The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-16
1T WAS HIS NEMESIS.
A Retribution Followed by the
Death of the AVenger.


Death of the AVenger.
Sylvania. Ca, May 15-Here is an inter-
esting story of the late war. as told re-
Gently by young southerner in whose IA
theirs house part of the scene is laid.
Since can first remember" he said IAN
old sword, with long keen blade and Gu
riously wrought handle. had occupied
place in our dining room. standing in
corner by the fire place A relative OF the
family had given it to us, and It was said
to have been taken from northern sol=
der during the war, whom this relative
of ours had killed in hand-to-hand con-
iict. Whatever may have been its history,
the children ana servants looked upon 1t
with superstidous fear, and the old sword
was hardly ever disturbed. 1t had evident
ly been a weapon of fine make, as the
handle was beautifully finished. It was
noticed that whenever our relative came
over to see us, he would never touch the
sword or even look at it. We all thought
he had a reason for thus stunning it
that it made him think of the dead soldier,
and so il was never used when he was
there. Once, my father said they were
sitting around the fire at night, and dur
least apparent cause, the old sword fell
out of the corner right at my relatives
feet. 1t startled him so that he jumped
from the chair, and for the rest of the
evening his face was as pale as death,
ut was some years after the war that a
peddler stopped one night at our house.
He was past the middle age, but was stin
strong and robust OF frame, as was evil
denced by the large and heavy pack that
he carried On his face there was an ugly
scar, but otherwise he was a fine looking
man. / shall never forget how intently
eyed him as he sat by the fire and talked
that winter night. When 1t grew nearly
bed time and the fire blazed up a little
brighter than before, / noticed that his
gaze fell for the first time upon the old
sword which stood In the corner, and be-
came riveted there. i was observing him
closely, and saw his eyes expand and
flashes dart from them like lightning. And
when, moment later, the others had gone
out for some purpose, he seemed to forget
my presence, for he leaped toward the
corner and grasped the handle so fiercey
that ] was frightened, and slipped out of
| the room. The next morning when he
came into the dining room, he observed
| the sword and spoke of 1t as If he had not
seen 1t before. Taking 1t IN his hand he
| admired the workmanship, and asked my
| father where 1t came from. In a few
words he was told it's history-how a rela-
tive of the family had taken 1t from the
/ dying soldier and then left it at our home.
| After breakfast the peddler went away
and we saw him no more. But the morn
| ing after that, the sword was missing from
| it's accustomed place by the fire, and, al
| though the house was searched and all the
| negroes questioned closely, we were never
| able to find any trace of 1t again. We con-
/ sidered 1t a strange coincidence that about
a week afterwards the relative who had
hn In h
house. 1t was supposed he had been killed
| for purposes of robbery. and such q con-
| vincing case was made out against a man
who had been working on the place that he
| was convicted of the crime and sent TO the
penitentiary.
About ten years after this my eyes fell
| unexpectedly one day upon the curiously
| made sword that l had seen so long in
/ our home when a boy. Twas on visit
| to a schoolmate in the north. His father
was man of wealth and their home was
| furnished in luxury. The old man, who
had once been strong and powerful, was
| almost an invalid now, and had but q
short while to live. He was a pleasant
old gentleman and he and 1 became good
| friends during the time l was visiting at
| his home. One day / was In his. den, Z"
as he called 1t, looking over his many
quaint and curious collections, when. 1
came across the sword / knew il Instant
ly. 1 could have identified iftamong A
thousand, Notwithstanding the Made had
been frightened and the point made
sharper and keener than before. ] can
not tell you how strange 1t made me fdel
to come across the old sword there, par.tic-
ularly so when i thought of my relative
who had been murdered.
my thoughts were in a tumult, and
carried the sword out on the piazza where
the old man was sitting AS soon as he saw
1t he stretched out his emaciated hand to
grasp 1t. and with a harsh laugh that
made my blood run chill, All said he,