazed at the clock. It now wal
!, ted about fifteen minutes to one. After
. lence of about five minutes, in which w
yainly raeking my brain to contrive son
means Of escape. he suddenly stsrted, n
fixing his piercing eyes on me, said:
I ave will prepare the instruments for Il
| sacrifice. > s.s
i Suitinq the action to the word, he pull,
ttl,e stone toward him, and. opening the le
/ ther case, took from it frightfill two edgs
! Spanish knife or dagger, the blade of whi'
Il was, think, certainly q foot long. Ae. tri
4 Its edge apoE 4 hair. and although if
{ peared to me to be rs sharp ms razor, ne
gan to rub II scarcfully upon the stone. Z
words and the sight of the horrible, glitts
Z ing knife, and the full knowledge Of !
u maniac purpose, fully. awakened me TO
Z sense OF my danger. conad DO nothing,
!. he was ,watcning like cat every moyrIns'
!, But might gains time at least. and fesolr