Beaufort Republican, 1873-10-16

stood witn iiis arms crosseu, iiuggiug the muzzle of a long fowling-piece to his breast, and he muttered between his set teeth? "Yes, yes, wo shall see?all these goodly acres will be mine?mine, but I must work carefully, cautiously. He, the fool, refuse mo his sister?hush ! Let him look to himself, for I will mur n "Ah ! ah! ah 1" Kraus started in terror. The confines of the dark forest glowed with a red supernatural light, and demoniac peals of laughter echoed across the mountains. "Ah I ah ! ah ! Ah ! ah I 'ah ! Kraus for ever ! Ah ! ah ! ah !" The farmer reeled, for he was faint with terror. Big drops of perspiration stood upon his brow, his knees trembled beneath him ; never in all his experience had he heard anything half bo awful. He listened in anguish, expecting every moment a dreadful death, but the gloomy forest presented its former vista of dusky darkness, and the hush of silence overspread the scene. Kraus rose. Ho had dropped on his knees in his fright. Ho kicked the door of the hut open, and lit the pine wood gathered on the hearth. Then he took a burning brand from the fire, lit his pipe, and cursed again. "Bah," he said, as the black smoke ascended in spiral wreaths to the rafters. "Bab, it was my imagination, or the wind whistling through the trees." Kraus jumped to his feet. Again, and yet again came the curdling yell, breaking distinctly on the farmer's ear. "Ah! ah! ah! Kraus! Kraus! noble Kraus ! Ah ! ah ! ah !" This was too much for the farmer. He rushed to the door, barricaded it with heavy logs, and then returned tc the fire, near which he spent the night in the grestest agony of mind. But Kraus soon forgot all about the mountain spirits, and went on as usual with his busy, bad schemes for acquiring property wrongfully. Far down in the Orange valley, neai the spot where the little town of Canaan now stands, lived Robert .Montgomery, a hearty, well-to-do Scotchman. Kraus hated this man with all the bitterness of a malignant heart, foi Montgomery was an upright, God-fearing farmer, and had always stood up against the wrong-doings of his mountain neighbor. Robert had an only sister?Claracelebrated in all the country round foi her gentleness of demeanor and striking beautv. She had been sought in marriage by all the young men of those parts, but more particularly by KrauB, who had frequently met her in the mountain passes and who really loved her. But her brother gave him distinctly to understand that his sister never would or could be his. " Sooner," said he, "would I see her dead at my feet than the wife and com -

r ius rifle, j 3 "When -will he come?" he aaked, < e sullenly. ] " Right away. Look. There he is, < making his way over the rocks." I Kraus bent on one knee, and aimed < at the advancing man. i a "Keep cool," said the fiend. "Aim i straight." i " All right," replied Kraus. " Are you ready ?" I "Yes." " Fire !" said the fiend." , A blaze of light flashed from the , j deadly rifle, and ^lontgomery toppled , back over the ravine. ( ' With a cry of agony Kraus sprang to , his feet. It was daylight. He was all ? alone in his log hut on the Orange ! Mountain. No little man, no Mont1 gomery, no demons. ; " I must have been dreaming," said the farmer. " Heavens ! what a terri' ble dream, so like the reality. Can 1 ? it be possible that I have fancied all 1 I this r ' Kraus looked around. There was the expiring fire, flickering mournfully on the hearth, his rifle in its usual j place in the corner, and his fewlingpiece hanging over the chimney. Then came a succession of furious knocks at the door. Kraus grasped his rifle. "It must be the Gold Fiend," said j he. He opened the door, nevertheless, , and there before him, hale and hearty, " stood Robert Montgomery, j, " Why neighbor, what on earth is the matter with you ? I've been knocking '' away at your old door for the last half 1 hour, and the deuce an answer could I 6 get." Kraus grasped the young man by the 6 hand. "Come in, Robert," he said, "come in. God be praised that you are alive and well." " Hullo," said the other, "what's in 3 the wind now ?" "I will tell you," said Kraus. 1 And then he poured into his listener's ears the whole subject of his night's emotion. Montgomery clasped him by the hand. " Kraus," he said, " you are a better t man than I thought. Instead of regretting the reality of your nightmare, vou rejoice in its being nothing better than a dream." "j " Yes," said Kraus, " and please God j. I will lead a better life henceforth." " And you shall have Clara," said the j" young farmer. j And so it was. Four months after Q that eventful night Kraus led to the 0 village church his beautifulyoung bride, 2 and in after years, when he had grown gray and old, he often looked back with thanksgiving and delightto his wonderful dream on the Orange Mountain. One of Reau Hickman's Tricks. r Beau once made a raid on the Baltitt. J.I

