The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-03-20
A Nights Snort.


ting.
mo, Pm not, for one,m replied Henry.
the eldest, decidedly, not raising his
eyes from the stick he was leisurely
whiting.
care you, Dick?p he asked, half
timidly, fearing he would reply mega
lively, turning to another sitting Iazily
before the stove.
mo, there's none of us going, unless
it's you" he added; "and l know that
you won't go, for you are too great a
coward to go alone"
"Pll bet you Pm not, )" replied George,
hotly, "and whether you among you go
or not, 1 willni he added, emphatically.
"PoOh! pretty big Growing for little
chapn' they sneered. "We'll see how
much going there II be when the time
comes.n
"We'll see, them" he retorted, an
grily, Sand If don't go, then call me a
cowardu'
''Oh, you may start, but I'll warrant
before you've gone three rods, you'll
come back, scared half to DEATH" de-
elared AlOnzo, positively, Joining in
with his other brothers against him.
''Pll bet you Tll not" retorted
George, defiantly, and turning on his
heel, he angrily left the room.
"Oh, boys, how could you? Don't be
so contrary, please" pleaded their sister
Mary, a sweet, blue-eyed little girl,
loved by every one; "you know he's
afraid TO go alone, il he is ashamed to
admit it. He has been up late at night
now for several weeks, committing the
piece he intends TO speak, and now he
is anxious TO speak it. Come, now,'i
she proceeded, "be good boys and 60
with him. You know how you'd feel il
you were in his place, and he'll go now,
after what's been said, il he dies on the
way"
%WelI, what OF it; if he's big fool
enough to go, let him take the conse-
quences. pm not a going away of
there, such clustering, snowy night as
this is, for any one" replied Henry, ris-
ing and leaving the room, followed by
the other two.
'iOh! boys for shame, how can you ~
followed the reproving voice of their
sister, as the door closed behind them.
"Come, mother, hurry up supper if
you can, it's getting late. The teacher
said he was going TO commence sooner
than usual, tonight, and if / don't
hurry, Pll be late, fear" said George,
entering the room where his mother was
helping prepare supper.
"Why, who's going with you 81 she
asked, glancing up from her work. 81
heard the boys say that none Of them
were going"
"Oh, well, that don't matter,n he re-
piled, 81 can go as well without as with
Them"
"But are you not afraid? ?"
"No, what is there to be afraid of ?''
he declared, bravely.
But, after eating his supper, and has
tening to his room to prepare TO go, he
hesitated. Might he not, after all, see
something? The sky was overcast, and
it was dark and stormy, and the road he
was to traverse was lone and drear,
leading through a dense piece of woods.
Why not take his uncle's revolver,
which was hanging on the wall before
him? What would be the harm? He
could carry it as well as not, and when
he returned he could restore it TO its
place again, and without any one know
ing il. He need not use il at all, and II
would make him feel so much more
bOlder and fearless. Taking it down
and slipping il from the case, which hC
returned to the place it was taken from
after seeing il was well loaded, he care
out. The darkness was appalling, the
wind swept fiercely past, howling anC
groaning fearfully among the tree-tops
but he had said he would go, and Will
a fiutteriDg heart he pushed forward
into the gloom.
In short time he reached the dens,
wood. It was reported to be haunted
and as he hurried through it, whistling
to keep up his courage, and his ham
nervously clutching the revolver, h6
trembled in fear at every noise. He had
passed nearly through il, and was going
down into the valley through which
coursed a small stream, when suddenly
TO his horror, a tall white form, with
great blazing eyes and long bony hands
sprang as it were from the ground and
barred his way! With a gasp of terror,
and a madly bounding heart, he at
tempted to rush back from the spot,
when another form of death rose before
him, and, with n sepulchral groan,
stretched out its long arms TO grasp
hint
Their great, cavernOus, blazing eyes
burned into his very soul. Flames and
jets of smoke seemed to burst from their
mouthsl
With a wild, maddened shrek of ter
ror, he bounded into the forest followed
by the horrible forms in pursuit, only
with frozen blood and stilled heart, TO
be confronted by another form yet more
terrible, CHASTITY, deathlyi Maddened,
crazed with terror, he snatched the re-
vOlver from his bosom and blindly fired
at the apparitiOn before him. There
was a shrek, n human shrek, and the
form fell to the ground with n gasp.
Two wild cries of anguish rent the night
and the two other forms, divested Of
their ghostly attire, rushed forward and
knelt over the fallen figure.
His brothersI
80 Henry! Henry. speak to u.s. speak
to usw burst from there agonized hearts.
80 God of mercy George, you've killed,
you've murdered your own brotherw
they cried wildly, as the limp form and
stilled heart told that he was dead.
There was a demoniac laugh, shrek
that picered their very souls, and the
maddened boy, the fratrieide, sprang
from the ground where he had fallen as
he fired, and bounded like n maddened
beast away into the forest.
In the walls of an asylum shrieks
and raves a madman, tearing like an
enraged beast at the walls of his cell;
while two lone graves mark the resting
place of the murdered son and broken
hearted mother-all the fruits of A
NIGHTS SPORT