The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1896-09-24

matuiaR ! received word ever The ~if'
la,t tbt tran from Fiksti.le could no' a.
- G5lJiou osiug 70 sSsbout heIos
sammt Rock ltwss ihougbt that The
lrack could he made pssssble 10y siietoeoF
aud that the train would rrAch my stst'at
before G O'Clock. communicated these
iacts TO the nine superintendent by mean'
/ Of 40 assistant Who wls alssys al The sta
tio8 during the day,
i At 8 o clock that evening ! rec iYed
message saying thst it would ho impnsti
ble Tor the train 30 get shtbeiore p Of
/ 10 O. o.o.osk the next morning sent word
10 this fleet to the mine superintendent
who, 10 turu. communlca ed II TO the
meu. Feeling rather tired ! turned IN
early that night, Sleep however, was oat
Of the question,
Tue baRssge, freight, express aud tele
graph offices we're all uuder one roof
One ccrner Of the llg warehouse OF wss
hardly anything els,l was partitloned Of
so as to make. private inclosute. Tli'
botllke compartment used Tor sleeping,
eating aud the trsnsaotton Of the oon
psnys telegrsphIc and railroad business
The sender aud receiver were affixed TO =
table conveniently near my bed, ami 1t
necessary it Was possible to transmit or
take message without evening mislne.
OF course, 1 never found it necessary to
do this. | simply mention 1t TO illustrate
the arrangement Of the clloe,
Along toward mrdti4ht the telegraph
instrument began to click, ! heard my
call. opened the key and asked what was
wanted. The operator al Pikeville wired
back that the train which had been delay
cd o. account of the washont bid started
for Goldton and would reach there be
tween 3 and O'Clock 10 the morni g At
preci ely 2 4j O'Clock the train steamed
into Goldton.
The express messenger slighttd and
handed me u huge end many sealed pack
age. 1t contained Sl7 500,
On, that isn't SlI said the messenger
With a laugh. have q boz in the car
that's a. heavy as lead, We've been won
dering all the way up the mountain what
it contained.
The OK was lifted from the car and
nlaced on end in the freight department
Of The station. II was fully seven feet long
aud four wide -honibly suggestive 1.-THE
rougb box 10 which coffin IA inclosed.
| thought of this sfet the train had re
sumed its Journey, put the pay money
in the sale, turned the combination lock
and retired. ! fell into a dcze from Which
| wa, aroused with a start by what seem
cd 10 be the ticking OF the sounder. 1t
said ss clear as il some one had spoken,
"Bewsrsl Danger threatens. sat up
ip bed, The moon was shining brightly |
through The window, gtzsd inlently at
the soupder. 1t made not the slightest
motion, yet the message came again, this
time even more startlingly distinct than
before. What could it possibly meanH
thought that | was dreaming hrst but
" hen the M sterious message was repeat
ed for the third time came to different
conclusion, | don't believe in spltltua
liam. vet sm at loss now to ascrlbe
that ipexplicable communication TO any
other source,
At any rate, upon hearing the third mes
sage my mind instantly reverted to the
huge box in the freight corner. The par
titiouiug of my little apartment did not
extend as high IS the roof, but merely to
a distance of about FIVE feet above the
level OF the bed, and by standing on the
bed | could peer over the top and see sIi
parts OF the interior Of the station. rose
steulthly to an erect position and looked |
over the edge of the p rtition. The first
tkiug saw was the box standing on end
near window lu the extreme end OF the
ststion. ana ~ lolked / saw it's TOP slow |
ly rise and a mans head protrude itself.
1t was a thick. brutoliaei face, with
grlzzled vii kers, Instantly it fl 'shed
across my mind that it belonged to Grl2
zly Bill.
The ti4ht sent my heart nto my throat
with bound. for | realized only too well
that the outlsw Vonld stop at nothing to
get the money which be knew was ia my
possession, To lim murder was ltk' /
childs play Bot after the fret emotion
OF fear felt perfectly calm. 10 truth,
| f. 1t as though fate bad thrown this des
persdo 10 my way 20 that could con
uner him. don't ktoE why | felt thus,
probably experienced the same emotions
th At soldier does who goes into battle
with fear spd trembling, yet who, when
actually in the midst Of dagger. feels as
cool and collected as though be were ont
OF reach Of oil possibility OF harm,
/ 90! ont Of bed picked mp the coal
shovel aud scutte and made as much noise
as possible. As the night had been an un
usually O. oil one ERE was burning, and
as passed the stove grabbed my revol
yer and thrust 1t toto my right coat pee
ket. Iuto my left pocket ] tbru't scme
nails and Il banner, Then, whlstling as
loudly IS possible TO mislesd the desper.
do in the box, left the little Office aud
walked aero's the A,or Of the freight part
Of the sts'i %, When Immediately 10
front Of The box ] ,pBug st II Vith The
tpry ola msu dgbIlg bis lie aud over
turned it, II fell T. toe d or, top ~
With . resouudrnp cr,sh Instantly ! wss
sstfis the b1I driving ntils iDto 'be I'D
a. bard and last az mao 10 terror for biz