Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1872-1875, 1874-10-08
the coffin by tome crrow-night. It must
be ready to be shipped before daybreak

be ready TO DO shipped before daybreak
the next morning. ~ ~
All right, said the Old screw. q
don't mind losin' little sleep to. be
obligin' of onfySt the expense a
fYonR Old @ultufeH Mh fonred, IL
paySSy yousS half on THE apot!, And I
oounteG-un5 TO MIN enough greenbacIks
TO mske his sharp old nose come down
and CHOP OVer his ohm with an unctuous
smack of appr eciation.
a * IlI hev it that 1mptious, said
the wretch, with greedy enthusiasm,
that you'll clap your hands over it.
It'lltbe that peart and pious that you
needn't be ashamed of it in church +
lS Il : NEEDED odd a.9 sagpyoEi M and startsd
BILE feeling of o man who has done all
he could to ameliorate an irremediable
suffering. All that day there was a
threatening aspect Of the winds and the
waves that boded more mischief on that
malevolent shore. Massive heavy clouds
hung black asjnk over the sharp jagged
rocks, and 2 fierce under-tone in the ele-
ments told of a conspiracy for a tenn
a'a My poor Old Jack had been washed
oil the care that Kib ola friend Sand
chool-fellow could bestoY upon mel
burst from my burning eyes, and fell
and finding it become less and less re.
lcognizable as 7 gazed upon it, I covere /
IL reverentiy With nv handkerchief, and
sat silent and alone with it and the
darkness, waiting for the old man with
tha coffin = !,
GAS the day waned and twilight
gathered, wall broke forth from the
rocks and wages few belated gulls
Topped their wings heavily over the
water that began. to lash sfuriouslyz the
low sandy Shore Presently o fewidreps
fell, the precursors of one of those furi-
.ouss storms Z that riot ron, that. desert
coast. SsSs Al w Ss2g &ES4kgE W.
can agony of impotence seized mo.
Itgot upon my feet, and paced to and fro
the loose boards of the hut.
Z "WasssI, tthen, condemned to stay
here, powerless to save my poor Jack
from being the puppet of yonder maIig-
nant fiends of the shore and the sea ]
knew if the coffin were delayed until
the storm increased in fury, the road to
the old wrecker's home would be impass-
able, flooded, and without clew.
.Was it, then, destined that he should
be thrown into the greedy NAV Of the
sea, after oil, and his place in the dear.
little church yard at homo know hin. no
more? There were prayers oven then
offered up for him in that dear. little
village in the valley, mot only by the
thin and Withered lips Of his mother,
but sweet and ,roseate GSess were ttrem-
bling in his behalf that late had clung
to his own in rapture, and gentle young
fingers would gather flowers for his
grave and n,urmur befiisons there for
many year. Oh, %as it, then, impos-
sible to give this joy 70 my poor old
Jack?
Il started up with q malediction upon
the storm and its surroundings, and
with an impulse of desperation wrapped
myself in an old tarpaulin and yentured
forth. e ~ FsF9- FT3
81 suppose my nerves were pretty we'll
unstrung, for the deal face of my lost
comrade followed me with q grotesque
and horrible persistency. I strug-
gled against the, feeling, but it seemed
to me the murky air was full of shape
less fends and bodiless spirits of devil
ish propinquities.. -
50 Stumbling along The rain beating
mefcilessiy down making. the rocky path
perilously smooth, made my way slow
~ in the direction Of the old wrecker's
abode. ttfi 'fs i-gxol g,ft a1i ~
"Feeling the path step by step in
this wilderness and storm, it must: have
taken me many hours to accomplish a
mile, for had scarcely gone halfway
when j found ny. my watch it was
nearly midnight. 1.-The same lurid
CLEAN of lightning that showed me 5he
face of my watch gaveime also feet
glimpse of something lying in the road
before me, almost at my feet. s'lH
I looked, and started back in hor-
ror n peculiar sensation 6ame to nv
scalp; felt my hair, 80 to speak,
rising on end ; for there, in deffle of
the road, half wedged in the shelter of
rock, was a. coffin. The peculiar
shape Of itswas only dimly discernible.
and either exaggerated by this dimness
or else the cofin was of gigantic size.
How did IL get tjthereP Did the :fiafids
about meIcontriye this shape tosdeceive
my half. delirious senses ?ss*4 I looked
again, and slowly I saw the ponderous
lid rise, skeleton hand come forth:
then an arm, At last half the form
from this terrible resting
place, land, wrapped about with a wind
ing-sheet, seemed struggling to leave
the coffin altogether. /,
! stT seized my pistol with trembling
hand. I cooked it.
4" Don't shoot, young man y cried
The spectre. 'Ye'll spile the polish, of
yerldo.l This cussed rain has 9 emf :
most done for it already. It was pious
and peart o spell back, but it's pretty
well spilled n.w, I'm afeard. '0s1 Fl
"It was NV old wreeker. oarnenter