The Van Buren press., 1876-08-08


No"
. They say it 70 setels death. Hush v
The two men sat motionless. Not q
sound broke the silence, not even creak
of the old boards in the floor, nor sigh
of the wind, nor tapping shutter
They say it foretels death. heard
i. last night and the night before about
this time, near one It isn'ta very pleas
ant sound, and this Old garret's dismal
enough. any way
Monk, you re afearetl It's nothing.
Don waste no more time. | IN dead
tired and sleepy. You wouldn't have
been in this old hole now if it had not
been for Peters
" Ne, if it had not been for Peters, the
strike, like enough, would have took.
But lie won't stand in nobody's way
aim
While Monk spoke. he drew out a
long, slender knife, and ran his fnger
along the blade I,
Il tell you, Shiflet, we must do 1t the
night after the blasts done, and the men
in the 81 ed say the cea will run out on
the sixth; that Tomorrow. When Pc
ters is fixed, the manager will have to
give in, or quit running the furnace"
Both men sat with their arms leaning
upon the table, and the flickering light OF
the tallow candle between them showed
two faces, rough, begrimmed by smoke
and SCOT, and disfigured by evil passions,
that grew tiercer as they calmly plotted
against the life of fellow being.
ave will meet at one, where the roads
cross. 1t will be quiet then. and Peters
house is alo c.'
1t will be all right" said Shifet, with
a grin that rendered his brute,like coun,
tenance doubly repulsive. I'm confoun-
ded tired Bring your candle and light
me down them internal stairs
The men stood up Monk, small and
slim, was dwarfed by the almost giant
statue Of his companion. With few
parting words as to secrecy and silence,
they separated.
Monk stood on the upper step until
Shidet disappeared, then closed the door
and replaced the candle on the table
The room, neither large or small. was
mere hole, smoked, dirty and unpas-
tered, high up in frame tenement house
Two or three chairs, an old chest of
drawers, a rickety bedstead and pine ta-
BILE, composed its furniture. Some old
boots and broken pieces of pig iron lay
scattered about. The small box. shaped
window was set just below where the
ceiling or roof sloped to the stairs that
went down two, three flights to the
ground. There were many snch places
in Agatha, where the furnace hands lived,
Monk walked rapidly up and down the
room, as if making an effort to wear of
the excitement that the last few moments
had brought upon him. His features had
lost much of the malignant expression,
which was by no means habitual. His
conntenance was not hardened or stamp.
ed with the impress of crime like Shiflet's
who had just parted With him at the door
"A countenance in which every trace OF
conscience had long been erased. Monk S
face was neither good nor bad, neither
bright or dull but he was man easily
wrought into passion, governed by i'm
pulse.
Crossing to the table he slung his Goa,
over chair, and stretched out his hand
to extinguish the light. Midway in the
action he suddenly checked himself,
looked burridly around the room for al
instant, and stood motiouless, with in.
clincd head, listening intently. Not q
sound disturbed the stiffness. Pnchng
out the light, he threw himself on the beu,
and in the darkness there soon came the
heavy rcspirations Of sleep
The houses of Agatha nestled under
the north eli #. A hundred feet above
them the railroad lost itself in the black
mouth ofa tunnel, and reappearcd be,
yond high wall Of trestlc work stretch,
ed southwark down the valley to Ely S
mines. Hours ago the toiliug men and
cattle had laid down to rest, and now the
wild, and rocky hills around slept in the
moonlight. No sound broke upon the
stiffness but the mutlied puff, puff that
rose and fell interruptedly along the
shrunken water course. The cabins un
der the cliff shone white and sharp; the
iron on the metal switch flashed with a
million gems the rails upon the trestle
receding, turned to silver, and the foliage
of early summer glttered on the trees
A few passionless stars blinked feebly in
the yellow light, where the hill tops cut
against the sky, and sank below the verge.
Calmly and peacefully, as though the
spirit of evil had not atalhed abroad,