The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1901-06-14

half the day and all night, but no day
light could redeem such face, so evil
was it-bloated. hiGcous, surrounded
by q bald head all knobs and shelves.
/ knew him for a ''bushwhacker" on
the spot and OWNED by instinct that
he had the family silver and whatever
else had struck his fancy in the coffee
sack that hung over his shoulder.
81 amt get 10 weepon," the precious
fellow explained. "Put up yourn. 1
just come in to look around. The door
weren't locked. didn't know nothing
about you being here"
l was pretty short and sharp with
the man, as may be supposed. but re-
fiected that his right to be there was
fully as good as my own, and as he
was there l determined to find out ex-
actly how far l was from the Tennes-
see river. 1 questioned him. He told
me that he was raised right there"
that the river was five miles distant
only. How did propose to cross it?
said, with truth, that l did not know
whereupon my benevolent friend stat
ed that he had a skiff hidden under the
bank, the only one on the side of the
river. He further proposed to put me
across it. He modestly asked $50 in
gold or $500 in Confederate money for
the service. AS it CHANGED, / had ST.
600 and more of the latter currency
with me. did not consider the arrange
ment ideal by any means even then,
but it was the only one l could make,
so we came to terms. We agreed to
meet at certain spot on the bank two
hours later. lie told me how to get
there. He was leaving the room when
my "dander" suddenly rose as viewed
the bulging coffee sack. drop thatw
l commanded. 81 won'tw he replied.
"Drop it, l sayr' I insisted.
Every soldier understands that there
is no use arguing with u pistol. The
fellow suddenly dropped the sack on
the floor, with the snarl of a dog whose
bone is taken from it. He shuffied off
into the hall with oaths and mutter-
ings, and l heard him leave the house.
| rose, dressed. opened the sack, which
contained silver, other valuables, the
Reinas, the remains of the feast, cam
die ends. Webster's Dictionary q sup
pose he gauged books by size, bottle
Of Lubin, soap, towels Though 1 am
sure he never used either, a silver gilt
looking glass (of all things) and a
highly miscellaneous collection alto
gether. l pocketed the cigars; tum=
bled out the other effects. The silver
T +a; 10 Il; oPt
casting about for the best place, l
weighted the sack and dropped it into
q duck pond back of the stable as the
only return l could make for the invol.
untary hospitality of my absent host
or hostess. This done, | breakfasted
on loaf of bread and bottle of claret
and left note of thanks for any men,
ber of the household who might re-
turn, pinned to the cushion of my dress
ing table - protemporaneous dressing
table, that is. l then made my way to
the river. 1t would not have surprised
me had the fellow failed me, but he
was there, skiff and all. He insisted
on being paid before he would lift
finger, and paid him. l stepped into
the rickety, leaky looking craft with
some misgivings. The Tennessee is not
the Thames, and my Charon would not
have minded making it the Styx. l
knew. Still he was in the same boat,
which was pretty good security for my
safety. 1 was armed. Altogether !
felt pretty secure. He pulled off with
what seemed good will. He became
affable.
':An affable villain always bears
watching" thought. q had my back
to him as this idea came to me) "I'I
turn" At this moment my eye caught
the shadow on the river of an uplifted
paddle behind me, Instinctlyely |
lodged, wheeled and fired, 1t was
horrible necessity. 1t has haunted my
dreams ever since, although l know
that it was perfectly justitiable. Had
there been time to think 1 would have
managed to disable him only. Finding
him dead, l cast his body into the riv.
er. And then such q chill of horror,
soldier that l was, seized me that it
was some time before ! could row
stroke. Even then / did so with my
eyes closed for some minutes for fear
of seeing him, 1t seemed an eternity
before ! reached the shore. With this
tragic experience my adventures may
be said to have ended. The rest was
plain sailing. l got back to my COM
mand, got leave and went home, where
l was welcomed as one arisen from the
dead.
1t may interest some people to hear
that l returned to Tennessee when the
war was ever, that M, o, L." has been
my wife tand the best of wives for
many a year and that our grandson,
the prodigy, daily batters and bangs
one of the silver gobletS that l sunk in
the pond against the tables and chaira
thoughtfully provided tor the purpose
in his nursery.
One Way of Making a Living.
There seems to be no limit to the
variety of ways in which q dollar can
pc earned by q sharp wltted man.
know one who makes a comfortable
living by attending auction sales Of
furniture. He is not in collusion with
the auetioneer in fact, he will only
attend such sales as arc genuine ana
peremptory, where every article is sold
for the highest figure bid, no matter
how low. My friend simply trades
on the weakness of human nature es-
pecially of the feminine variety. Many
women attend these sales ana are real.
" desir0ps of securing certain articles,