The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1886-11-16
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An ljnwelcorYle Passenger.

An Unwelcolne Passenger.
A cold winters night found a
stage load of us gathered about the
warm fire of tavern bar-room in a
New England village. Shortly after
VIC arrived peddlcr drove up and
ordered that his horse should be sta
bled for the night After we had
eaten supper we had repaired to the
bar-room, and as soon as the ice was
broken the conversation flowed free
". Several anecdotes had been re-
lated, and finally the peddler was
asked TO give us a story, as men of
his profession were generally full of
adventure and anecdote. He was a
short, thick-set man somewhere
about forty years of age, and gave
evidence of great physical strength.
He gave his name as Lemuel Viney,
and his home was in Dover, n. ii.
"Well, geetlemcn,' he commenced,
knocking the ashes from his pipe
and putting it in his pocket, sup
pose / tell you of about the last
thing of any consequence that hap
pened to me. You see ! am now
right from the far West and on my
way home for winter quarters. 1t
was about two months ago, one
pleasant evening, that | pulled up
at the door of a small inn in small
village in7Hacock County, Indiana.
/ said twas pleasant meant twas
warm, but it was cloudy and likely
to be very dark. | went in and call
ed for supper, and had my horse ia
ken care of, and after had eaten !
sat down in the bar-room. 1t began
to rain about s o'clock, and for a
while it poured down hard and it
was very dark outdoors.
'.Now / wanted to be in jackson
early the next morning, for ! expect
ed load of goods there for me,
which / meant to dispose Of on nv
way home. The moon rose about
midnight, and ! knew if it did not
rain that / could get along very
comfortably through the mud after
that. / asked the landlord if he
would not see that my horse was
fed about midnight, as wished to
be off about two. Fl expressed some
surprise at this, and asked me why
/ did not stay to breakfast. / told
him that ! had sold the last load
about ont. and that new lot of
goods was waiting for me at Jack
son, and / wanted to.be there for
them before the express again left
in the morning. There was num-
Der of people about while ] told this,
but ] took little notice.of them, one
man only arrcsting my attention. /
had a small package of placords
which l was to deliver to the Sheriff
at Jackson, and they were notices
for the detection of a notorious rob
bcr named Dick Hardhead. These
bills gave description Of his per-
son, and the man before me answer
ed very well to it. In fact it was
perfect. He was q tall, well-formed
man, rather slight in frame, and hau
the appearance Of gentleman, save
that his face bore those hard, cruel
marks which an observing man can
not mistake for anything but the in
dex Of yillainous disposition. !
When / went up to my chsmber
/ asked the landlord who that man
was, describing the suspicious indi-
yidual. He said he did not know
him. He had come there that after
noon and intended to leave some
time the next day. The host asked
me why / wished to know, and
/ simply told him that the mans
countenance looked familiar, and l
wished to know if had ever been
acquainted with him. / resolved
not to let the landlord into the Sc
cret, but to hurry on to Jackson and
give information to the Sheriff, and
perhaps he might reach the inn be-
fore the villain left; for I had no
doubts with regard to his identity.
Il had an alarm watch, and hav-
ing set it to give the alarm at one
o'clock, l went to sleep. / was
aroused at the proper time and i'm
mediately got up and dressed myself
When / reached the yard l found
the clouds all passed away and the
moon was shining brightly. The
hostler was easily aroused, and by
o'clock l was on the road. The mud
was deep and my horse could not
travel very fast-yet it struck me
that the beast made more work than
there was any need Of, for the cart
was nearly empty, my whole stock
consisting Of about half a dozen tin
pans and a lot of loose rags.
"However, on we went, and in the
course of half an hour / was cleal
of the village and at short distance
ahead lay a large tract of forest
mostly Of green pines. The road
led directly through the woods, ant
as near as could remember the dis
tance was not far from II miles
The moon was in the east, t,and as The
road ran nearly west / should have
light enough. | had entered tn,
wood and had gone perhaps half .
mile when my wagon wheels settled
with a bump and a jerk, into deey
hole. 1 uttered an exclamation o
establishment; but that was not all
/ heard another exclamation from
another source!
What could it be? / looked