St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-08-07

been wondering all the way up the
mountain what it contained.
"The box was lifted from the car and
placed on end in the freight department
Of the station 1t was fully feet
long and wide-horribly suggestive
of the rough box in which coffin is in
closed. | thought of this after the train
had resumed its journey. | put the pay
money in the safe, turned the combina-
ton lock and retired. fell into doze,
from which | was aroused with start
by what seemed to be the ticking Of the
sounder. 1t said as clear as if some one
had spoken: 'Bewarel Danger threat
ems. | sat up in bed. The moon was
shining brightly through the window.
gazed inter'ly at the sounder. 1t made
not the slightest motion, yet the message
same again, this time even more star
tlingly distinct than before. What could
it possibly mean? / thought that was
dreaming at first, but when the mystic
rious message was repeated for the third
time came to different conclusion. I
don't believe in spiritualism, yet I am
at loss now to ascribe that inexplicable
communication to any other source.
cat any rate, upon hearing the third
message my mind instantly reverted to
the huge box in the freight corner The
partitioning of my little apartment did
not extend as high as the roof, but
merely to a distance of about five feet
above the level of my bed, and by
standing on the bed l could peer over
the top and see all parts of the interior
of the station. rose stealthily to an
erect position and looked over the edge
of the partition. The first thing saw
was the box, standing on end near a
window in the extreme end Of the sta
ton, and as | looked | saw it's top slow
ly rise and a mans head protrude itself.
1t was thick, brutalized face, with
grizzled whiskers. Instantly it flashed
across my mind that it belonged to
Grizzly Bill.
"The sight sent my heart into my
throat with a bound, for | realized only
too well that the outlaw would stop at
nothing to get the money which he
knew was in my possession. To him
murder was child's play. But after the
first emotion of fear felt perfectly
calm. In truth, | felt as though fate
had thrown this desperate in my way
so that l could conquer him. | don't
know why l felt thus; probably ex-
perienced the same emotions that sol
der does who goes into battle with fear
and trembling, yet who, when actually
in the midst of danger, feels as cool and
collected as though he were out Of reach
of all possibility of harm.
81 got out of bed, picked up the coal
shovel and scuttle and made as much
noise as possible AS the night had been
an unusually cool one fire was burn
ing, and as passed the stove grabbed
my revolver and thrust it into my right
coat pocket. Into my left pocket | thrust
some nails and a hammer. Then, whis-
ting as loudly as possible to mislead
the desperate in the box left the little
Office and walked across the floor of the
freight part of the station. When i'm
mediately in front of the box l sprang
at it with the fury Of man fighting for
his life and overturned it. 1t fell to the
floor, top up, with resounding crash.
Instantly l was astride the box driving
nails into the lid as hard and fast as a
man in terror for his life could do. And
all that while was yelling at the i'm
prisoned outlaw at the top of my voice,
telling him that if he so much as
breathed l would instantly kill him.
"But my threats did not appear to
brighten him much. From the interior
of the box came volley of muffied
oaths that would have astonished Dig
ger Indian. l never heard such horrible
profanity. I fired my pistol twice in the
air to let him know that 1 meant bust
ness. After awhile he became quiet. I
carefully examined the box and found
that there was no danger of suffocating,
for at the upper end were a number of
tiny perforations which freely admitted
air
81 sat astride that box until my assist
ant arrived at Z O'Clock. 1t was q long
and trying vigil, but the magnitude of
my victory buoyed me up. My assistant
was almost too much amazed to speak
when | told him of my capture He
quickly went to the mines and told the
superintendent to hasten at once with a
| chi hpin np To hn or
and take Grizzly Bill into custody. 1t
didn't take long to do this, and when
Bill was hauled by no gentle hands
from the box he was the angriest out
law ever captured. He fought like a
tiger, but it was of no use. The men
who had him captive knew how danger
GUS he was He was securely bound and
later i'll the day taken to Pikeville,
where he was subsequently sentenced to
long term of imprisonment in an east
ern penitentiary.
"That little adventure" concluded
the major, "proyed to be the turning
point i'll my career. l was promoted to
an important position in the city, where
| prospered as you see. am today
quite content with myself and the world
in general. Thus you see Grizzly Bill s
undoing was my making. st. Louis
Globe-Democrat
Shelley's Heart.
A we'll known and very prominent
English family are the possessors of a
remarkable relic in the shape of hu-