The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-07-09

IdAcu. n6 unused AN L dccGxSe0 %.
a chance resemblance? But such q re
semblance! The figure, the great heiga
the eyes. the hair all the features, sv
en- the scar on the face-just such
man as William White, the murdere
OF my brother, would have grown Il
be today. No, / can't be mistaken
But | must go TO work cautiously In
this matter, or | will defeat my wi
object. The only piece Of detective
work | will venture on now will bs
if possible, to throw Mr.. Eward Ions
off his guard before he leaves tbs
camp meeting"
At the MONDAY recess, after the
morning sermon and other services
the women and girls assisted by the
,, young men, spread the bountiful din.
ner on the ~pine-board table, $50 fee,
long. in the grove-a country feast
of boiled ham, fried and baked chick
en-, barbecued pig, roast beef mutton,
biscuits, loaf-bread, pies, cakes, pre-
serves, pickles. This bill of fare was
detailed to me by an old friend, a hear
I, ty feeder, who toIa me Edward Longs
story, for | was nos at the camp meet-
ing though knew The Longs.
In the height OF she enjoyment of
place himself at the table just opposite
Edward Long and his little party. Er.
tering into conversation with some
one by his side, he brought the talk
around to his colporteur' work, and
said half jocularly, slightly raising his
voice:
Yes, you may depend on the bibles
and ~hymnbooks being plain print and
good bindings OIL the honest word OF
John Willis Of Brookvale, Ala"
With these words he furrbae5g cut
his eye across the table, and plainly
saw that the man in front of tEm gave
a violent, irrepressible start. When he
looked up after a brief interval Ed
word Long had disappeared from his
place. Presently the son came up,
and said to his mother in a low. vo5se,
but overheard by Willis: "Pa, says to
and go home, ma; he eat m
thing at he table that masB him
The listeners Lip curled with 1Ismfbe
triumph, as he said under his breath
1T was a random shot, but it struck
home. He heard something At the
table that made him sick
The camp meeting came to a close,
the preachers and exhOrters went Off
to other fields for the saving Of souls;
the pine board tables were taken down
and the lumber ruu under the church
to serve for the next Gathering, and
the cOlporTeur went to pack : his
biblical literature at the home
of a widow with two children where
had secured a room for a week.
His landiady had nothing but. good
to say of Edward Long and his Eam-
i!y. He was not only one of the. most
prosperous but one of the beCs men
in the settia1nent and his wife vas as
good as he, always ready to hssp the
needy. and comfort the suffering and
afflicted.
"My Door husband said the widow,
with tears In here. was in baEf health
for three or four years before he DIED
and left a mortgage on his little
and patch of ground, [ and my chill
dren would have been turned o0t OF
hoase and home if it hadn't been for
NJ. Long, who took the debt, n mas
never said a word to me about it from
that day to this
WAS Mrs. Long raised about here?'
asked John Willis. no; when he came
here a good many years back quite a
Young man. he brought his, wife with
him and one child, that died a year or
two afterwards; these children were
born here. Mrs. Long was a very
pretty then. and they were
the handsomest coup1e. On the floor AZ
the country dances and other
merv-makings." DO you know the
eolporteur continued, where Long
hailed from when he came here? 1t
has been along time ago replied the
widow, and | was a mere girl. Jusa
out of school; but I think | rememb@
hearing my father say, when Mr.. LoFs
bought the Wesley Brown house II
land, that he paid for it with molSy
in a bank in Georgia. You seem IN
terested in Edward Long and his wife,
Mr.. Willis concluded his landsady,
looking at him inquiringly.
ooh, only as an agent, intent always
on pushing my business, would natul
ally feel interested in of the most
prominent citizens. Besides. too, Ed
ward Long bears a remarkable resenlb-
lance to a man | once knew bearing
another name; but of course it must
be an accidental resemblance"
John Willis got ready for his de-
z,. I,+ hofDro hot he ho6 q visit