Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1878-09-12

me. The man in the coffin was
the man whom / had seen il
the express office! That red
eye was staring straight at me
and | was Eot mistaken! Fol
"a moment my life depended omit
This man who was alive af-
ter the accident, which the pa
pers said caused the death of
Van Scooter and Griggs, and
who had made arrangements fol
the transportation of their re-
mains, was now here in this
coffin, to all appearance deadl
Then / remembered that the be-
reaved stranger had said that
his dead brother resembled him
very closely. But two brothers,
are not apt to have red glass
eyes! Such a coincidence as
this was beyond the pale of rea-
sonable probabilities.
While yet | gazed at the sup
posed corpse, the other eye O.
pened a little, and | was sure
it was looking at me. / was
convinced that there was fraud
here, but to show that l had
discovered it might cost me my
life. So | very quietly replaced
The lid of the coffin and took a
moment to think the matter
over.
l remembered my conversa-
tion with the express agent,
which we feared had been over
heard by the clerical-looking
stranger, and could only come
to the conclusion that the whole
thing was a deliberate plan to
murder me and gain possession
of the $4,000 in my charge.
There was no denying that the
man with the red eye was alive,
and / had no doubt that the
other man was also. Kneeling
down, ] placed my ear close to
the side of the coffin, and could
hear him breathe quite distinct
ly. / remembered that the at
tendant who had boarded the
train intended to enter the car
at Redwood, ostensibly for the
purpose Of seeing the bodies;
and / could not doubt that the
three men intended to attack
me after the train pulled out
from the station, and rob the
car before our arrival at the
next stopping place. There
was but one station between
US and Redwood, and l knew we
would be there in ten minutes
more. / had no time for hesi-
tation. Instant action was my
only chance for safety. IF [
could secure myself from any
attack until we reached the
next station, / felt that all
would be we'll. In one instant
I had decided upon plan of
action. AS quickly as possible
/ piled several heavy boxes of
merchandise on top of the two
cofins, and then l knew | was
safe. Scarcely was this ac-
complished when we ran into
the station.
I immediately found two or
three officers. First the man
in the coach was secured. He
was highly indignant that he
should be disturbed on such a
solemn mission. But it was no
60. He was handcuffed in less
than two minutes and marched
out on the platform.
1t was all easy matter to Sc
cure the two quondam dead
men. They were taken great
ly at a disadvantage, and were
deprived of all power to resist
almost before they became a.
ware how their nice little
scheme had terminated. All
three had been we'll armed.
Bound and guarded the three
miscreants were taken to Red
wood and lodged in the county
Jail.
Before I left / took a look at
them through the grated doors
of their cell. When | paid my
respects to the man with the
red eye, he smiled a little and
remarked patronizingly;
"You're a pretty sharp young
man. 1t takes a middling keen
boy to outwit us.