The Osceola times., 1883-11-24

slant with my kidneys in my throat aud
my hair On end.
"what did say2 Quick; out with it.
What did say?'
Nothing much"
ats lie! You know everything
Everything about what"
"You know well enough about that"
About what? / don't know what
YOU are talking about. think you are
sick or crazy, or something. But any
way, you are awake, and I'll get to sleep
while have chance"
He fell asleep, and laid there in
cold sweat turning this new terror over
/ in a whirling chaos, which did duty as
my mind. The burden Of my thoughts
was, how much did / diyulge? How
much does he know? What distress in
this uncertainty But by and by !
evolved an idea, would wake my
brother and probe him with SUPPOSE
( tious case.
shook him up and said: suppose
a man should come to you drunk -"
This is foolish Il never get drunk"
II don't mean you, idiot. mean the
man. Suppose man should come to
you drunk or borrow knife or toma-
hawk or pistol and you forgot 10 tell
him it was loaded, and"
How could you load tomahawk"'
Al .,~l
didn't say the tomahawk; ! said the pis-
tol. Now. don't you keep breaking in,
in that way because this is serious.
There's been man killed
"What In this town."
"Yes in this town.
/ "Well, go on; won't say single
word"
well, then, suppose you forget to tell
him to be careful with, because it was
loaded and he went of and shot him.
telf with that pistol-fooling with it, you
know, and probably doing il by accident
being drunk. Well, would il be muir
der?"
"No-suicide."
"No, no; / don't mean his act. |
mean yours. Would you be murderer
for letting him have that pistol ?"
After deep thought came this answer
"Well, should think ! was guilty OF
something-mayb be murder. Yes, proba-
bly, murder, but don't know"
This made me very uncomfortable
However, it was a decisive verdict.
should have to set out the real case
there seemed TO be no other way; but
would do i, cautiously, and keep watch
for suspicious effects. ! said:
81 was supposinga case; hut am com
ing to the real one now. DO you know
how the man came to be burned up in
the calaboose?"
"No"
Haven't you the least idea?"
"Not the least"
wish you may die in your tracks i
you have?'
"Yes, | wish may die in my tracks
well, the way of it was this The
man wanted some matches 10 light hi,
pipe. A boy got him some. The man SCI
fire TO the calaboose with those very
matches and burned himself up"
'ls that sop
"Yes, it is. Now is that boy murder
er, do you think?'
"Let me see. The man was drunk"
"Yes, he was drunk"
Very drunk"
yes"
"And the boy knew it?'
Yes, he knew it,"
There was long pause. Then cam,
this heavy verdict:
"If the man was drunk and the bo,
knew it, the boy murdered that man
This is certain"
J.. Faint, sickening sensations crept alon.
the tbers of my body and seemed t
know how persen feels who hears hi
death sentence pronounced from tn,
bench.
waited to hear what my brother
would say next. believed knew wha
/, it would be, and | was right. He said.
81 know the boy"
had nothing to say. so | said nothin.
siml ly shuddered
Then he added:
Yes before YOU got half through tell
ing about the thing ] knew perfect,
well who the boy was; it was Ber
Coontz"
came oUt Of my collapse as one who
raised from the dead, ] said with ad
miration:
"Why, how in the world did you evei
guess it?''
"You told ii in your sleep"
said to myself:
'IIGw splendid that is. This is a hab
it which must be cultivated"
My brother ratified innocently en-:
when y'u were talking in your sleeI
you kept mnmbling something about
matches, which couldn't make ou,
but Just now, when you began TO tell me
about the man in the calaboose and the
matches, ] remembered that in Won,
sleep you mentioned Ben Coontz two O,
three times, so put this and that topeth
er, you see and right away | knew /,
was Ben that burned the man up."
praised his sagacity, effusively.
Presently he asked:
Are you going TO give him up TO the
law"
NO" | said; 81 believe that il will b,
lesson to him Of course, for that is bu
right, but if he stops where he is and re
forms it shall never he laid that betray
cd him"
"How good you arep'
well Try to be. II is all a rersor
can do in this world"
And now my burden being shifted I,
other shoulders, nv terrors soon faded
away.
swearing at the Mules.
The Continent
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