Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1878-01-09

f~X R~HH7a8 - SAW - --
Idcvil u 4 1fcxican Cured the gum"
- ccaiort hin, " ~ agfsed II VI
Ien lndsod, I m MT aurs but they q
ADa0htIA 1nwardly, I resolved 70 ia
Int out ~ mySteFy. ".
The horrible accident nearly broke hi
heart He had been : hne- Hooking, ~
right middls-aged man when his daugh
Itsr,s wedding dry dawned; when b
arose from his bed on which . long an
terrible illness laid him, he was ben
like ! patriarch Of ninety, and his hail
from being brown and rich, VA thin an
white ~ snow.
A for the run the Mexican ha,
Cursed, the soldier had never seen !
since that day.
Strong in her tenderness for tn
father, even IN her grief for her child
the mother had overcome her horror =
the dreadful thing, and had carried it Il
the efeat garnet. There she hid it in
lumber closet, 20 that IL might no
trouble her unhappy husband should hi
eyes ever look upon the things of thi
world again. He had never asked abou
ii; he believed II had been destroyed
He did not know that the powder-hori
and the ahot-bag hung beside it
Again I was making my annual visit
ut the old homestead. 1t was a warn
day, and my Former chum had beer
aAeld since dawn. At noon his job wa,
done, aud the boys who had t0iled with
him followed him home, fullOf glee that
their work was V
vi shall take = nap, lsds," be said,
after dinner. CAS- for you, you can do
the name If you like, or You might 60 a
Aahing. There's plenty Of trout in the
And a the boys both cried aloud that
fishing was their choice, their father
smiled upon them,
Whichever troubles we've had,
mother" he said, "we've two fine boys"
And he went to take his nap with a
lighter heart than he mad often had
since the fatal marriage day.
But when he had fallen asleep he be-
gan to- dream strange, troubled dreams.
He wa ct the battle of San Jacinto, and
the Mexican's lips were ut his ear.
al cursed the gun" He heard again:
!" May itprove q curse to you."
Other gums 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 g%unpowder.
He saw his wife on her knees in the
middle of the room.
"What has ~happened?" he cried.
81 do not know" sobbed the poor
woman. II heard the noise-I am
frightened"
They then rushed together to the gar
ret, whence came . sound of groans.
Meanwhile l had heard the boys 90
past my room and 60 up the garnet stairs,
probably in search Of fishing tackle. /
called them back.
BE careful, bows" / cautioned
them, "about the lumber closet. There
is an old gun in it that may be loaded.
Don't 90 It."
"All right" said Charlie; come OH
Will"
Feeling l had done my duty, l settled
back to finish IN article for the Mercury.
Fishing is very we'll said the elder,
but I'd like shooting better. What a
pity father won't let us have guns"
He crossed the garnet and opened the
door Of the lumber closet.
"Yer, there the old thing is. l don't
believe it's loaded. What if it ia? Reck-
l know how to manage a gun!"
Lets take it on the sly" said his
brother. "Let it out Of the window,
and I'll carry it to the woods. There il
the powder-Aask and b~ullet-pouch, too.
We q get some caps at the store, Char
"a good idea" said Charlie, advanc-
ing toward the closet from which his
brother came, trailing the gun after
him. Neither of them guessed it WAS
the weapon that had caused their sisters
death. "Let's have it, WILL" said he,
and he took 1t. Suddenly there was a
fash, a report, and q horrible scream
from the little fellow, who fell forward
on his face at the feet of the elder. His
PROSTATE form was what his wretchcd
parents saw as we three rushed into the
old garnet.
The other boy stood utterly unable to
move, clutching the weapon that had
caused all this
May God have mercy ON us, it is the
IIlIG 6k8t4S CLA8V tBl0 kA4UCIs
Then the boy found words.
~ swear l did not load it'll he said.
Iswear | did not touch the trigger"
And still his brother lay dead at his
feet.
On the night before, l had seen q sight
that might have prophesied this tragedy.
Would heaven I had told of it!
The kitchen clock was striking eleven.
In q country house like that people 60
early TO bed. The family had been ia
sleep An hour. ] was reading, but paused
to listen to the striking Of the loud
m0uthed clock. Az it ceased, / fancied
! heard a football upon the stairs. ]
opened the door. Slowly the noise came
nearer. It had the sound that can come
only from . bare foot. The next second
] saw my hest, Rathbone, approaching
me.
you'll catch cold, old fellow" said
/. Put on your cost"
To my surprise he answered not at all,
but came slowly on.
Then / saw, for the first time, a som
nambulist.
For = moment l hesitated whether to
awaken him. He was easily mortified
and my catching him in such plaight
would prove disagreeable to us both. So
/ simply followed him.
He went on, past my door, and up the
stairs. At the garnet entrance he stop
ped asecond, then lifted the latch and
entered. ! was close behind.
Without the least hesitation he ad-
yanced to the lumber closet. / did not
know the old rife was there, and again
followed The moonlight streaming
In through the chinks in the caves and
broken window, made the dreary place
quite light.
He turned the wooden button of the
closet door, and then drew out q powder
horn. Then he brought out q bag of shot.
And then-the fatal gun.
At 0nce1 remembered it. Who, in
deed, that had ever seen it could forget
the heavily chased mountings of silver,
the g~rotesquely carved butt, the enor-
mons barrel I? With the recollection
there flashed upon me such q horror as l
had never felt.
Still, | was poweriess to move. tried
to cry ont. Ny tongue refused.
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