The Penn's Grove record., 1884-05-10

'One ltIle nOuSe DeSlu6 TWO pdh
trees and a fenca. An old mar lives
there-a rich man, and a bit of a miser,
they say. His granddaughter keeps
house for him."
ben, that fellow may have meant
harm to them. [ may be wanted at
the CROSSROADS"
Brother" said Ben, Ego to sleep.
You had a nightmare, " and Ben pluDg-
ed in between the blankets and was
snoring again.
l also, In ten minutes. slept as sound
ly as before, but the awakening very
soon came again.
[ opened my eyes to see a girl stand
ing at the foot Of my bed. A girl IN
white robes with golden hair all about
her shoulders, who wrung her hands
and cried. "Oh wake up, you are
wanted at the crossroads"
This time | started out of bed, bathed
in a cold preparation. | trembled like
a leaf. had DO doubt that had re-
ceived supernatural warning.
Ben l' L cried 'Ben, for the third
time | have been told that l am wanted
at the crossroads, and l am going"
And l i began to dress myself as speed
lily as possible, listening the while to
the storm raging wilder and wilder
than at any other period since its COM
mencement.
Ben demonstrated with ME in vain.
At last he began to huddle on bis
clothes.
"If you have gone mad l must go
with you and take care of you, :" he said.
But fancy another man going out
in a storm like this to the crossroads
because a nightmare caused him to do
so, and what would you think of him ?"
l said nothing All l could have All
swered would have been
81 am compelled to go ; / must go, |
dare not refuse, whatever may be
thought of me-"
In ten minutes we were splashing
through the mud and rain along the
road. 1t vas perfectly dark now and
then a blazing red star in the distance
told us that a lamp was beaming
through the rain in some cottage win
dow, but otherwise we would not have
been conscious Of our proximity to any
babitation whatever. At last, nearing
the spot where the road from S.
crosses the road to P-we were in
deed in as solitary a place as can be
imagined.
The house, which abutted on the very
angle of the roads called in familiar
p~arlance the crossroads, was the only
one for some distance in either direc-
ton, and certainly on such a night we
were not likely to meet any travellers.
All was quiet as the grave. We stood
quite still. In a moment Ben broke
out in one of his widest laughs.
Well" he said, chow now? Will
you go home now, and have another
nightmare ?"
But hardly had the words escaped his
lips when a shrek broke on the air and
a woman's voice, plainly coming from
the interior of the cottage, cried
"Helpl help help !"
"Ben," said l, 1--WE are wanted at
the crossroads" and then, understand
ing each other, without more words we
made our way to a window, through
which a light shone. A muslin curtain
draped the panes, but through it we
saw an awful sight.
An old man lay on the floor, aud over
him bent a r%ufiian, clutChing his throat
and holding a pistol to his ear, while
another man grasped the shrieklng girl
by the arm-a girl in floating night
dress-with such long golden lair as
belonged to the girl of my vision. Not
a moment was to be wasted, Ben flung
his weight against the slender lattice
and crushed 1t in, and we had grappled
the rufians before they knew whence
the attack came, or how the foes came
upon them.
| do not intend to describe the strug-
gle indeed, l could not, if | would.
But we were strong men, and inspired
by the cries of the helpless old man and
the terrified girl, we 500 had Il of
the villains bound, and the other lying
PROSTATE on the floor.
Then Ben started for assistance, and
before morning both were in jail. Ben
admitted, as we shook each other by
the hand, that I'VE were wanted at the
crossroads"
The old man vas not a miser. but he
had saved some few thousand dollar;
for his old age, and living more plainly
than he need have done, had given rist
to the rumor, and so brought the burg
lars to the crossroads in the hope Of
booty.
The girl, a beautiful creature Of
seventeen, wa his granddaughter, and
as no story is acceptable to the lady
readers without a flavor of romance, ]
will tell them that she became in after
years, not my wife, but the wife of my
brother Ben.