The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1894-11-06

who were going out in a boat, osten-
lsibly to fish. Until Er. and Mrs.
Prescott had driven by him he walk
cd as If on his way to tho bedside of
dying friend. Then he began to
loiter as if it had suddenly occurred
to him that his friends name was
Methuselah. And as he loitered he
thought.
THAT ere city chap that jest drove
by" he said to himself, twas q
mighty slick lookin Teller. Guess
they hain't been sufferin much up
where he lives fur a meal of victuals.
Hahn t ct all they We got, most likely.
Got so much ON hand prob'ly they
have to feed cold roast chicken and
mince pie to the pigs ev'ry mornin.
Wouldn't be surprised mite If that
was so.
why, my soul and body, it's sin
and chame," his thoughts wentafter
some wandering. There amt no
sense in pamperin pigs no SIGH a
fashion nohow. l guess 'twould be
dom no harm if / sh'd kinder git
ahead Of that feller's pigs. Tain t
likely they'd keer, not havin no par
tic'lar pref renee for roast chicken,
80 far as / knows on / guess that
city feller'd jist as lives feed 'em on
plain swill, jest for once. 1t nd be
pity for them pigs to have dispepsy,
and / amt goih to allow it nutherl"
concluded Hodijah in warm glow
of philanthropy as he thrust an en-
terprising leg over the fence.
AS he landed on the other side he
gave a startled "Ughr' Then he
laughed. The laugh came when he
discovered that the white thing he
had stepped on was nothing more
harmful than a piece of linen, blown
probably from the Prescotts' clothes
line.
IT guess there amt nothin white
that wouldn't scare me all ter fin
ders in the dark" he reflected.
"They do say there amt no SIGH q
thing as ghosts nohow. Mebby there
amt. There amt likely to be none
in this here orchard anyhow. Ghosts
amt constituted right for eatin mp
pies, not accordin to what I've hearn
tell, though, per cont'ry, green APP
pies ism t likely to do 'em much hurt
nuther. Anyhow I'll resk it.
So saying, Hodijah skunk in among
the trees of the Prescott orchard,
there to await the proper moment
for his contemplated attack upon
the Prescott pantry.
The twins, like the good boys they
were, went to bed at the hour of O..
Once in bed, however, they thought
it no sin to enjoy a vigorous if brief
pillow fight. Then they lay quietly
for a little while, but presently Max
rolled over and whispered in Morris
ear:
I'm awfully hungry"
"So'm l." said Mort.
There's pie in the pantry, whis-
pered Max.
go get it, said Mort.
mo, you get it., said Max.
"No, you get it, 7" whispered Mort.
81 got it last time.f'
Max, considering the argument
valid, slipped out of bed, and, encour-
aged by the softly spoken Good for
your' of his brother, began feeling
his cautious way down stairs.
1t twas intensely dark. Max, how
ever knowing the location of every
article of furniture in it, made his
way quickly without noise or acct
dent to the door of the kitchen
Here he began cropping for the
knob, but grasped instead something
rough and woolly. The next instant
he received a blow upon his head
which first made him see dozen
rockets bursting in air and then have
the sickening sensation of falling
down, down, down. Then he lost
consciousness.
Hodijah had given the blow. Pie
in hand, he had started to leave the
kitchen as Max had started to enter.
Frightened by the sudden hand laid
upon his coat, he had dropped his
plumber and struck out fiercely III
the dark. The blow, the result of a
blind instinct of self protection, had
knocked Max senseloss to the floor.
With the oppressive stiffness that
followed the noise of his unseen enc
my's fall, a new terror entered the
heart of Hodijah and held it still.
Was he whom he had struck down
in the dark dead? Hodijah did not
dare to stir. He felt himself held
fast in the impalpable grip of that
horror which walketh in darkness.
Then an overpowering curiosity
invaded him to look upon the face Of
his victim. He felt it rise in his
heart and spread itself through his
rigid body until it fairly trembled in
his finger tips.