Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1931-04-02

over me. Just then 1 heard foot
steps, and the woman of the house
called me to get up and come down
and see to my horse, as he was
loose in the stable, kicking the door
off its hinges.
l jumped out of bed, got into
my clothes, reached my hand under
my pillow and slipped my pocket
book into my pocket, turned, and
there the woman stood in the door:
she had seen me put something into
my pocket, but had not seen wheth-
er it was a weapon.
l followed her down the stairs
She told me to go out to the stable
and fasten my horse. Now my horse
was perfectly gentle, and it seemed
strange he was loose. I asked for a
light; this she seemed reluctant to
give, but finally handed me little
piece of candle. Never did candle
burn brighter, although there was a
breeze stirring.
When I reached the stable the
man was there, and pointed to a
door which was lying some distance
from the stable. Look! Your horse
has kicked the door off its hinges.
Go in and tie him." he said.
glanced down, and there on the
ground was a pile of freshly made
h ny11h I h q
pounding. Someone had been shaw
ing boards and making a box durin g
the night.
The man motioned me to go
through the dark entrance, past the
aperture opposite the stall This
was dark as pitch. | turned and
wen through the barn door, tap
ped on the manger, called my horse
by name, slipped the halter over
his head, and came out of the barn.
| let the man and the woman pre-
cede me to the house; the little can
die continued to flicker and burn.
/ went to my room, but not to sleep.
Some plot to murder me was being
laid. My horse had never kicked
that door from its hinges; he was
gentle as a lamb. This was only an
excuse.
They had wanted me to enter the
stable, past that aperture where
someone could have been hidden
with a club. l saw their game. and
now l bitterly regretted that l had
not brought the pistol | knew that
death awaited me if l slept. l clos
ed the door, placed the old table
against it, picked up the chair and
sat down on the side of my bed. 1t
must have been in about an hour
that l heard footsteps approaching
my door. | made noise to let them
know | was awake, and the steps
went away Three times before
morning did the steps pause outside
my door I never fought sleep so
hard in my life, yet to sleep would
have meant death.
The only weapon that l had was
the old chair, yet the person who in
know this, and no one wants to en-
ter a room where the occupant may
be ready to shoot.
Finally, as it began to come
morning, footsteps passed my door
and entered an adjoining room. !
went down to breakfast as if moth
ing had happened. The man could
talk of nothing but how the horse
had kicked the previous night.
l rode away, glad to get away
with my life. l did not know wheth-
er to report this to the police, but
having no proof-just my word
against theirs, decided to go on.
After staying six weeks, l came
companied by some relatives. We
stopped at the grocery. The young
er man said you are the same boy
who passed through here some six
weeks ago, the boy with the fine
race horse The older man never
said a word, but walked out of the
store.
Now / knew the motive for the
murder they intended. The state
fair was being held at Columbus,
These people thought my horse a
race horse. These horses were Of
ten worth thousands of dollars.
They could have killed me, buried
me, kept the horse, and my people
would not have known what had be-
come of me. Was it my pocket book
which the woman thought was a
weapon, or was it an over-ruling
Providence that guarded me and