Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-10-30


mans rifle was, believing him to be
| Williams. The same voice, same haiI
+ and bristles-it was he or his brother!
90 What's the matter?-lost yer power
o. answering a civil question: continued
| the man, appearing somewhat put out at
our hment-Comstock having the
same feeling.
I-I-thought you were some one
some one else,' l replied, finding my
voice at last.
'Ha ha! How can I be some one
else and still be Dan Green2' laughed the
man-the same ugh ughn which Will
liams had uttered But you ar from
Detroit, s'pose, an calkerlate that you
mean you want to stay all nightE'
~ replied that we so desired, and he
went to door and called to Jane to get
supper ready for two. He then threw
another log on the fire, took drink of
whisky, and went out, saying that the
woman would call us when the meal was
prepared.
"'That's the same man who met us at
noon!' whispered Comstock, his hand
shaking as he laid it on my arm.
g Il thought so at first, but he is not,
| replied. This man has a scar across
his forehead, while the other had none
"When the man had drunk from the
cup, he pushed up his cap, and caught
sight of the scar. | had also observed
that he was shorter and stouter than Will
liams, and felt satisfied that he had a
separate identity. However, had made
up my mind that the pair were brothers
No two men not of the same blood could
look so near alike, and have voices so
singularly brutal and unpleasant. | did
not dare to tell Comstock of this opinion,
as saw that he was already badly fright
cned. Anything further, | feared, would
completely upset him.
81 was doing my best to reassure my
friend, when the woman called us to
supper. The fare consisted of corn cof-
fee, Johnny cake, and salt pork, and the
appearance of the room was in keeping
with it. The woman was tall and stout,
her hair cut short, her eyes black and
ugly, and did not like her looks in the
least She watched us covertly while we
ate, and did not so much as utter
word.
''During the meal made up my mind
that we would settle for our supper, and
leave the house for night in the woods,
feeling that we should be as safe with
the wild beasts as with such evil looking
people. But as we walked to the door
| saw that cold drizzlng rain had
commenced 20 fall, and the fire felt so
comfortable that | did not broach my
plan to Comstock. Perhaps we were
too suspicious, and, being unused to the
way of the pioneers, had wronged the
people about us. | was pursuing this
train of thought when the landlord came
in, replenished the fire. and chatted so
ciyilly about the country, the people, the
chances, etc, that l quite forgot my
former suspicious.
''lt came to be nine o'clock almost be-
fore l knew it. One or two Indians had
come and gone, the atmosphere had
grown colder, the fire felt more and
more comfortable, and | was ready to
doze as the landlord went to see about
our bed. He had just stepped out,
when Comstock gave a cry of alarm, his
face blanched:
"Lool therel Look at that face
against the windown
81 turned quickly about, but could
see no face-only the panes wet with the
rain.
Either the landlord or the man who
met us in the woods was looking through
that windown said Comstock, as
turned again to the fire.
81 was about to ask for further infor-
nation, when the landlord came back
and announced that we could turn in.
He also told us that it had been arranged
for Comstock to sleep down stairs; but
my friend at once protested so strongly
against this that we were both allowed
to mount the rough ladder to the loft
over the bar-roOm, where some skins and
quilts had been spread.
"'We shall both be murdered before
morningn whispered my friend, as soon
as the landlord had retired.
Gle then informed me further in re-
gard to the face at the window, and was
so sure he had seen Williams, that
| finally agreed with him that there might
be danger, and told him of the relation
ship which | believed existed between
| the two men. We were in for it in any
case, and the most we could do was to
prepare for what might happen. We
looked to our pistols, saw that they were
in order, and then agreed to take turns
in watching, so that the villains could
rot surprise us if they meant us harm
Neither of us was to undress, but, if not
disturbed, we could manage to get n
little sleep as we were. Purposely or
otherwise, the landlord had given us not
more than an inch of candle and this
burned out while we were talking.
''The floor was a loose affair, and the
light from the bar-room fire shone up
tbrn,,,rb / 1
from the kitchen, was placed about
twenty feet from our bed, and there was
no door above, nothing whatever to pre-
vent any one from making the ascent.
'As | was to take the first watch,
! Comstock removed his gold from his
bosom, laid it on the skins, and then
laid down. | crawled carefully over the
floor until | found a crack large enough
to allow me to have quite view of the
room below, and then set myself to watch
and listen.
"The landlord sat for while before
the fire, an Indian came in, got some
whisky and went out, and after another
hour the tavern-keeper covered up the
fire and went into the other room.
''Long before this, despite his alarm,
Comstock had fallen soundly asleep. | |
maintained my place for another hour,
without hearing the least noise, and
then crawled over on the bed.
1.-TWO hours more went by, and then,
believing that we had been unreasonably |
frightened, and that we should not be |
disturbed, | woke up my friend, told him
that everything was quiet, and consulted |
him as to whether we should not both |
90 to sleep. He concluded to watch for