Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1886 — THE MIDNIGHT ASSASSIN. [ARTICLE]

THE MIDNIGHT ASSASSIN.

BY CAPTAIN JAMES MONTFORD.

“In the spring of 1862 I was wounded in the arm, and obtained leave to return homo for a few weeks. “The wound was slight, and a month had scarcely passed ere I was strong as ever, and began to feel that uneasy sensation, I can scarcely call it longing, which comes upon a soldier when far away from the field where victories and defeats are falling to his coinrad'H whom he knows so well. “'1 hrec weeks before my leave of absence expired I left home again and started for the field. “When I arrived within thirty or forty tniles of the point where the command was stationed, I found that the track had been torn up, and that we must remain at the small station until the rails could again be laid. “While loitering about the little town a chance occurred for the purchase of a horse at a very moderate price, considering the times. “I struck a bargain with the owner, and resolved to ride through the country to the point where the troops were stationed. “This would be more pleasant, as I knew a young man, who was about to enlist, intending to go by the train, which was now at a standstill. “He was a native of Phonofon, the town where wo were detained, and was perfectly acquainted wilh the country surrounding it. “Immediately after purchasing the horse I hunted him up, and it was soon agroed that we should ride across the couutry. “Bright and early the following morning he rode up to the little inn where I was stopping, and in less than thirty minutes we were cantering through the village street in the direction of the camp. “It was a pleasant day; a storm was impending, but not likely to fall until night. “I never passed a finer time on horseback; but nothing interesting occurred, and I will hasten on to the story. “As night approached, and my companion offered no information in regard to our distance from the camp, I began to consider that, as we had ridden at a good rate all •day, we must be near our destination. “ ‘Well, Frank,’ said I, ‘we are nearly at the end of this journey, are we not?’ “ ‘I guess we are, Colonel,’ he replied. ■“ ‘Then you are not certain about it?’ ■“ ‘ I thought I was,’ he replied, iu a puzzled way, and looking about for landmarks. “‘Do you recollect where you are? ’ I inquired, after a short silence. “He admitted that he did not, and, although he declared ‘he didn’t knowhow he could have made such a mistake,’ I realized that we must be seeking a lodging for the night without delay, for the storm had gathered violence, and would soon discharge itself. “ ‘ We must make inquiries at the first house,’ I said, and urging the tired horses onward, we kept a shaip lookout for some habitation. “But this was not met with when desired. "We had ravaged the country, and a great many of the houses we passed were untenanted and dismantled. “As it grew darker and darker, the prospect of remaining outside at the mercy of the storm began to cause some discomfort. “ ‘There’s a house!’ shouted Frank at last, and, following his eyes, I saw a light a short distance back from the road. “It was a small building, unpainted, and did not promise much ’in the way of entertainment. Nevertheless, any kind of shelter is better than none in a storm, and we rode in through the open gate and dismounted. “We were saluted by the barking of dogs from the back of the house, and before we had reached the door it was opened and a man appeared. “We asked the way to our destination, and soon found that wo had strayed many miles from the direct road. “ ‘You’ll hardly git thar to-night,’ said the man, in harsh accents; and he did not refuse lodgings for ourselves and horses when it was requested. “We accompanied him to the stable arid flaw our tired animals introduced to the company of a cow and a pair of oxen, then followed our host back to the house. “I had taken a strange dislike to the man, and was not made more easy by his uncivil manners and guttural tones. “The room into which he led us was

already occupied by a short, brown woman, the man’s wife, and three very dirty children. The children were ordered off to bed by their mother, who, at her husband’s suggestion, placed bread, butter, and a plate of cold potatoes upon the table for our delectation. “I had often eaten worse fare with the relish which is given by sharp hunger, and did not despise the meal; my companion was more dainty, and, while making a •pretense of eating, fastened his eyes upon the master of the house. “The latter would have created suspicion in a saint. He bore the exact description of the ruffian in an old poem I have read: “A lean-faced writlien knave, Hawk-nosed and vory hollow-eyed, With mighty furrows in his stormy brows, Long hair down his shoulders curled; His thin was bare. 11l fact, I could not help sharing, to a certain extent, in my comrade’s fear; but we were in for it now, if danger was intended. “We soon learned that our host was a violent partisan of the South; that he had lost two sons upon the battle-field, and that he would have shouldered arms himself if it hadn’t been for the old woman! “He did not seem to consider ns foes, and Frank thought it necessary to express sentiments in favor of the man’s principles. “As we were preparing to retire for the night the door opened and a stout young man entered, shaking the water from his clothes. “He was a neighbor, apparently, for the master addressed him In a familiar way, and as we followed our hostess from the room, I observed a signal pass between them, followed by glances, menacing, I thought, cast iu our direction. “The apartment into which I was ushered was small, with no furniture except the bed, and without a door. “My companion was to be in an adjoining room. The woman made an awkward apology for the "poor place,’ as she called it, and ended by saying that ‘her sons had once occupied the rooms, and mebbe my friends had killed them.’ “This suggestion came so abruptly that it startled me. It was tho first intimation given that our profession was understood. “I made some commonplace remark, and was left alone, to sleep if I could, which was not at once. “I heard the family j’etire; then all was still save the patter of the storm outside. I felt oppressed, as though with the sense of approaching misfortune. “The form of our ill-looking host was conjured up before my mind, attended by all the villainous circumstances and incidents that an active imagination could furnish. “At last, after tossing about for hours, I fell asleep. How long I lay unconscious I know not; but when I awoke it was with a start, and my faculties were upon the stretch at onco. “I heard some one in the hall without my room. He came with the stealthy motion of a murderer stealing upon his victim. “My knavish host was coming to avenge the death of his sons, was the idea that flashed into my heated brain, and stealing from the bed I began to feel about for my weapons. “They were not where I had placed them. Had the assassins removed the pistols, that they mij.ht perpetrate their meditated crime iu safety? “So it seemed, and taking a large, strongbladed clasp-knife from the pocket of my pantaloons, I stole toward the door, resolved to meet the villains, and take them by surprise. “I reached the door in the dark, and ere I knew it had stepped outside. Some form was before me. I could hear a stifled breath at my side, and the next instant was grasped by a pair of strong hands. “My knife was knocked from my hand, and I struggled with tho desperation of a madman to prevent the blow which I expected would fall. “I endeavored to throw my assailant to the floor, but his limbs seemed formed of steel. I dealt and received several blows, and at last wc fell, and rolled over and over upon the floor. “All this occupied but an instant; but I was already becoming winded. My antagonist was too strong. “Suddenly I made a last desperate effort, and we fell upon the stairs, roiling over until we reached the bottom. “The fall separated us, and as I staggered to my feet a light appeared, carried in the hand of my host. His wife was looking out upon us through the partially open door of her bedroom.” “Go on, Colonel,” I cried; “why do you pause?” “There’s not much more to tell. I had been battling all this time with Frank, the new recruit, and my good host was as innocent of all sinister intentions as the sleepy chickens whose slumbers we disturbed. “My companion had gone to sleep, oppressed with uneasy thoughts concerning the master of the house, a terrible dream had followed, and still under the influence of the ‘ghastly hag who rides our dreams,’ he had risen from his bed, only to awake to grapple in the struggle for life which followed. “We rode away the next morning with better feelings toward our rough but hearty friends of the cabin, and did not trouble them with the suspicion we had formed of their character.”