The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1893-11-17

forest. 1 sprang TO my feet and
looked around me with wide awake
and staring eyes,
could see nothing. Then from a
thicket little to my right came the
means of man as if in mortal agony
and presently voice asked complain
ingly:
where's Mollie?"
Not knowing Mollie or her where
abouts, was, Of course, unable to an
swer, but as is usual in cases where
ignorance of the question precludes a
reply, I proceeded to PROFOUND a
question of my own.
"Who are your" asked.
For several moments there was a
dead silence, which / construed to
mean that the inquirer for Mollie was
doubtful about revealing his own
identity.
The owls, probably attracted by my
voice, came futtering all around me,
and times it seemed as if they would
attack me and drive me away, an in
truder of their own domain.
Then suddenly, touchingly, prayer
fully, came the voice from the thicket
once more.
ooh, Molliel Mollie Molliel"
The voice was the quayering voice of
an old man, and so hopelessly tender
and helplessly beseeching that the cry
went straight to my heart. II am
coming" cried, and walked as fast
as could ior the darkness toward the
thicket from whence the voice came.
A thousand thoughts ran through
my mind and every direction had ever
heard about how to treat cases in any
emergency flashed through my memo
ry. Who was this old man, evidently
in mortal agony, alone and helpless in
the forest? Was his throat partly cut9
Was he shot through the body? Was
he manned. and mutilated? / asked
myself over and over again. Then a
terrible thought came to me. Perhaps
it was an escaped lunatic, a blood
thirsty mailman, with all a mailman s
cunning, lying in wait to fall upon and
destroy the plying wanderer who
Glanced to come his way, lured toward
him by his pitiful cries in the dark
ness.
AS + thought of this l stopped in
stinctively and peered around me eau
tiously. The dark thicket lay only a
few steps in front of me. How easy
it would be for man with a maniac
strength to leap forward, clutch me by
the throat with his powerful fingers,
more cruel than the claws of the fierc-
est wild beast in the forest.
/ sprang back in terror. Nothing
moved, however. There was no
moan, no cry, only the tangled vines
and underground, and darkness in
front of me.
"Is there any one in distress-any
one needing help and assistance close
by?' I asked in loud but quavering
tones. There was no answer. 1 walk
ed as near to the thicket as I could,
and peered into the vines and bushes,
but could see nothing, and was about
to withdraw at safe distance again,
when voice in faint tones gasped out
above my head:
"Helpl Help"
Above me l could only see the inter.
lacing limbs of the trees, with rift
here and there through which glim.
mering star peeped down from the
dark blue of the summer sky. Al
owl occasionally flew by, and solitary
freely flashed her emerald light as she
winged her zig-zag fight through the
darkness.
Again and again from the darkness
above me came the cry for help, and
in such distressing tones that it almost
set me wild with fear. The owls came
futtering around me, and the batl
darted on kissing wings on every side.
Then again came piercing cry from
the thicket, followed by succession o
them, until my ears rang, and the colo
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