The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1873-06-12
aIion 10 tIue I'D Lhe seven O'cI0ek q.


gloomy little apartment. | sat down aud
looked around with no very agreeable sen
sation,
Il will sit down and write to Alice, y
| thought, That will s,OlbO my nerves
and quiet me, perhaps y
| descended the ladder. The fire still
glOWed redly on the hearth beneathi my
companion, aud the woman sat beside it.,
talking 10 low tone, and a third person
sat at the table, eatlng-a short stout
villaiuous looking man iu a red flannel
shirt aud muddy trowsers.
| asked for writing materials, and re-
turned to my raom to write to my wife.
my darling Alice"
paused and laid down my pcu as | con-
cluded the words, hslfsmilins to think
what she would say could she know Of my
strange quarters.
Not until both sheets we're covered did |
lay aside my pen, aud prepare for slumber'
As folded my paper, | happened to glance
towards the couch.
Was it the CLEAN ola human eye OBJ
serving me through the board partitionf
or was it but my own faucy2 There was
crack there, butouly blank darkness be-
yond; yet could have sworn that some
thing had sparkled balefully at me.
| took out my watCh--it was one o'clock
It was scarcely worth while for me to un-
dress for three hours sleep. So, placing
my valise close to the head ofmy bed, and
barricnding the loCklcss door with two
chairs, | cxtloguished the light and Iayod
down
At FIRST was verywakeful, butgradnol'
" soft drowsness seemed to steal over
me like misty mantle, until, all ofa sui :
deu, some startling electric thrill coar'ed
through my veins, and | sat up, excited
aud trembling
A luminous softness seemed to glow
through the room no light of the moon or
stars ever so penetrating g-and, by the lit
tie window. saw Alice, my wife, dressed
iu floating garments Of white, with her
long golden hair knotted back by a blue
ribbon Apparently she was bockou'ng
to me with outstrechod hands, and eyes
full Of Wild anxious tenderness,
-@f-spnSg toSEFa her, Vus > ; teac0ed.
the window, the fair apparation seemed to
vanish into the stormy dlrkuns' and [ was
left alone At that self same instant the
sharp report Of a pistol sound ID con'd
see the jagged stream of fire above the pill
low straight through the very spot where
len minutes since my head bad laia.
With an instantaneous realization Of my
danger swung myself over the edge of
the wiuloV, Jumping SON, eight or ten
feet into tangled bushes below, and, as |
there, | heard the tramp Of foot
steps into my room
rs he dead?" cried voice up the lad
der, the smooth deceirful voice Of the wo'
man with the half closed eyes
"Of course he is" growled voice back
that charge would have killed ten men,
A light there, quick, and tell Tom to be
ready"
A cold. agoDispd shuddor ran through
me What aden Of midnight murdtrer'
had I fallen intO? And bow fearfuIly
narrow had been nv escape
With the speed that only mortal terror
and deadly peril can give, rushed through
the woods. now illuminated BY the faint
glimmer of star light know not what
impulse guided my footstep'-l never shall
know how many times crossed my own
track, or how close | stood to the brink OF
a deadly raviue; but mercifuI Providence;
encompassed me with guiding and pro-
teCting care, for when the morning daWu-
ed, with faint red bars Of orient light
against the stormy sky, | was close IN the
high road, some seven miles from R
station.
Once at the town, | told my story to the
police, and a detachment was sent with me
to the spot
After much searching and many false
alarms we succeeded in finding the ruinons
old house; but it was empty-our birds
had flown; nor did recover my vaIise aud