Wabash Herald, Volume 1, Number 29, Rockville, Parke County, 29 October 1831 — Page 4

POI t LA It TALES.

Sophia, or THE GIRL OF Till' PINE WOODS. CHAPTER I. Hollo the house'' said a well dressed gentleman on horseback, as he approached a he hut in the centre of a large pine forest. "What do jon want, sir," said a beautiful girl about eixteen, as she came to the door, with a countenance smiling, and sweet as an angel. "Can you direct me the war to the red mills madam, on I ish Creek?" "Yes, sir; but the road is Terr intricate, and much farther to go round than it is to 50 through the fields. v letting down the bars yonder, and keeping the footpath, until yoa come to a swing gate, you can shorten the distance two miles. As it would re quire you to dismount, permit me, sir, to open the bars for you." so saying, the laid by a book which she held in her hand, put on a neat little sun-bonnet, and tripped along the treed' path before the horse and his rider, writhing her elegant form, and shewing her white stockings, as she kept her clothes above the wet grass, until she laid her nowy hands and arms upon the rail-: letting them gently fall one upon another, she turned to the stranger, who was just epurring.his horse to pas. trhen he ? crt-atned out. "a rat?le snake! a snake, niH. m the g-as spring and ive yourfeliY' She sprung with the are vour-e!.T' Sac sprung with the 2ilitv of a frightened Oiwn, ?t the Very instant the huge serpent uncoiled lamself and made a dart ai his fa" r prey, who ch ared herself from his targs. and Jr t fail her son bonnet upon the snake. m she haped from his reach. The gentleman dismounting soon d:cpatchtJ the wily foe with hi? haded whip, while Sophia wa so much frightened, that she was unable to return to her hut without help. lie fastened his horse at the bars, and offered her his arm, which she d d not refuse, and he le ' her back to Ui cottage pale a; d tr. n.Hing. C r.iic.g to the door, she let go his an? , dr.-j peu i couricsy, ara said, i t ' i g.-d lo tou. sir. and were 1 t. 1 I 'ot ahne, 1 would ask 011 to walk in a i ea' nie of ny strawberries." "Aloc! nVi. so much the better: vUh '.our permission, 1 il walk in a m. -n:ent, Ur you appear too feeble v;! fright, to be left n'one in this djTaT rhce." "My father and moth ei hive gone to the village about two Hides oh. at d my mother will soon be Ivxk" "and your father too, will V, rct?"said the stranger as he stooped in at the door, a d took his seat on a bench. "M father, sir, ha been un forturatc, and i know not that he wiU ever have his liberty again. He was "see a merchant in Broadway, Nework, w here 1 was brought up until ab'-nt four years ago when my fathei r aicvc-d into the village about two juil-s from this, as said before, which 1 ftippose you passed in coming here. i'f has done every thing in his power to satisfy his creditors turned out all Lis property, not reserving even his furniture ; but there is one creditor who ill not be appeased, do all he can, and as hii demand amounlsto nvre than o;,e fourth more than all the rest, he has it in his power to keep my father confined, t! ey rel! me forever." "Where doea this creditor live?" In William street, New York." "What is his name." "Jackson." 'What is your father's name?'' "1 hompson." The stranger blushed & 3 looked confused. "Id yourfalhc r cvr apply to Mr. Jackson himself, and make known his situation?" "No, eir, i relieve not; hut has an attorney w o lives about fifteen miles from here, to whom he sent his notes nrrainst my fat iter, ordering him, as he says, to shew no lenity: to him mv father has applied rcpeat.t'.ly, and left letters in Lis charge, to Mr. Jackson; but all to no pm pose. Mr. Jackson says he can fhov- ;,, niercv he has lot t enough by unii i-toiii nt i aireauy. Here, sir, t;Ke a few ot tit se s:rawberrie we vfcii to get them of the market women, in rsew ork; hut here 1 gather ti'fm myself, and snmeiinies am obliped to cany them to market myself, too, to get a few rents in order to 'keep my poor father fre-m starving." Here tiie tuTf' away her fiend, put her rent while apron up to her eyes, and jTaw iier frame convulsed as if weep-' in. "DM you ever hare any aequninta'C". with tl i-lawyer, madam?" "Yes, ei ', hr has been here frequency, on pnrje.feao distress us wUh terms insulting cruel. "Is he a married man? 'No, sir; and so much the worse. A man wl o had a family of his on n would l ot be so niif'-tling a? he is to the man vho ha- one." "May I ask what his trnns arfV' Sopbia bluMied hesitate! "Nay, miss, do not be ashamed to t,-H -perhaps 1 can do your father feme, service in thi- huirrcss." "Why, eir, there i a litth property willed to mt when 1 t-voio v( ae, or am ciarri-

