The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-02-03

from the nozzle, the person who had
been creeping along in the shadow
stepped suddenly out into the moonlight
and with an oath rushed upon the first
man. The man at the pump turned
quickly at the sound of rapid footsteps
approaching. and. seeing n man with
arm appraised and brandishing large
knife rushing toward him, fled with a
| loud scream or terror The dog faced
the pursuer He seemed to be trans
| formed from dog into fiend. With
eyes fairly darling fire, every bristle on
his body standing up like quilts on
porcupine. he waited for his approach.
| With a growl of fierce anger he sprang
at the throat Of the man with the knife
| But the dog was beaten down by the
man, who rushed on in pursuit NV
| tongue was paralyzed; / tried to call
out. With my eyes almost starting
from their sockets and all power of mo.
ton having left my body, l saw the
| pursuer gain his victim and with
another oath plunge his weapon up to
the hilt three or four times into the
body OF the screaming man; the muir
| dered one fell and the murderer cast
| his knife into the snow and fled. BY
that time | had regained my senses. |
am an old man and easily excited. l
rushed toward the body of the muir
dered man. and when | had nearly
reached it the body and the dog which
| had crept to its masters side and was
| licking the dead mans wounds, had
| disappeared. / stopped and stared at
the snow where l had seen the dead
man lying. With every nerve in my
frame quivering with pain and excite
ment, reeled and fell fainting in the
snow.
When | regained consciousness | was
lying in the snow, where | had fallen,
Dazed and faint with cold and the ex-
element of the scene l had witnessed,
| arose and crept to my Office Nearly
stupefied, / could not recall for the mo-
ment why had tainted. ] crouched
over my stove and tried to collect my
thoughts. My brain whirled amidst a
chaos of con letting emotions-doubt,
fear and belief. The stove having
warmed my chilled body, with name
less dread went to my door and peered
cautiously out, fearing lest should see
a repetition of that awful scene. But all
was quiet, not a soul could be seen. 1t
was nearly two o clock, and the villagers
were asleep. The moon was still shin
ing brightly and made each flake OF
snow shine with the luster of priceless
diamond. Not blot nor foot-track
married the white carpet of snow that
covered the ground. Nevertheless,
when | closed my door | double-locked
it and rolled M table against it.
pulled my window blind down, and
lighting my pipe sat down to think over
the startling incidents of the night
never had used liquor. / could not at
tribute it to that. My mind was per-
fectly clear at the time. had never
experienced an optical delusion
would swear ON my dying bed that
saw these men, heard the screams OF
the murdered man at each stroke of the
knife, heard the growl of the dog and
even the crunching o. the crisp snow as
the men ran over it / saw the body as
it lay there with red blood gushing from
the wounds and staining the snow.
do not believe in the supernatural; anC
as [ relate this. years afterwards, / be
lieve now as firmly as | did then thai
these strange things took place. Bu
let me go on and relate the incidents
that followed this strange occurrence
On the next morning | went to ole
Squire Harris to dinner. The Squire
and his family were the aristocrats o
the place. Their home was a grand ole
l mansion on high hill that overlooked
= the lovely little valley in which the vii
Z lage nestled. 1t was the habit of the
l Squire to give dinner once a montl
t to all of his friends in the village.
l was one of his particular friends anC
4 owed many kindness to the good ole
, man. On that morning | trudged VI
q the steep path to the hall, as it was al
D ways called by the village folks On my
e way up heard a noise in the thick un
3 dergrowth that bound the path OIL
i either side. l stopped, thinking
!. might surprise a marauder in thu
: 'Squire's ground. | pushed aside thu
d bushes and upon looking through | saw
: only dog. But, Heavens above!
o was the same dog | had seen the pre-
d vious night. The same fierce bulldog
= My horror and establishment caused mi
Q to let the bushes slip from my grasp
s and the swapping of the twigs made tn
Q dog utter a low, vicious growl and rul
/ frantieally at the place where 1 stood
It The growl in its very sound and menac
. was the same that had heard before
9 fled up the path, the dog in pursuit
n but fortunately for me on the other sid
l of the hedge. began to fag under tn
# strain Of the steep ascent and the horro
g of having the scenes OF that nigh
9 brought so wildly before me again
l. Having nothing to defend mysel
h with against the dog, l became yer,
d much alarmed at my danger. Wit
A savage growl the dog leape,
n the hedge and would have attacked M
n no n N nj a no PC h yoioa on n oil ont IN N, 4,