The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-12-30
WEEKLY EDITION.

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rushed to the door, which he rcochrd ins
as Lucky Wakcrfc $ cock proclaimed tn,
Dawn. Kabbic flew down the street, whicI
was terminated by the chulchyurd, but SAW
oniy the moVclcss ,Ombs looking cold an,
emil under the gray light OF winter morn
NaDbIc hltchcd his red nightcap off hi,
prov, and scratched his head with am mir o
perplexity. wv W
"Nccl, he muttcrcd, as he rctraccd his
steps honlcwarts. che has fooled me this
.lnc, but sorrow take me if Pm no ND wi
him the morn"
| All day Rabbc, to the incxprcssiblc sur
PRISE OF his wife, remained as constantly ON
his thrcr-lcggcd stool us if he had been
.ylrkcd' there by some br0thcrof the craft.
For the space OF twenty four hours his lonn
nose was never seen TO throw its shadow
across the threshold of the door; and SO cy
tInordnary did the event appear: that the
nelghbors, one and all, agreed that il pre-
dlcted some prodigy but whether it was to
take the shape Of a comet, which would
del'lgc them with its fiery tale, or whether
thcy were to be swallowed up by an Garth
quake, could by no means be settled to the
satisfaction Of the parties concerned.
Meanwhile Rabbic diligently pursued his
employment, unh,t ding 'hc concerns of his
neighbors. What mattcrcd it to him, tina,
Jenny Thrift's COW had calvcd, that the
MINISTER'S servant, with something in her
apron, mad been seen to go in twice to
Lucky Wakcrifc's, that the aird's dairy
maid had been observed stealing up the red
loan IN the gloaming, that the drum had
gone through the town announcing that a
sheep was to be killed OH Friday2 The
stranger alone swan before his ewes; and
COW, dairy-maid, and drum kicked the
beam. 1t was late III the night when Ral)-
bic had accomplished his task, and then
| placing the shoes at his bedside, he law
down in his clothes, and fell asleep; but the
fear of not being sufficiently alert for his
| new customer induced him to rise consid-
cradle time before daybrcak. lie opened
the door ahi looked into the street but il
| was still so dark he could scarcely see ii yard
| before his nose he therefore returned into
| the house, muttering to himself: ''What
| the sorrow can keep him?" when Il voice at
his elbow suddenly said:
"Whcrc are my shocs2'
'Ilcrc, sir" said Rabbic, quite trans
ported with joy "herc they are, right and
tight, and mucklc joy may yc hac in wear
in them, for it's better to wear shoon than
sheets, as the auld saying gangs"
'Pcrhaps may wear both," answered
the stranger.
"Gudc save u.s." quo,h Rabbic, "do yc
sleep in your shoon?"
The stranger made no answer; but laying
piece of gold on the table, and taking up
the shoes, walked out of the house.
"Now's my time" thought Rabbie to
himself, us he slipped after him.
The stranger paced slowly on, and Rab-
bic carefully followed him the stranger
turned up the street, and the sutorkcpt close
to his heels; ''Odsake, where can he be
gaun?" thought Rabbic, as he saw the
stranger turn into the churchyard ; "hc's
making to that grave in the corner; now
he's standing still now he's sitting down.
Gudcsakc! what's come o himrn Rabbc
rubbed his eyes, looked round in al tlircc-
tions, but, 10 and behold! the stranger had
vanished! ''Theres something no canny
about this, thought the sutor; "bul iii
mark the place at ony ratc;" and Rabbic,
after thrusting his awl into the grave,
hastily returned home.
The news soon spread from house to
house. and by the time the retI-faccd sun
stared down on the town the inhabitants
were all in commotion; and, after having
held sundry consultations, it was resolved
mem. con-, to proceed in body to tho
Shp' Sii9 aIN, anu opcil llic grave WHICH WAS
suspected Of being suspicious. The whole
this service. Sutors, wives, children, all
hurried pcll-mcll after Rabbic, who led his
myrmiions straight to the grave at which
his mysterious customer had disappeared,
and where he found his awl still sticking in
the place where he had left it. Immediately
all hands went to work; the grave was
opened the lid was forced off the coffin;
and a corpse was discovered dressed in the
vcstmcnts Of The tomb, but with pair of
perfectly new shoes upon its long bony feet.
At this dreadful sight the multitude fled in
every direction, Lucky Wakcrifc leading
the van, leaving Rabbic and few bold
brothers Of the craft to arrange matters as
they pleased with the pcripatctic skclton.
council was held, and it was agreed that
the coffin should be firmly nailed up and
committed to the earth. Before doing SO,
however, Rabbic proposed dcnuding his
customer OF his shoes, rcmarting that he
had no more need for them than Il cart had
for three wheels. No objections were made
to this proposal, and Rabbic, therefore,
quickly coming to the eXtrcmitics, whipped
them off in tricc. They then drove half
hundred tcnpenny nails into the lid of the
coffin and having taken care to cover the
grave with pretty thick divots, the party
returned to their separate places of abode.
Certain qlalms Of conscience, however,
now arose in Rabbic's mind as to tho pro-
priety of dcpriving the corpse of what had
been honestly bought and paid for. He
could not help allowing that if the ghost
were troubled with cold feet, circumstance
by no means improbable, he might natural
ly wish to remedy the evil. But, at the
same time, considering that the fact of his
having made pair of shoes for dcfunct
man would be an everlasting blot Oh the
Heckspecklc escutchcon, and rcfcctingalso
that his customer, being dead in law, could
not apply to any court for redress, oursutor
manfully resolved to abide by the consc-
qucnces Of his deed.
Next morning, according to custom, he
rose long before day, and fell to his work,
shouting tho old song of the "Sutors of Sci
kirk, at tho very top Of his voice. A short
time, however, before the dawn, his wife,
who was in bed in the back room, remark
cd, that in the very middle of his fuyOritc