The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1873-07-26
Mr.. .COFille3s MisfOrtune.

THERE are men who dispute what they
do not understand. Mr.. COville is such a
man. When he heard carpenter say
that there were SO many shingles on the
roof Of the house because the roof con-
tained go many square feet, Coville
doubted the figures, and when the car
penter went away he determined to test
the matter by going on the roof and
counting them. And he went up there.
He squeezed through the scuttle-Coville
weighs 23O-as.d then sat down on the
roof and worked his way carefully and
deliberately toward the gutter.
When he aak~pant may ydoMn.a1oehsaEet
sound between him and the shingles.
and became aware there was an interfer-
ence somewav in his further locomotion.
He tried to turn over and crawl back. but
the obstruction bela hip. Then he tired s !
tronble would prove but temporary, buf
an increased sound convinced him that
either nail or a silver had hold of his
cloth. and that if he would save any of it
he must use caution. His folks were in
the house. but he could not make them
hear, and besides he didn't want to at
tract the attention Of the neighbors. So
he sat there until after dark and thought.
It would have been an excellent oppor-
tunitv to have counted the shingles, but
he neglected to useit His mind appeared
to run in other channels. He sat there
an hour after dark. seeing no one he could
notify Of his position. Then he saw two
bows approach the gate from the house.
and reaching there, stop. It was Ii light
enough for him to see that one Of the two
was his son, and although he objected to
having the other boy know Of his misfor-
tune. he had grown tired Of holding on
to the roof. and concluded he could bribe
the strange bov into silence. 'N-'t
With this arrangement mapped out, he
took ont his knife and threw It go that it
would strike near the boys and attract
their attention. 1t struck nearer than ne
anticipated. In factit struck so close as Z"
hit the strange bov on the head and nearly
brain him. AS soon as he recovered MS
equilibrium he turned on Coville's boy.
who. he was confident, bad attempted 10 20
kill t3fyy,. and tSsfre s0fffe aseonisn.
ment and bruises in his face. Then he
threw him down and kicked him in the
side and banged him on the Shead. ana
drew him over into the gutter and pound
ed his legs. and then haalledahim bnck to
the walk again and knocked his head
aginst the gate. ~
And al the while the elder Coville sat on
the roof and cried "Police." hnt couldn, I
get away, An then Mrs. Coville dashed
out with broom. and contributed a lew
novel features to the affair at the gaze
and one of the boarders dashed out Wltn
double-barreled gun. and hearing the
cries from the roof. looked up there ano
espying a figure which was undouotediy
hnrela,. drove handful OF shot into It's
legs. ,
With howl of agony Coville made
plunge to dodge the missiles, freed him
self from the nail. lost his hoio 10 Int
roof. and went sailing down the shingles
with awful velocity. both legs spread out
his hair on end. and his hands making
desperate but fruitless efforts to save MN
self. He tried to swear. butwas SO frlght
ened that he lost his power Of speech, anc
when he passed over the edge Of the roo1
with twenty feet of tin gutter hitched Z
him, the boarder gave him the contents
of the other barrel. and then drove ln4
the house to load up again.. The unfortu
nste Coville struck into cherry tree, ant
thence bounded to the ground. where NJ
was recogniz' d. picked up by the as
semhled neighbors, and carried into Tn
house ... 4.. .s ..
A new doctor is making goot wage
picking the shot out Of his legs. IN
hoari1er has gone into the country q
spanl the SUI INNER. and the junior t;o' ne
having Sedurst.r"d piece Of brick IN nj
handk. rnhief. is laving low for that othe
hoy. He saws that before the calm q
another Sabbath rests on New Englan
there will be another hov in D'nbury Wn
can't wear cap.-Danbu7y Ne'os.