e J, and the hint, sir, I pfesume will be sufficient for you to form a conjecture. He is old, ugly, disgusting in person; and we removed into this dreary place as much as to avoid him as lo curtail our expenses of living. His age might be dispensed with, for the mind never grows old, and the person who possesses all that is estimable, should never be neglected, but rather more highly esteemed for the maturity of years. P.ut when insolence and vanity appear with a grey head, they become doubly offensive." "How old is your lawyer, madam T

"He is not my lawyer, nortny lover sir. but J should lake him to be about forty, and still is a dandy vain, illitterate, excepting in the technicals of his profession." . i At this moment the little dog that lay on the chips before the door, rose ip and gave a faint bark,and then wrig gled his tail. Sophia flew to the window without glas, and cried, my mother is coming, sir, make yourself easy for a few moments, for the stranger was about departing. The mother shortly entered the door, quite abashed to see a gentleman there alone with her daughter. She was a woman of about for ty, elegant in her manners, though chid in faded attire, yet neat and tasty. She passed the compliments due to a stranger in genteel habiliments, took off her black bonnet, seated herself in an ojd shattered arm chair, gave a deep sigh, and asked her daughter for a little cool water. Her countenance was pale and sad, and her eyes swollen with weeping. j "How is father?" said Sophia, as she handed her mother some water in a w hite earthen bowl, trembling as she spoke. "Your father, my dear, is some better his fever is turned. and the doc tor thinks him out of danger." "O Heavens!" said Sophia, and sunk on a rush chair "has he then . been sick, and we did not know it?" "Your father has been very sick,child,hut thank . leaven, he is better much better. Mr. Tivingham, the lawyer, has been to see him again, and keeps urging his uit. I am somewhat fearful that he has discovered the wav lo our retreat; Lr they told me that he was in town, and I thought Isiw him looking after me, as 1 acendod the hill and entered the woods. You may think strange, sir," said she, addressing the stranger "but we. have been so harassed so completely undone, by a wretch who calls himself a gentleman, that we fear him as much as we should a highwayman." "Your daughter, madam, has 'cen telling me. something of your situation," said the gentleman rising to go. As he stood by the door, the old lady eyed him quite closely, and thought she had seen him before. There was something in his look, in his manner, and in all about him, that bespoke the man of benevolence, and inspired con'id."nce. He was about thirty; neither tall nor slender; but he was hand.-ome faced, and when he smiled, shewed a beautiful set of white even teeth, and two large dimples in his cheeks, which were full, and tinged a little with the his.h of health. His large black beard, and dark eyes, gave him a look of solid ity.and manly strength of intellect. CHAPTER II. In order to ive the reader some idea of the place where this family havl retired, we shall sketch a short description of it. There was not an inhabitant dwelling hr two miles in any direction, and the village before mentioned was the highest. A few scattered huts, thatched with straw, and now entirely deserted hyli ragged set of families, were interspersed among the black logs and shrub oak hushes, on patches partially cleared, which made the country nround mire dreary by far, than if the whole were in a. state of natural wildnes; and the tinkling of distant cowbells, where half starved cattle were seeking a relief from pinching hunger, cuarming m mournful sounds, echoed from a thick dark grove not more than ten rods from the onnosite side f the" 1 ii cwclhng. a held in front was inclo sed, which belonged to a man of the red mills, six miles off. Excepting wms iom, me place was surrounded by a dark hrest almost inaccessible. Fish creek ran to the south, a few rods cast .if .0. 1 w. .. i, iuiirti;c, which nd been occu pied by a family from the red mills. All . . mi was dismal and lnnph- A r,,l from the village north, passed about twenty rods, and then took a short turn to the esst, crossed the crrPk nenr th bars, and made a very crooked way to the red mills. J Here dw-elt the lady and daughter, w ith no other but her son about H years old, wrio went almost every day 10 uie village 10 school, and to see his lamer. it jt- . - - 11. wam me monm ol June it was about six in the afternoon,and the stranger was just bidding them good bve. wncn uie mue nog again gave the signal of alarm, and a stranger appeared