wn inclinations. However, vou gi our wav and I'll go mine, and let th< equel Bnow." And so Kraus shouldered his gun nd left the farmer to reaume his morn ag's ramble. The crafty backwoodsman prepare* imself early that night for his perilou ndertaking. He filled his belt wit! istols, and throwing a fur cloak ove is shoulders, grasped his rifle, and wa oon far on the way to Devil's Peak. It was a dark, cloudy night, but th? irmer knew every inch of the way, an< y half-past eleven had passed WitcheE follow and reached Skeleton Marsh. Ho now felt his way cautiously u] lie deep ravines and gullies that crosse* lie mountain side. On he toiled reathing hard with fatigue, till a jngth surmounting an immense bat ier of rocks that obstructed his path e stood within the glade known a pirit Glen. Just then the mooi eeped from beneath a cloud and re ealed the spectral appearances of th lace. Tall trees, all blasted by th ghtning, stood along the pleasant in *rvals, like immenso giants covere* uth snow, and over these shone th< old silvery rays of the orb of night. Kraus never stopped to shiver. H 'histled shrilly three separate times figh up on the mountain side he hear* he answer. "Ah! ah! ah! Kraus forever. Ah h! ah!" came the demon laughter. The farmer's blood curdled ; but i ras too late to recede. Up he went printing like a goat from rock to rock atching at 6tumps and trees as h assed, for support. The little man was standing on th eak. " Good Zoning, Krans." " Good evening, sir." " ? 1 _ At)

? immediately after a loud knock broke y upon his listening ear. The farmer w drew the bolts quickly and flung the o' door open, growling out his displeasure at being disturbed at such a time of the e< night. A little dapper man stood before him, warmly clad in furs, a thick j< beard spread out over his breast. He I laughed gayly as he slipped into the n room. tl " Good-evening, neighbor," said he. "What do you want?" said Kraus, gruffly. p " Nothing particular, my friend," n said the little man, as he sat down on t* a log, "nothing particular." and ne looked at the farmer roguishly. p Kraus felt uncomfortable. " Then you had better clear out of e here," he said. 8( " Come, come, neighbor, the weather is not fit for a dog, let alone a man. ], Ah ! ah ! ah !" b Kraus felt hot. " What do you want ?" he asked, menacingly. y " Just a little chat with you on business," returned the little man, as he s warmed the palms of his hands before 0 the fire. " Sit down." y The farmer sat down. s " You know the Devil's Peak ?" said the little man. a Kraus nodded. ij " I live there I" Kraus nodded again, but feebly. v " I own all the land and forest round the Peak." " Then you are " " Farmer Upton," said the little man. " Ah !" said Kraus, with a sigh of relief; What is your business with . me ?" u " Gold 1" repeated the other. Kraus' left eye twinkled with delight.

