Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-07-13
PACK pgpDLRRs' STORIES.

PACK PBDDLERs' STORIES.
III have been pack psddlsr for more
than twenty years" ..id the old man. I.
be Whitfield away at hi, pipe TO g,' II
.lishi. "snd you may SUPPOSE l have
me, ~i,h some stirring adventures. l
have travelled . great deal la Missouri.
Kansas, Nebraska aud Minneso,s. and
for week. and months have been on the
alert. no, only TO preserve the eoaien,'
Of my pack. ba, defend my life. My
line Of trade h. been Yankee notions,
~i,h jewelry added. have bad With
me a, one time a. much ~ $4,000
worth OF gold and silver watches. ear
rings. finssr rings, Sc. | have "a, on
log beside . highway in kat.. aud sold
500 ~or,h Of stock TO three or four
men. and | have disposed OF $50 worth
Of lAdie. js~slry q, pioneer cabin
which bad neither floor. nor partitions
"On two eiasrcn, occasions ate
dinner =, the cabin Of old Bender. the
K.n... fend. On the first occasion the
old man ". away. and saw only too
women sbou, the place. SIX months
later. when called again. |, W. about
II o'clock In the forenoon. Then 50"
Old Bender Coz the frs, time. have
heard him described a. a pleassnt-fseed
old man whom no one would suspect.
bu, | tell you the very hrs, look at him
pu, me on my guard. For the hrss
time in year ! felt that my lie vas IN
danger. The same two .la,iernly ~o-
men were aboa, the house. aud there
w.. . young man whom took 70 be
old Bend,r's son. This young man dis.
appeared soon after arrived. but
whether he bid in the house or rode of
across the prairie never knew. Ben
der. women purchased aboa, 81 worth
Of notions. and the old man diskered
with me Tor an hour over gold watch.
I, seem. ,ha, he had bu, = small stock
Of cash. ba, be offered me personal prop
ery in exchange. lie bad three OF
four silver watches, all Of which had
been carried. two OF three revolver,
two bosom pins. made Of lump. OF pure
gold, and three or four pairs OF valuable
cuff buttons. We had nearly effected
an exchange when he suddenly decided
TO leave the matter open until after din
ner.
"Mon,hs sfierwsrd. when the dis.
ooverie. Of bis crimes came out, l
though, the matter over. and could re-
member Just how nicely be played me.
wi,hoa, seeming TO in,euoga,e me ior
information, he asked how long = trip
had made, wha, success ! had met
with, who Was. where | lived. and
whom knew in ,hs, locality. The old
murderer va. figuring up the chances OF
my being missed In case be Pu, an end
10 me, and he had . curiosity TO kno"
beforehand VIA, the hArve', woald be.
While told you ,bs, l did no, like his
looks, and ,ha, had = creepy feeling
in his presence. l had no idea Of an at
temp, to murder by dsyligh, and IN the
manner be WAS planning for. had q
,ru.,y revolver and | had the courage to
defend myself. Had me, him out on
the prairie, OF had We been jogging to.
se,hsr along some lonely highway. !
should have been prepared TO pull my
pistol q, his first movement.
"Dinner was announced soon after IL
o'clock. | took my pack with me into
the dining room, where ! found the
table set for one. There were three
room. in the house. The front room
was . general sitting room and office
combined. Bender kept cor, OF ,av.
ern, you know. and travellers had this
from, room. The next room back ~Ns
the dining room and family room com.
bined. Th.re was = bedroom leading
off. On the walls Of this family room
were . few old.fashioned prints in old
fashioned frames. = shelf on which
stood . clock. and few scsnt evidences
Of women's presence. The back room
was the kitchen.
81 had my eyes vide open when i
entered ,ha, dining room. and the very
frat thing noticed vas that the table
was se, leng,hwise Of the room, and that
my chair and plate had been 90 placed
ths, my back would be toward the
kitchen door, which Was no, over FIVE or
six feet away. Had 1t been n the
other end my back would have been to.
ward the Office door. The fret move !
made was to turn the chair around to the
aide and cit down. now faced the bed
room door. and had the other doors to my
rish, and left, while there Was no win.
dow behind me. The younger woman
vas in the room, and she looked st me
in . queer. strange way a. ! upset the
arrangements she had perfected. Ben.
der did not look into the room for two
or three minutes. and then retired with.
GU, speaking. A minute later be passed
around the house and entered the kitch,
en- By the back door. While could
not see him heard him and the woman
whispering together. and ! caught ths
words ss spoken BY her; III tell you he
did IL himselfr"
81 could no, catch . word from him
and directly he went out and she came
in with the rest Of the eatables. Hel
face was flushed and her manner very
nsrvoaa She put on . plate Of bread
and platter Of meat. and then ven'
out fos the coffee. Az she Get the cur
and saucer on the board she partly upsc'
the cup and spilled half the contents OF
the table.