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

better chanRe your seat W 'u' "'"'' w"
while sop Il up
"'Oh. don't mind. I'm no, hungry
and shalt ca, bu,a few mon,hfuls any
way. forgo, to tell you ,ha, ! prefer
red water to coffee.
"Bu,-you-you--
"'I'm ell right
"She gave me one Of the quseres, looks
| ever got. frs, flushing up and thea
turning pale. spillius thu, coffee ~"
a pa, up JOB to s,, my back TO the
kitchen door su.P,e'ed Il then;
fe~ months later had pleniy OF horn
die proofs. Before the meal VS. hal'h'
ed old Bender looked In from the Kitchen
and drew back, and whsn showed away
and ,n,,rd the office he wr no, ,he~
and did no, .sos up bf I've miaaie'
When 1 wen, to dinner double barreled
shotgun stood In corner OF the OH =
When came ou, /, vas gone. The old
man came in .fsr while. aud u ~s
easy 10 see ,hs, he had TO forcs him'ilt
TO converse. | paid him fJr the meal
and va. ready To 20. II ". loaely
road | had TO usv,l. WITH no Other
house f1r miles. and /, .id lrnly s'rues
me ,ha, the younger man had gone on
20 lie in ambush and shoe, me In case |
escaped asas,ins,i1n At the house. fOf
. minute OF two quite los, my sand
aud you can Judge wha, . relief Il was
10 me TO see a team drive up With three
men in the vehicle and room Tor
one more. They stopped to water
the horses and chat few moments.
aud readily gave me In oa my "sy'
| did no, impar my suspicious TO them
asd IL va, not until the horrible 'ioi'e,
came on, that eel, sure in my own mind
~hs, selo.e call | had had.
"Do | knos VIA, became Of old Hen.
der and hi, family You remember that
they fled the coun,ry. OF that the papers
30 reported. aud for month. We used To
hear from one locality and another o,
the fsgi,iyrs b,ing seen OF captured. !
have reason to believe they never go'
out of the State. nor ysis hundred miles
from that lone tavern on The prar'e,
~nh il horrible cellar underneath and
graveyard in the rear Band. Of men
-,re riding In ihi. OF ,hs, direction, bent
on vengeance. and ons Of these o'erh.uled
the party. | have been told this on the
be., authority. A, Bender had 'hown
no mercy toward the unsu'Pse,ins ifa''
,ler. ~ho were .ho, in the back from
,h., kitchen door =. they ate a, hi' table
none WI. .hosn TO him OF bis. They
yer, wiped ou, snd planted shere their
bodis. will never be ,urn,d uP 10 the
light Of day"
81 have also been pack PedIl-f tot
years" said the man Who bad a decided
limp IA hi, gait. and Who -esmed to be
.bou, for,y.hse years old. "and | have
had my fair share Of adventures With
the res, Of the fraternity. for years |
have travelled in Tennessee, the Carolin.
and Georgia. and my line Of goods b.
been cutlery. have sometimes carried
pin.. needles, and thread. ba, more s
an accommodation than from any hope OF
profit. My line includes raIor'. shears.
scissors. pocket knives. table knives, and
forks. sometime. ! add . few sheath
knives, which arc bought by la~le"
characters. and sometimes | omit them
according TO the route ! have laid
out.
"On two or three occasions my life
h. been put in peril by euP'dl'y OF
Others. but the closes, shave ever had
vi. In the mountains Of Tennessee,
about fty miles from Knoxville. l had
.old my stock pretty we'll down, and
had sbou, $500 with me. when, one
afternoon an hour before sunset, the ap-
proaeh Of terrific ,hander.s,orm drove
me to seek the shelter Of a roadside cabin.
I, Was lonely place, on lonely noun
tain road, and the time was Ia 1867.
While the war had long been over, as
Of course you know. there vas q good
deal OF bitterness among the mountain.
eer, Of Tennessee, and there was . great
many men Who had no, ye; settled down
10 anything like work. A. ! VI. not
in the war on either side. and Am Eas.
li.h born. 10, along very well with the
fre-ea,ers; bat the fact ws every day
before me that there were plenty OF law.
les. characters, both Union and rebel,
who wouldn', hesitate TO put ms cut OF
the way for what my pack contained,
no matter wha, principle upheld. Hut
for the coming storm ! should have eon'ln'
ued on for 4 couple Of hours. did not
like the looks Of the place. !, Was a
story and . half Log house, situated sew.
eral rods Off the road, and there was
something in the house and iis surround
ing, which made me hesitate to ask
for hospitality. However, a July 'hun'
der,orm was creeping up. covering the
whole ives, with darkness. and the thun-
der was rolling and reverbtra,ina from
hill 10 hill as knocked on the casing
Of the open door. The voice OF wo'
man bade me enter. she MAS . person
At least forty years old. large and
muscular, and her coun,enance was any
thing bu, progressing. |, wore . sui
len, sulky expression. and the gray eyes
which sized me up had no sleam OF wo,
manly kindness 10 them. l explained
,hs, / was . traveller who crived shelter
from the storm, and she sullenly repli ed
"'You are welcome to 81. down.
"Piye minutes later the rain Was fall
ing in torrents and il grew 90 dark tha'
the woman had to light = candle. Th'
cabin had but one room below. In 'hii
was q bed. bureau. and other furniture
and the cooking was done In fireplace
A, one end Of the fireplace rough lad
der led to the loft above. The in'erio
Of the house was neither inviting mol
repelling. but I certainly did not like th'
woman. Il Was ell Of twenty minutes
after I %, down before she spoke an
other word, and then !, WAS to ask wha
nv pack contained. l opened II In ex
plsna,ion, and told her | Was on my va!
10 Knoxville to replenish stock ffou
goods ordered shipped to that point.
presented her with . common pair o
u, A. - . .aatsn chang