Year: 1865

tunate traveller INTO the dark lane


where. he may be safely put out of


the way and none be the wiser iol
lit. At any rate ] am fully pre-.
pared for them, and they will not
put me out of the way without d
struggle" gl4


H. Having seen that his arms were
ready tor use, he rode slowly for


ward, keeping a careful watch on
each side Of the road, that he
might not be surprised. AS long
as the woods kept open as they
were, he had no fear, as there was
no good hiding place Tor a man.
Ere long the woods began to get
! thicker and more sombre. Little
hillocks covered with bushes be-
came frequent, until at last they
became a long range sllirting at
each side OF the road. Tue horse
man felt that the time which was
to try him was near at hand, and
he dropped the reins until his
hand covered a holster pistol, which
lie firmly grasped, though i'll such
a manner IS a person would not
notice, and he then assumed an
air of carelessness, though his
watch was now keener than ever
At length he came to apIaee which
he felt Sure contained his enemy.
Nature seemed to have adapted
this place for the purpose OF con


cealment. The rocks which skirt
ed the road at this place were
about breast high, and 50 perpen-
.dicular as to have the appearance
of a wall; they were covered with
"a growth of bushes so thick as to
be nearly impervious. The tall
trees on each side of the road
twined their tops together, form
ing q natural roof oil leaves and
branches, and rendering the place
dark and dismal as midnight.


1t Was Il scene sufficient to ap-
pal the stoutest heart, Tut the
horseman, although he knew the
next moment might be his last,
rode forward with as careless an
air as he might have worn, had lie
been travelingtle streets-of a pop
ulous city. His hand still grasped
the butt of a pistol and his keen
eye still searched each covert.
Suddenly a pistol shot rung out
upon the air, and his hat fellto the
ground with a bullet hole through
it, not more than an inch above
where his head had been. IN
stantly turning i'll the direction
of the sound, he beheld a slight
wreath OF smoke curling up from
behind bush, and without II mo-
ment's hesitation he leye.ed his
pistol and fired. The aim was
terribly fatal. a wild shri' k
rang upon the air, and the next
moment there sprang from behind
a tree, (not the char, oal lurncr as
he expected, but his vile. The
blood was flowing copiously ilom
her forehead, and she pres, nted a
horrible spectacle. She tottered
to the edge of the wall Of rocks
and fell into the road-a corpse.


"Had | known it to have been
woman" the horsemanmuttercd.
~ never would have fired. But
| it is too late to noraliZe. What
can have become of my friend, the
charcoal burner?"


As he spoke he turned round
quickly and encountered the OBJ
I ject of his thoughts. 1t was
lucky for him that he s, oke so
quick. The charcoal burner held
a cleaning knife in his hand,
ready to strike. While the horse
mans attention had been engaged
by the tragical end Of the woman,
he had suddenly crept up behind
him. The would-be-assass.n,
sprang forward, making a desper-
ate pass at his breast. The horse
man still held the discharged pis-
tol in his hand, and with its long
barrel managed to parry the blow.
He then buried his spurs deep
into the horses sides, the goadt d
beast sprang forward SO violently
rs to dash the charcoal burner to
the ground, and completely sFrang
over him, dahsing the knife from
his hand, leaving him stunned
iii the middle of the road. The
horseman turned instantly, and
drawing his remaining pistol
from his holster, waited for the