Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-01-20


who had watched him closely; veterans
expert in the use of firearms, declared
that he had not, that the rife seemed t.
fire itself off. All that the father could
say was: "The gun is cursed. The devi
of Mexican cursed the gum
To comfort him we all agreed it was SO
Indeed, am not sure but they all though
it. Inwardly I resolved to ferret out the
| mystery.
The horrible accident nearly broke his
heart. He had been fine looking, up
right, middle-aged man when his daugh
ter's wedding day; when he arose from
his bed on which long and terrible i'll
ness laid him, he was bent like a patriarch
of ninety, and his hair, from being brown
and rich, was thin and white as snow.
AS for the gun the Mexican had cursed
the soldier had never seen since that day
Strong in her tenderness for the father
even in her grief for her child, the moth.
er had overcome her horror of the dread
full thing, and had carried it to the great
garrett There she hid it in a lumber
closet, SO that it might not trouble he1
unhappy husband should his eyes ever
look upon the things of this world again
He had never asked about it; he believed
it had been destroyed. He did not know
that the powder-horn and the shot-bag
trung besideit.
Again l was making my annual visit
at the old homestead. 1t was warm day
and my former chum had been afield
since dawn At noon his job was done
and the boys who had toiled with him fol
lowed him home, full Of glce that their
work was over.
81 shall take nap, lads" he said, after
dinner. ''As for you, you can do the
same if you like, or you might go a fish
ing. There's plenty of trout in the kill,
Pm told"
And SO the boys both cried aloud that
fishing was their choice, their father smil-
ed upon them.
"Whatever troubles we've had, mother,
he said, 'we'vc two fine boys"
And he went to take his nap with a
lighter heart than he had often had since
the fatal marriage day.
But when he had fallen asleep he be
gan to dream strange, troubled dreams
He was at the battle of San Jacinto and
the Mexican's lips were at his ear.
81 cursed the gun" He heard again
'May it prove q curse to YOU
Other guns were firing all about them
he heard the noise, he smelt the smoke
Suddenly he awoke--the noise of the re
port of firearms was actually in his ears
and he detected the odor of gunpowder
He saw his wife on her knees in the
middle of the room.
"What has happened9" he cried
II do not know" sobbed the poor wo
man. 81 heard the noise--I am brighten
ed!"
They then rushed together to the gar
ret, whence came a sound of groans.
Meanwhile had heard the boys go pas
my room and go up the garnet stairs
probably in search of fishing tackle.
called them back.
'sBe careful, boys" I cautioned them
sabout the lumber closet. There is al
old gun in it that may be loaded. Don
go near it.
'All right" said Charlie; come o.
Will"
Feeling I had done my duty, settled
" Gl IlClC WI t1lC Tx u OH y
Fishing is very well said the elder
but I'd like shooting better. What ;
pity father wont let US have guns
He crossed the garnet and opened thu
door of the lumber clost.
Yes, there the old thing is. | don
believe its loaded. What if tits? Reckon
1 know how to manage gum
Lets take it on the sly" said hi
bro Their. Let it out of the window, anc
III carry it to the woods. There is tn
powder flask and bullet-pouch, too. w
can get some caps at the store, Charlie.
"a good idea," said Charlie, advancing
! toward the closet from which his brothe
came, trailing the gun after him. Mel
ther of them guessed it was the gun tina
had caused their sisters death. "Let'
| have it, WILL" said he, and he took it
Suddenly there was flash,a report, and
horrible scream from the little fellow,wh,
fell forward on his face at the feet Of tn
elder. His PROSTATE form was what hi
parents saw as we three rushed into tn
old garrett
The other boy stood utterly unable t
move, clutching the weapon that ha,
caused all this.
"May God have mercy on US, it
the cursed rifle again!" cried the ia
ther
Then the boy found words.
81 swear did not load i'll" he sale
"And swear that I did not touch tn
trigger!'
And still his brother lay dead at hi
feet
On the night before l had seen SIGH
that might have prophesied this tragedy
Would heaven had told of it.
The kitchen clock was striking clever
In country house like that people go t
bed early. The family had been to slee
an hour. I was reading, but paused t
listen to the striking of the loud mouthe
clock. AS it ceased l fancied l heard
football upon the stairs. I opened tn
door, Slowly the noise came nearer.
had the sound that can come only frol
a bare foot. The next second | saw N
host Rathbone, approaching me.
you'll catch cold, old fellow said
'Put on your coat"
To my surprise he answered not at al
but came slowly on.
Then I saw, for the first time, sun
nambulist
For moment I hesitated whether /
awaken him. He was easily mortified
and my catching him in such pligl
would prove disagreeable to us both. S
. | T ci,n,,1u fo1Iou,aI HIN,