at full gallop, making down the path from the highway. He rode up to the door, dismounted, and rushed into the hut before the other had scarcely left the threshold, with "how are you, madam, by G d I've found you at last tracked you to your den and you, miss, how are you what, catched a beau in your trap already! pretty crafty egad! Well ladies, I've come about the old iusines I've brought, my suit, made iy declaration, and w ant you to plead to it, or sutler judgment to go against you by default." "You have had one judgment and execution, sir, and what do you want of another?" said the old woman with a look of indignation, that would have silenced any but a coxcomb. "I want judgment from you not against

you, in favor of myself, nor my client so that I can have an execution against you, to fake the body, madam we lawyers call it a ca. sa," "Is the lady a judge then, and is her daughter a debtor to you, sir?"' said the first gen tleman to Mr. tivingham, who yet halted at the door. "How, sir," said the lawyer, "are they then your clients, and you retained to defend their cause. If so, perhaps a little caning would he the best argument that I could use."14 lou cane me, sir! said the gentleman, his black eyes flashing fury, and at the ame moment seized the lawver by the collar, dragged him sprawling out of the door, and shook him till he cried murder, which called two gentlemen just riding by towards the village, to his assistance. The stranger let him up, however, before they arrived. "You have committed an assault and battery," said the lawyer, and I will have you arrested immediately, and put to iail. Here are two men who will he witnesses" The old lady and her daughter had by this time come out, and told thcit story, that the lawyer was the aggressor. "You will swear him clear then will you? but re member I have the old man in my clutches, and will he revenged on him for your conduct." "Villain.'' said the stranger, "set that man at liberty in stantly, and J 11 pay the debt. How much is it?" "It was originally a thou sand dollars only, but the interests and costs have swelled the amount to twen ty-four hundred, which is more money than you can pay, 1 fancy, Mr, and besides this, you have got to pay me heavy'damages for this assault, or sutler the penalty of the law immediate ly." "How much do you demand for your personal damages?" "One hun dred dollars." "And will you pledge yourself (honor you have none) that you will not prosecute in behalf of the people, if ? pay you this sum?" "That I cannot promise, as I am not state's attorney," but 1 will promise not to complain. "tilt you promise to in damnify me against any complaint that may be made? "A3 tar as I can. - "Well, sir, 1 shall not pay you one dol lar, and you may prosecute as soon a you please. As to Mr. Thompson'. debt, it is so much larger by your ac count than 1 anticipated, that 1 shal not pay you the money at present." very good come off indeed, and one of the best reasons in the world, you cannot pay the money as I thought at first hut I'll plague your insolence remember that you sai i you would pay Thompson's debt, and now I'll have you in for it 1 11 pro ecutc you on the promise." "Really, sir, you are quite full of prosecutions but remember that the promises of a third person, to pay the debt of another, are void, un der the statute of fra'ids, unless in wri ting, and for a valuable consideration. "Why, sir, are you a lawyer then? but I shall let yon know that you are mista ken." I ,ooks rather confounded. "Good evening," says the stranger lo the ladies, and walked towarus hi horse. "I command assistance,' (says the lawyer to the men before mention ed) seize that man in the name of the people. I hey sprang to seize him and he laid them both sprawling in an instant, leaped on his horse, and was out of sight in a second. 'We'll have him yet," says the law ycr to his half stunned coadjutors here is five dollars a piece tor you ne is only going to the red mills, and wil be back this way to the village some time after. dark go w ith me and lay in wait for him in the woods, between this and the village." "We will," answered they, "ana we'll have him yet, but he is most terrible strong" "a kepn, arch fellow, too, ays the lawyer, robber, no dcnibt a highwayman . wonder if he has pistols?" "1 dare say he has," says one. "We'll go to the village first," say they, 44 and get some muskets, and some more help,'and go in search of him, or way-lay him for he's a robber no doubt the people here know nothing about him." 44 As likely as not there is a reward for htm n6w in the papers, says our lawyer, "it appears to me that I taw an adverti-;e-ment describing very much such a man; but at any rate we'll make him fast for the present." They mount their horses and go otT towards the village. It

now began to grow dark.

