Telegram-herald., 1890-03-25


been directed that morning and l n@1
stumbled 2s u we're Upon y b accident
Tie -h0gzat0f fn6ing those wa0 Lad =
hand IN tas death Of the nan ! asc eft
Il tie rcd did nos Oocar - ne, and
Walking ap - Ehs door. 1 gave lead
RAP taerson So1e enc commenced -
move abOzt Tbe hZht sas taken from
she ~indoN. 9Ed. little lster, he door
-4s throNn opea, 4nd woman stood De-
fore me she v@s not very PROPOSES
ing AID there vas scared look upon
aer face. IS shs sad,
Who are y0a, and What DO yon want
hsreY~
II an a stranger travelling through tho
sountry on business Iks morning
~as tod I shoald nnd cabin here
.souts, where 1 eould ges entertainment
Tor she night
-You Asd better 20 away This 10 no
place for an honest man They may DO
beck soon, and your life ~ill DC In dan
ger
She would have closed the door, but
raised my hand 20 prevent il At that
moment she uttered cry Of terror
What Is it2" ssid
Murderer Lsok AZ your hands"
she cried
lheld shem up. They were covered
with blood which had got upon them
while feeling IN the dark 70 nnd wha, Is
Was that lay across the road The blood
Of the murdered man
The next moment she had slammed
the door in my face, and then heard
her secure 1t with heavy bars
A man could hardly find himself IN .
more forlorn condition than that | was
now in No road which = man could
follow before him; dead man lying in
the forest behind, and . band Of cut
throats liable At any moment To put in
their appearance a. the cabin
The sound OF running water put mo
in mind that there was q chance for mo
70 wash the blood from my hands.
Guided by the sound, / passed around
the cabin TO the spot where, doubtless,
It's inmates got their water. Here
proceeded 10 give them good washing,
although IN the darkness / could not
tell whether / had removed all the
stains l was about 70 move away from
the spot, when l was startled by the
sound of voices hardly dozen yards
away. Listening, i caught the words ut
tered as they drew nearer:
LET him lie there and rot. An above
ground grave Is good enough for dog
of spy"
Doubtless he was speaking OF the
man over whose body had stumbled.
But some one may find IT, and so get
Us into trouble" said another.
There Is little chance Of that. No
one hardly ever comes this way now"
"You forget that there is a stranger
somewhere near here now. We have
got TO see that he don't get out of here
alive"
Ny blood ran cold. OF course he could
mean no one except myself.
"Yes. he has seen too much already.
II he came along the road he must have
run.across the dead man. Who knows
but what he may be in the cabin now?
He would want shelter for the night.
and the light in the window might bring
him here"
They had reached the doorway now,
and one OF them demanded admittance.
The door opened, and they went in,
closing 1t behind them. Now WAS the
time for me TO make my escape. A
minute later they might learn of the
woman that / must be somewhere near
at hand. Almost holding my breath.
and moving so that not a dry leaf rustled
beneath my feet, / crept away into the
darkness, going l knew not whittier.
To my dying day l shall not forget
that night in the forest. Morning
found mo more dead than alive; but to
my great 10Y it was on the edge of con-
siderable town
at once sought out the authorities,
and told them the story of my nights
adventure. They knew OF the where
abouts Of the cabin, and had long sus-
pected IL to be the home of gang Of
robbers and moonshiners. When they
got there, they found it empty. Taking
alarm at my escape. fearing that had
learned too much, they had fed to new
quarters for safety.
The body Of the murdered man was
brought In and buried. Who he was
wss never known 70 a certainty, but it
was suspected that he was some one who
was trying 70 earn the reward offered
for clew TO the gang OF moonshiners
By whom he had lost his life.
a few years afterwards, I heard that
they had been caught and had paid the
penalty OF their crimes at the halter S
end.
Every now and then that night OF
danger comes wildly to my mind, and
reverently thank Providence, VINO car
ried me safely through.-Arthur l..
Nro.o-vo I, VarLoo Dla1o