The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1878-09-12

invited US 70 pass Jul hCch Will llC4s
Scratch, scrape, scratch, ScraPe went
the razor; and my fancy made it SQUAD
like the tide craving i'll over the sands,
as 1 had seen it there. Now the barber
had me by the nose to aid him in h S
operations; and opening my mouth for
greater comfort in breathing, I was
reminded Of that time when 1 got q
whole mouthful of salt water there,
and 1 presently wondered whether Su
san could be induced TO put on one Of
those hOrrid bathing costumes that my
aunt had, and go into the water.
The scratching Of the razor stopped,
but the thumb and fOrefnger still held
my nose. L opened my eyes-gOdsl
what a shiver came over me! There
was that devilish barber, with the edge
of The keen razor right at my throat
and his dreadful sallOW facs bent down
to within four inches of mine. Ills
Wicked-lOO black eyes were glaring
at me, and his bare white teeth looked
as if they were about to take bite out
Of me.
was startled, frightened for an in.
slant; but even then did not guess
the truth. Tie thought that instantly
came to explain his conduct was that
he was a silly, stage-struck fellow, who
had got himself into the trick Of pos
turing and posing IN dramatic man.
ner; and l spoke IN TebukefUl way,
looking steadily at him as did so.
"What the devil do you mean by all
this nonsense over me, sir2" l demand
ed.
lie dropped his hands and shrunk
back, saying in a weak kind Of voice:
"Oh, nothing; was just through"
"Well, 1 don't propose to have you
gibbering over me like an ape" re-
Joined. He washed Of and dried my |
face in his former melancholy way, and |
took the silver that gave him. LETT
the shop, not particularly nervous, but .
little fiustered with the scene, and
thought 1 would take a walk to CON-
pose myself, which 1 did. l was goue |
something mere than halt-an-hOuri
and after locking up my room and leay-
ing the key with the keeper of the
house, I finally started for MIR. Joiner's.
I passed directly by the building in
which was this barber shop on the way:
and as approached it a crowd Ofmen
gathered excitedly on the sidewalk,
while others ran upstairs. 1 stopped
and inquired what the trouble was, and
was tod that a man had been killed
upstairs.
"KiIIedl" I exclaimed. ''HOw?"
Throat cut, " was the startling reply
Before I could ask anything more, the
barber was brought down stairs, strug-
Cling in the grasp of three stout men,
and shrieking horribly.
Lynch him-hang the murderer" a
man beside me cried out.
''IIush, you fOOll" said the magis-
trate. sternlv. THE man is probably
crazy; but in any event we'll have no
mOb-law."
They carried him off to a place Of
secure confinement, and I pressed up
stairs with the crowd. Merciful HeaY-
en-, what a sight was thatl There in
the great chair which L suppose 1 had
last occupied before the victim, lay a
tall, handsome man, his body covered
with his own blood, and his throat
gashed half through, while bloody
razor lay on the fiOOrl He lay there
dead, just as he was found; and they
were keeping him in the same position
till the arrival of the corner.
got out Of the building rs quick as
could, and 1 could feel my legs trem-
bling under me as 1 walked over to the
house. Mr.. Joiner met me at the door, !,
and seeing my face, seized me by the
arms and pushed me into his bedroom
without word. He never spoke till :
he had closed and locked the door. =
Josh limbs, what in creation ais
you?" he asked. You'll scare Sue to
death with that face. What las hap
penedT'
When I told him his own face turned
pale, and he started for the closet. He
returned in "A moment With glass Of
brandy.
MY dear boy, that was awful" he
said. II don't wonder you look white.
Take this and brace up your nerves.
Cad, I believe I'll have little myself"
That brandy was all that enabled me
to get through the ceremony, and even
then heard one of the brides
maids whisper to the other that she
thought Mr.. limbs acted very queer.
Well, after the thing was well over |
yes, five days after, while we were 1
down there on the coast-I learned all 1
about it. SusanS father sent me a I
with full account Of the !
affair, and the story of the barber. 1t 7
that lie had been engaged to
be married to a girl in neighbOring
village, who had heartlessly Tilted him
for a rich man. The unfortunate fcl-
lows hopes were all bound up in this .
girl, and he brOOded over his cruel dis :
so long that it crazed /
him.
L have no doubt that, in moment OF ]
insane frenzy, he had fancied that his I
rival was in the chair, in his t
power, and that his dreadful deed was t
prompted solely by his fancy. Nor can
[ doubt that, had not opened my eyes
and thrown him off his balance just as
1 did, with my look and my words, l :
should have been his victim. ;
He ended his miserable days in an )
insane asylum; and Susan and are !
happy here, with our chill :
dren about rs; and here you have the I
reason why have always shaved NY Z
self since that day.
Mr.. Herman J. Klein, an astronomer Z
Of Cologne, in Germany, has lately dis 7