CHAPTER III. Sophia had told her mother concer ning the rattlesnake, and although Mrs. Thompson was very far from being a superstitious woman, yet she could not but draw some favorable conclusions in ler own mind, from the circumstance that had takeu place. A serpent was the similitude of de ception of seduction of enmity in lact the enemy of mank'n d was called that old serpent, the devil. A serpent had been destroyed by a stranger, which probably, would have destroyed icr daughter but her daughter would not have been exposed had it not been for us stranger. It was in assisting him that she became jeopardized still she might have been strolling that way, and rmght have been bitten by the snake, if tne stranger had never ap peared. At any rate the facts were the same the snake was killed by him. and who could say it was not a favorable omen. Who knows, my daughter," said sSe, "but that this stranger is at least, the harbinger of some good new for us? I think I have seen him before; and his offering in the first place to pay the debt and release your fatner, is a strong proof that he feels more than common sympathy for our misfortunes." 'I hope," said the girl, "that it may be as you pjdict he is the finest looking man I oversaw he appears so sc;.sible sai-dest and how glad 1 was to sec fm ufg that ugly fellow out of door??'' "Yes. mv dear, and it was in our defence, for which 1 fea. he will meet with trouble." "I heard them talking together at the corner of the house, says Sophia, "and 1 thought they were contriving how to way-lay him, and I am afraid they will take his life." "Let us pray for his safety, and for a termination of our domestic troubles," aid the mother, and kneeling down with her son and daughter by her side, the girl read the evening prayers for a family, from the church common pray er book, aaid at the end her mother made a short extemporaneous prayer in behalf of the stranger, and as she clo sed her petitions, Sophia pronounced MEsr, with such an unusual emphasis, that she was somewhat frightened af the eciio of her own voice in so loud a sound. Thev arose from their humble pos ture, and at the same moment a ran was heard at the door, at which they all started, and in comes, at the boy's opening the door, the person for whom they had been addressing the Father of mercies the stranger, who had returned from the red mills. "We have just been conversing about vou," says Mrs. Thompson. "Yes, and praying for me too," returned the str.ifiger, "which 1 overheard as I came up t o the door." The ladies both blushed ; for blushes will crimson the cheeks of the purest devotional being, if they spring from that warmth of devotion it self as the beams of the. heavenly sum open and expand the '-uns of the morning rose. 4iYes, sir," rejoined the oil lady, "we were alarmed for your safety and feeling grateful for the interest you seemed to take in our forlorn situation. we put up our fee!d.; prayers for your success in whatever laudable enterprize you are engaged." "I thank you madam," replied he 4,I can stay but a moment whareare'those ruffians that I saw here?" "They went towards the village, sir, and we fear they are determined to injure you perhaps they will attack you from an ambuscade." "Never fear that," says he, 1 am well prepared for such fellows. In the mean time, comfort yourselves with the hope of better times." So saying, he bid them good night, and was offin a moment. . . , They looked from the window, but saw nothing except the sparks of fire which his horse's shoes struck from the flinty rocks, over which he bounded with a full gallop, as they judged from the sound of his feet. ' "Heaven preserve him," cried the mother. "The daughter looked pale, and faintly uttered "I hope so." 1 During this time, the lawyer had been to the village, and hired two more men, armed with muskets, and all five had planted themselves in the pinewoods, at proper distances, to seize the robber, as they called him, dead or alive; for they understood from another man in the village, who came with the stranger, and who they supposed was his accomplice in robbery, as he woukl give, no direct answers to their inquiries, that the stranger would positively be there that night. It was about ten o'clock when our stranger left the log hut, and as he entered the pine woods an awful black cloud hovered over the tops of the trUnmv nines, rendered visible by now and then a flash of lightning, and be ginning to wave briskly to and fro by the gusts of wind that began to roar among the branches with claps of heavy bellowing thunder. , y

