Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1880-07-22

/ Carolina soon aflef the civil war. and
took charge Of The Ioaesvills district
school. She was between 40.and 90.
and her rspuiaiioa fog isarIessness and
decision Of character ID connection with
the kitchen poker made her terror 70
trawps and evil dpers generally. The
pheasant little cottage in which Misa
Towner lived alone. without even : SER
Sanl. hAa small yasd attached so Il
which seemed enipeniIy adapted .
chicken cultures Miss TQwneF bad
made several attemptssto keeP'ehick.
ems. but The magnetism Of the eoioted
element was altogether too strong. and
she bad definitely abandoned the under-
taking when she read Of the Massachn-
sets Ensn's trap. = eai Z nsm
1t was clear TO her that whatever
could be done BY q goOd-fOr-nothing
man could be done far better hy amin
teIligent woman, and accordingly she
resolved to stock the empty chicken
house. and 10 geta new original trap.
After much thought, she bit upon the
plaa Of a moose trap. She procured q
long rope, which she passed through q
pulIy placed on the limb Of tree near
the chicken house. To one end Of the
rope was attached weight Of 200
pounds, and to the other end a moose,
and the welght was arranged that q
slight pull On the moose would cause il
te shoot into the air, dragging with il
the unfortunate colored man whose un-
lawful foot had entered IL. One after
noon she received supply Of chickens,
which she placed in the chicken house,
making no effort to conceal the fact
from the eolored public. Just before
dark she set her trap, and repeatedly
tested il by Poklng the moose with a
stick.
About o'clock that evening she fan
cled she heard a noise in the yard, and
il occurred to her that some one might
be prowling about the chicken house.
She, therefore, laid aside her copy Of
Edwards on the Will, took up the po-
I her, aud ctePt steaIthiIy into the yard.
It was bright, moonlight night, but no
one was visible, and after making sure
tha. her chickens were all safe, she was
about to return TO her reading, when
she accidently stepped within the fatal
moose. The trap dad credit to her in
ventive genius. The moose caught her
| by both ankles, and in an instant she
found herself swinging with her head
Just clear of the ground.
1 With great presence Of mind, she put
her hands on the grOund. and thus in
some manner relieved her ankles ofthe
strain Of her entire weight. II was,
however, impossible for her to release
herself, and It was with difficulty that
she could either breathe or see. There
was clearly nothing TO be done but tC
wait until some early chicken steaIer
should arrive and appeal to him for aid.
Miss Towner did not have long to wait.
By hslf-past 8 Mr.. Hannibal Blue ap-
preached the yard on chickens bent,
but Of an unfortunately timorous mind.
When he came in sight of the myste-
rious and appalling spectacle presented
by Miss Towner, he remarked, "Gol-
~ r' in accents Of great terror, and fed
away. convinced that he had seen a
ghost, while Miss Towner, with a voice
stified by emotion and flannel. in vain
besought him TO come back.
Meeting . dozen of his felIow-citi-
zens, who were on their way TO the
chicken house, Mr.. Blue explained that
he had been driven away By peculiar
ly frightiul ghost, dressed entirely ia
white, aud holding both is arms up
right above its head. He could not,
however, induce bis friends to share his
fears, and strong in the consciousness
Of numbers, they pursued their way "a
Miss Towner's yard.
AZ the first sight OF the alleged ghost,
they were incidentally alarmed. but End
ing that IT did not attack them, they
gained courage and drew nearer. In
time they recognized Miss Tcwner's
voice, aud were able TO comprehend
that she had been hoisted by her own
petard-that is to say, moose
Some men in like circumstances
would have lefi the unhappy chicken
proprietor TO pass the night in misery.
Not so did these kindly coIOred men,
They Erst carefully removed ali the
chickens and then investigated the con
tents Of the kitchen Iarder and the
: smoke house. Having thus done their
whole duty, they explained 10 Mss
Towner that they would send her col
ored lady 70 release her Within sle nexi
! half hour. and then bale her respect
liul farewell, confident that in thr cis'