The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-05-21
A MIDNIGHT HORROR.

| statesman, and father of the late and
| still more famous man. Macaulay's
rupert of Debate" The geological
collection was fostered and sustained
with wonderful core and at large an
! nual outlay. Emissafies were employed
in all parts Of the world to procure rare
specimens, and 50 perfect were the
| arr8D genents for their reception at
| Kuowsley that the animals seemed to
forget utterly their lost liberty when
the rather eccentric earl became their
possessor-
Among this varied and valuable col
! lection was a magnificent specimen of
| the Orang- Outang, or CyhGGephalus. It's
height whe. standing erect was nearly
| FIVE feet six inches; its limbs were enor-
nous, and its breadth across the Shout
ders indicated prcdigious strength.
Long, coarse, black hair covered its
huge frame from head to foot, and when
anything occurred t. excite its iIl.tem-
| per its features became terribly fierce
and repulsiva.
Not far from the earl's beautiful resi-
| dence there dVelt a well-to-do farmer,
Uho had acted for some years az one of
| the assistant stewards 70 Lord Derby
He had recently become widOwer
The farmers household consisted of
himself, the. baby, aged four months,
and an old woman who did general duty
! "a nnrse and bOusekeeper. The house
| occupied lonely position, there being
no other dwelling within half a mile or |
SO, and long and severe winter had !
set In. covering the entire country round |
about with carpet of snow.
On one dark and memorable night |
10 .1or |. =
having par taken of his supper III his |
ef-Tooal on account of the comfortable |
fire which that chamber boosted. and |
hecaU7o IL was his custom to have his |
ohild's cradle in thai room. Whenever
the nurse was required at nighttime |
the father rang a bell which commupi. |
Gated with her apartment, Immediately |
above, access to which was obtained by |
narrow flight of stairs. On the rfght |
in question the young iptan5 lay in !
bliFsfUl nncohscioHsne5 in It's warm |
cot near the cheerful fire. and the father |
living in bed 'between sleep and wake" |
Presently he heard his chamber door |
omen slowly, and he reused himself /
slightly to see what the faithful old |
pnr9e required, for he concluded i was !
she who was abo1t TO enter. But she |
did not enter. The door remained open |
and the farmer was on the eve of speak |
ing softly to The nurse, when, gently |
and with a cautious. noiseless tread, the |
monstfOus OrRng- Outanc plidpd into |
the room. The farmer sank back into /!
his bed dismayed, and his dismav prob |
ably saved his life, for the visitor-a |
fitting envoy from "Night's plutonian |
shOre"-cOntinued to be ignorant of his |
presence. The creature then proceeded
to thu neiohborhood of the fireplace,
near which in its cradle the child Law, |
happily unaware Of the grizzly intrud- |
er's existence. The bright flames in |
the old, dark wainscoted chamber gave |
it rich Rembrandt touch. On small !
table were the remains Of the farmers !
supper, which had consisted of fowl. !
These the animal deserted, aud for a |
few minutes they afforded il consider /
able interest, its Thoughts and reflections |
being seemingly concentrated upon the |
anatomical arrangement Of the deceased |
bird,
After toying with the bones and ether |
remnants of the repasb the brute's at |
tentiOn vas suddenly attracted to the |
cradle. To walk nearly erect YES the |
normal habit Of this ill-favcred beast. /
He .dnietly approached the sleeping
child and squatted down at its side It
is probable that among the select visit
ors to Lord Derby's museum the
baboOn had never seen En- iaf&nt, any
way so fra1 md yUung. The sight was
therefore very novel, and he gazed
upon the unconscious creature with
manifest interest as ne removed the
coverlet from its sleeping form, The
farmer, from ont the cttrtaihs Of his
bed, heheld the entire proceedings
with indescribable agony. II was not
presence of mind which prevented him
leaping cut to the rescue, but q feeling
OF spell-hOuud helplessnes5. The poor
farmer was not deficient in ordinary
courage, and would have faced a dozen
of his own SPECIES without = particle of
fear had circumstances demanded it,
but he felt utterly Incapable Of wrest-
ling with such a foe as the one now
sitting before the ruddv chamber fire.
After q little while the creature lifted
the infant from the cradle and placed it
with infinite tenderness upon the
hearth rug. 1t then proceeded to make
a rigid examination Of the child's limbs,
so soft and plump, and SO devoid OF ali
hirsute decoration Il was this fact
that probably amazed and staggered
the examiner most. He no doubt re-
tanned some recollection of the young
progeny Of his own kith and kin in the
days Of his liberty iu the distant African
forests, but never before had be 9azed
upOu q little alabasteS form like this.
So gently had be removed the babe
from its CO., and 50 oOnside5ate did he
conduct MS researches. that its sleep
survived the process. Apparently salts
fed in the extreme with his ipvestiga-
lion, the mOnster-DOnster with touch
so delicate i-transferred his attentions
to Il general scrutiny Of the chamber of
which be now found himself without
invitation, and possibly with greater
emotions of surprise than those exper- /
fenced by the farmer, If that oonld be. /
Furniture was certainly novel spec
tacle, for in his recant home q dead, !
leafiess tree was the sole decorative {
article, and he now rOamed the room !
with such q look of critical acUmen that j
he strongly rCSemblcd sn aucti0neers
clerk taking an inventory of the house
hold property. The Old-fashioned bed
In which the farmer lay, in speechEesa {
suspense, was evidently destined to 6
come last up0n the iDtruder's catalogue
but come 1t did, and the teTr ble brute. q
exceeding III height the average human ]
race, and with evidences Of innate /
strength equally IN excess, now stood {
lt the farmers side. The visitor re- S
NAMED there b1t Tor 81 moment. vet to Z
the farmer, who had affected to be !
.OUud asleep, 1t vas 10 such brief 9
p rio1 of time. All ct once tint cry d
rom the tiny child. who evidently pre- 4
erred the casiuess uf It's cradle to the "
liscOmforss Of the lea th-rug, altered Y
. ! e,