lie had nroceeded little, mfire that

halfway through the woods, when he rouna nis norse suddenly stopped by two men seizing him by the bridle, one on each side. He drew his pistol from his pocket, shot one, who fell, and knocked down the other with the butfi of his whip, as he put spurs to his horse; but had not gone but a few rods, when two musket were discharged at him? the ball from one went through the top of his hat crown, and the other cut a button from his vest but did not injure him. At the same instant, all three sprang in the path before him, and with the butts of their muskets, laid his horse over the head, and so staggered him that, with the others behind, who had now come up, being recovered from their wounds, they succeeded after a violent struggle in tearing the stranger from his horse, who had discharged another pistol among them without much effect, and had fought most desperately with his heavy loaded whip, and given several of them severe contusions. They made him their prisoner, pinioned his arms behind him, and led him in triumph to the village, where, they secured him under keepers until morning. CHAPTER. IV. We shall now return, for a few m ments to, the cottage. In the thunderstorm which we have mentioned, the cottage of Mrs. Thompson was struck by lightning, and m a moment was in a blaze, and the son of Mrs. Thompson was knocked down lor dead, a few steps from the door without, as he was listening to the reports of the muskets in the woods. The mother and daughter rushed shrieking from the house, and the first object which arrested their attention was the son and the brother ly ing lifeless on the ground. In this sight they lost all thoughts of trying to extinguish the flames, and the cottage was consumed writh all its contents no great loss, to be sure, but in their situation a most aflictive one. No tongue nor pen can describe the heartrending agonies of the mother and thedaughter. Th night was dark the rain poured down m torrents hie nouse was demolished they had no other shelter they were two miles fr m the village, or any other habitation that would afford them any shelter and the boy was still lifeless though not .tiff and cold. In this dreadful dilemma, they concluded to fly for the village, and carry the dead body with them. But they :iad not proceeded far before their strength was exhausted, and they were bliged to stop. Resting awhile, they took him up aga'nejd after a few rods,, were again compei'd to halt. In this situation, what was to be done? the. !oy appeared to be warm, and might possibly be recovered, with medicalaii. Finally it was concluded that one or the other of them should stay, and the other should go to the village. Sophiawent and left the mother. She arrived at the village, and went to the house of a benevolent physician, awoke hiin from his sleep, and in a few pathetic words informed him of the dreadful calamities. He called his servants, had ids horses immediately harnassed to a covered wagon, took a lanthern, a servant and Sophia, into the carriage, not forgetting his medical apparatus, and made all speed to the scene of distress ile found the boy with some funt symtoms of life, and by the application of the lancet, and other means, he soon began to breathe. By day-break they got him to the village, and they were landed at the inn where the stranger was detained as a prisoner and as a robher. Here we shall leave them for a short time, and pay our respects to the unfortunate husband and parent of this aiHicted family. CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. TtVTiriV. Misfortune stamped bird for her own birth ; and with no equivocal signs a termagant and libertine where his cradle watchers, lie naa nitor of his younger years. His youth, was blasted in its spring (true indeed, like many who have built themselves monuments in the bosom of men. He A move all hearts with sympa thy was unable to touch the one of his .J . .. 1 it. choice wim rove, nrw- , &s livs a withered bouyh, - Blossomless, leafless, and alone." He died he the man upon whom fh orPD of the world were fixed with admiration, if not with favor died, in a cheerless barrack room without a friend or relative to minister to hirr his last moments disturbed hy. th-. clamors of a mutinous soldiery ad his very remains cannot escape contumely. His ashes arc excluded frmi a republic ccmentery by his countryman ? and there are those found in jhe land which he delighted to honor who would brand his name with infamy. If such are the penalties of frailty andj in descretion what ignominy is reseuvad, for actual cnm? W