Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-01-10

ened by the expression OF my cOmpan-
| ions countenance. His eye-balls seemed
actually starting from their sockets,
his mouth was half open and fixed; his
hands, which were extending towards
| the corpse: trembled like vibrating
harpatrings, and his very hair seemed
fretfI1. He moved nearer towards the
head of the deceased, looked another
4 moment into that pallid face, and sink,
ing down upon his knees, he clasPed
his hand toward heaven:
"Great God, 1 thank thee L thank
thee thanks. thanksf' he CALCULATED
in frantic tones, and then he arose ana
looked once more upon the features Oh
the corpse Then his eyes wandered
| to the heavy pistol that lay upon the
sable pail, and while cold shuddef
passed he took me by the arm.
| "Come, come, said he, "come Win
| me to your cafe, and / will tell you Il
| strange story
Without needing the mute astonlsh-
ment of the monk, / followed II. My
companions nerves had become some
what composed, and l could see there
was intense satisfaction depicted in ev-
ery lineament of his countenancs.
MIR. c." he commenced, . can
Nearly twenty years ago 1 fell in love
with young girl in the City of New
York. On my part the acquaintance
soon ripened into love of the warmest
| and most ardent kind-and it was AS
pure as it was ardent; and she profess
| ed the same feeling toward me. L was
| then well-to-do in the world, being a
! clerk in heavy mercantile house. and
! ere long it was arranged we should be
married About week previous to the
! time set.for this ceremony, accident
/ ally heard my affianced bride use some
! obscene and profane language in COM
| panv with one of her female acqualn-
| tances. You can judge of my feelings
| under these circumstances much better
than I can describe them.I Turned
away sick at heart, and on the very
next day received indtbita BILE proofs OF
the utter infidelity of the object of my
| affections. 1 at once broke off the en-
gagement. Upon being questioned by
! some of my companions as to the cause
of my course, unguardedly and, per-
+! haps. fooiishly, revealed to them the
whole secret. The story, as having
! come from me, got wings, and soon
spread among the lady's friends and
acquaintance.
A few days afterward Young man
about my own age called into the store
and came mp to the desk where I was
writing. His hands were ncrvously
clasped together and his face was livid
with rage He told me that / had for
ever blasted the reputation of his sis
ter-that | had faithlessly deserted her
and left her broken hearted. [ at
tempted to reason with him, but [
might as well have reasoned with a
lightning bolt. He demanded instant
satisfaction, and proposed that should
accompany him over on the Long
Island side and fight him Ny natural
timidity would have prevented me from
complying with such Il request, and I
had also higher scruples, and of course
| refused. Then he called me a
base coward, and swore that he would
have my life. Icomplained of him before
ii Justice. he was unprecedented, publicly
tried, fined and placed under bonds to
keep the peace.
After that [ met him in Broadway. He
stopped me and whispered in my ear.
He swore by the most fearful oath IL
man could take, that he would hunt
me through the world till he had ac-
compGshed his purpose. knew that
he meant just what he had said, and
fear began to take possession of my
bosom. Many times discovered that
he was logging ME about, but [ always
managed to keep among crowd as
walked along the streets [ dared not
bring him to trial again, for might
fail to make ont a case, and it could
only tend to incense my enemy still
more. At length feared to walk the
streets, for one ight as L was passin g
a dark alley near the head of Cherry
street, / heard the report of a pistol
close to me, and bullet passed through
my hat. [ knew who fired that pistol.
but had no evidence 1 felt that my
I life was not safe i'll that city, and
secretly l moved to small town in the
western part of the State of Massachu-
sets, where L engaged with a goods
! dealer. Here took myself IA wife; but
L had not been married over a month.
when | saw my enemy pass the door of
the store and look in. He saw me and
pointed his finger at me. The cold
sweat stood i'll huge drops upon my
brow, and my fears came back more
powerfully than ever. At night con-
trived to get my employer to go home
with me, and on the way 1 heard low.
stealthy footsteps behind me. knew
that | was dOgged "You are mine -
. [ heard II voice pronounce, as 1 turned
! into my yard, and as [ turned [ saw a
! dusky figure moving off beneath the
. shade of the roadside trees The next
day sent word to my employerstlrat [
was sick, and kept the house. all tlav.
! explained all to my wife, and she
agieedtog GO with me wherever wished
Several times during that day saw my
sworn murderer pass the house and
gaze lnteently upon the windows. but
he did not see me-
got Il boy to go to the stable and
procure horse and wagon, and, after
dark, to take it round to q back road
nearly mile from the house. Nv
wife and myself tied up sncll article as
We could Garry, and taking all my
money with me We stole out through
| the back garden, and gained the cross
road in safety. The wagon was there.
and, having entered it, the boy drove.
us off at good speed. just at daylight
we reached a tavern where q stage
coach was almost ready to start, and
the boy returned, having first promised
to keep 1nviolate the secret of nv
fight. The stage was bound to I.enox,
which place We reached before dark.
From thence [ went to Hudson.
crossed the North River and made my
way to the western part Of New York,
where L bought me small cottage.
In less than year my enemy found
me again, and l saw him standing in
front of my house He looked Wild
and haggard, but could see that there
was an iron determination upon his
features. One night heard a grating
against one of my windows, and on
the next moment my dog. a powerful
Newfoundland. had sprung from his
kennel. dared not go down, for +
knew too well the cause of the distur-
bance. The noise soon ceased hoY-