Bavaria, according to the Vaterlanel of Munich, lost more heavily by far than any of the German States in the late war. Where Prussia, called the "Sword of Germany," lost fourteen, Bavaria suffered the loss of nineteen. A number of Italian emigrants are working on the Ware River Railroad in Massachusetts. It is impossible to write their names so as to distinguish one from another, so they go about with leather numbered checks on their necks. The trne Sir Roger Tichborne is now reported by a sea captain, in a letter to the Valparaiso Mail, to be chief among the natives of Byron's Island, in tho South Pacific. He is tattooed from head to heel and hardly to be known from a native. There is a schoolmaster in Waterloo, Iowa, who has been carrying a bullet in his brain, put there by a school-girl, ever since last winter. A recent fall from a wagon forced the ball near the wound, which had never healed, and the physicians extracted it. Two Indians of Mie Peavine tribe of root diggers recently murdered a girl. About a week ago they were seized by the tribe and one was lashed to a sycamore tree and cut in twain at the waist with a dull hand saw. The other was tied to a scrub oak and stabbed to death. The toll for carrying wheat from different points in Minnesota to Milwaukee or Chicago has been raised from twenty-one to twenty-four cents a bushel, and the farmers are grumbling, as if three cents wus an object to them. The total exaction from the farmers of

.are you reauy : "Yes." "Then come along this way." Am 3 the farmer's astonishment the littl lan disappeared down a ravine tha [raus had never noticed before. The backwoodsman followed. " Where does this lead to ?" he ven nred to remark. "Never yon m'nd," said the littl lan, as ho skipped into a cave tha uddenly appeared beforo them. " Yoi hall soon see ; follow mo." Down they went in the darknessown, down. A heavy, damp smel eemed to pervade the atmosphere, bu tie ground was hard, and Kraus by ex ending his arms could feel the solid oeky walls of the passage as he walke< long. They might have wandered ii bis purblind way over a mile when th ttle man suddenly stepped back am rasped Kraus by the hand. "Are you timid?" said he. "No/ "Good. Quite ready for business?" "Yes." "Then listen." Immediately the crashing of thunde ras heard, heavy reports like the roa f cannon filled the air, and the whol lace was suddenly inundated by s azzling a light that the farmer wc alf blinded for some time. When he recovered hissclf-possessio e found himself in a spacious hall b lie side of the little man. The floor wa overed with gold and diamonds, an ?-11" ? L aUAnma<1 frnm nnrnftlfli

man in the world. The farmer scratch- h ed his head to assure himself that he t! was not dreaming. No, it was reality; c but was the stranger's tale true or false? b The sequel would show. v Kraus never slept that night. He \i conjured up pictures of untold gold fi glittering in the subterranean caverns w of the peak, mixed up with hosts of I brilliant diamonds. Ho imagined the n beautiful Clara 7ready and willing to take him as her lord and master?Farmer Kraus no longer, but Prince Kraus a ?his heated imagination having al- n ready assumed n noble title. Rich and b powerful what could ho not become? c So he passed tho night until the gray f of morning proclaimed tho dawn of an- c other day. n But Kraus could not work. He took r his fowling-piece down from its resting place and wandered out through the } mountain passes into the valley beneath. It was a lovely morning, cold 0 and frosty; tho kindly sun sending his benignant rays in glorious brilliancy ] over the mountain top. Even the birds { seemed to catch and inhale the thrilling 1 feeling that impregnated the atmosphere. Kraus, however, took no notice j of tho sun, or the birds, or the land- < scape; he was still thinking of his gold ' " "> iT? L ,.1,1 i.n

' the mountain, and ho felt uncomfortable. The laughter was so much alike. " I never heard of you before," said t, he." n "I dare say not," replied the little i man. "Very few people round here know me. But you will become better acquainted with me in a short time, t I'm a very good fellow. I like people to enjoy themselves. Ah ! ah ! ah!" n The little man adjusted his furs and s rose to depart. s " Stop," said Kraus. " When is it to be ?" d "To-morrow, at midnight." s "Where?" t] "On the Devil's Peak." t< "The summit?" n " Yes ! Take tho road of tho Witches' a Hollow. Follow that till you come to t! Skeleton Marsh. Cross over and ascend li the mountain tillyou strike Spirit Glen, g and then whistle three times. When you hear an answer push boldly up to the summit, where I shall be'waiting for you. Good night." The little man opened the door and was gone. Kraus peered out in the darkness, v but all was solitude. The stranger had o vanished as if by enchantment. p Kraus re-entered the hut and medi- d tated deeply. At last he was about to h I reach the haven of delight?the richest