The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-11-02

room, peering about.
Whats that?' he Questioned, pointing
10 my retreat ,fs .t.54iqs.
PIf,s stafeFs cofin,n she answered.
"Are you in pursuit OF the man gone
'dAy,g, But what's It to you Il we are?
He can't have gone far, either on that
Riding awayin search OF me and OF what
I carried, Wolf .clattered of. s
The woman watched him Join two com.
rades, who had waited Of q little distance;
then she came in and barred the door.
Il was out Of the coffin In q tries; y
! looked around in despair. To 90 out
was fatal, and to stay In meant discovery,
probably death. The coffin was NO longer
available, for Dick was coming for It. !,
f"stay, there's the rain barrel outside,
said ], in, desperation. They've tried.
that. once; they may not look at 1t
again" -.pil.
And before you would be able to speak
sentence, the water was dashed out Of
the cask, aud was In the barrel, the wo-
man dropping a tub half filled with water
in at the top IS 0 cover. saUo N
|, She had barely time 10 re-enter the
house, the door OF which fortunately open
ed on the side away from the moon, when
rafting vehicle drew up ut the door, and
heardla hoarse voice raying and swear
| ing at the woman for something done or
undone; and then from the bunghole, the
plug having been dislodged by the upset
ting OF the cask, saw the furious return
OF the thee other renegades.
There ensued good deal Of loud talk
ing, explanations and oaths. nisul.l. !,
* forum OF hot nectar was prepared and
they all went in 10 partake OF 1t. -
, Dick refused To- Join In the hunt after me,
on account Of having 10 take the coffin TO
its destination, gtni5
At that moment o wild and desperate
plan entered my brain.
- The horses OF the three renegades-my
own, which had been retained by the
hostler lat the inn, among them-were
hitched on the other side, where moon
light, striking by the end Of the. cabin,
rested fully upon them. It was suicide to
attempt selling one Of them-my own as
had hopedto do-and riding OF. SO ! en-
braced the only notwithstanding from
the barrel the tub having been removed
TO water the horses With and creeping JIM
to the wagon. As did so, the woman
muttefed something about covering the
coffin, ,,u +.a l,. XII. ni
Dick yelled out to her to mind her bust
ness and let the thing alone.
But she succeeded in accomplishing her
purpose. Disposing the blanket across
the collin, as he was beginning to drive
away, she contriyed TO lift its lid and drop
inside.a bowic-knife: :,
You may be sure seized it heartily and
gave. her o blessing too, poor thing; and
tic first uselI made OF 1t was 10 lift the lid
M lust fraction, so that my breathing
was easy though my position was cramp-
They kept within mailing distance for
some three or four miles, Dick driving the
heavy wagon along at steaming pace,
and expected tho coffin would be jostled
out. .N..-.lltl
Byand.by, there was sudden shout, q
loud, .tally.ho,n as il the huntsmen had
sighted, tho quarry. It came from the
= 10 sooner was the noise heard, than my
driver threw the reins across the horse,
leaned down and started off towards his
his friends. Perhaps the temptation Of
ing( was too much for him. l.,.t
In moment Isprang from the coffin to
the ground. A few lightning-like strokes
and / had served the traces and the rude
band OF the harness. Al .,5
amounted the horse and urged him on
wards. r.i
:, All might have been well had not the
quick ears Of the men caught the echo OF
bis footsteps. .g.l =
Looking round. they saw me making of
and l think must have known mo for l
was lighted up by the bright moon
light s,t .alatJ t .gi n
With wild shout they came on in pur-
suit, There was the sharp. report Of two
rides, ] felta. sting in my foot another
in my shoulder; but the horse was UNI
harmed, and the.race for life began.
The issue, knew would rest chiefly
with the horses. So yl-t
! / knew nothing Of the one which rode;
I'knew nothing Of those who were pur-
suing me, except my own horse.
: On, and on, and on, my steed bore
ahead, actually causing me 10 gasp for
breath; and not two hundred yards in the
rear rode those would-be assassins.
u Al momentary dizziness threw me for.
ward on my horses neck. Whether !
should have yielded to the faintiness,
know not, but aSdistant sound broke on
nv ear and brought mo up. ~
OH il was good, that sound!-but was
nottuuite sure vet. I broke into the long,
fierce veil OF the. border rangers, and
sped OF, again; but my horse had that
peculiar twist now and then in its gait
iodine he was faltering. IA
Il Again thatecho reached me. TWAS the
shrill music. OF the fife and tho rumble OF
the drums Of the infantry, who were pro-
badly returning to the fort from some
expedition!2s. ~ y q. - .
= Again I sent out that wild cry, which I
knew the soldiers heard, and were coming
parting shot, and my two pursurcrs
turned; they could not face the soldiers.
But I called my horse by q pcrculiar
whistle that he knew, and he came to-
ward mo in spite of his rider, who was
Iw5lf, who only gave up the fruitless
struggle and 'leaped from his back as q
squad OF infantry appeared on the scene.
"It is Wolf" 1pdnted, go in pursuit
There was no need toarge them. AZ
price was set for VOLTS head, as they
knew, for he was the most dangerous and
desperate OUTLAW, Of the time, nt.sf.
Then I tainted and when my eyes
opened again they fell on Mr., VOLTA
prisoner. Our men had brought him In
To receive his deserts, ~. .rsa ia
,Asior myself, I was saved, andthe mon
ey also. :.
at was neartouch, Captain" obsery::
ed oneof the men 10 me: land ! should
not have liked the coffin at oil.
But twas the coffin that saved my liie.
|il sdpfl-L-i:Ii-.-s--S s---- N
I f't,."l wELLsBuRs. -9l \
~. iYiiE' n a5 -.i- 90 t}2' IN
,"Mr. ogB. Turner, upon solicitation Of
Ffhe Democracy 81 Washington county,