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Speaker 1: A terrible night by Fitz James O'Brien.

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Speaker 2: But jove, Dick, I'm nearly done up, so am I

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Did anyone ever see such a confounded forest?

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Speaker 1: Charlie?

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Speaker 2: I'm not alone, weak, but hungry all for a steak

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of moose, with a bottle of old red wine to

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wash it down. Charlie, beware take care how you conjure

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up such visions in my mind. I am already nearly starving,

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and if you increase my appetite much more, it will

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go hard with me if I don't dine off of you.

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You are young, and Bertha, says your tender hearted she

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meant well, so I am. If loving Bertha be any

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proof of it? Do you know, Dick, I have often

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wondered that you, who love your sister so passionately, were

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not jealous of her attachment to me. So I was,

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my dear fellow, at first furiously jealous, but fucked that

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Bertha must one day or the other Mary and I

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must lose my sister. So I thought it better that

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she should marry my old college chum. Generally, friend, Charlie,

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costare than anyone else. So you see, there was a

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little selfishness in my calculations.

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Speaker 1: Charlie. Nick.

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Speaker 2: We were friends at school and friends at college, and

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I thought at both those places that nothing could shorten

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the link that.

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Speaker 1: Bound us together. But I was mistaken.

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Speaker 2: Since my love four man engagement to your sister, I

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feel as if you were fifty times the friend that

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you were before.

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Speaker 1: Dick, we three will never part.

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Speaker 2: So he married the King's daughter and they all lived

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together as happy as the days are long, shouted Dick,

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with a laugh, and quoting from some nurse retail. The

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foregoing is a slice out of the conversation with which

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Dick Linton and myself endeavored to beguiled the way as

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we tramped through one of the forests of northern New York.

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Dick was an artist and I was a sportsman. So

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when one fine autumn day he announced his intention of

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going into the woods for a week to study nature,

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it seemed to me an excellent opportunity to exercise my

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legs and my trigger finger. At the same time, Dick

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had some backwoods friends who lived in a log hut

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on the shores of Eckford Lake, and there we determined

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to take up our quarters. Dick, who said he knew

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the forest thoroughly was to be our guide, and we accordingly,

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with our guns on our shoulders, started on foot from Roots,

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a tavern known to tourists and situated on the boundaries

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of Essex and Warren Counties. It was a desperate walk,

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but as we started by daybreak and had great faith

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in our pedestrian qualities, expected to reach the nearest of

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the Eckford Lakes by nightfall. The forest through which we

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traveled was of the densest description. Overhead, the branches of

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spruce and pine shut out the day, while beneath our

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feet lay a frightful soil composed principally of jagged shingle,

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cunningly concealed by an almost impenetrable brush. As the day

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wore on, our hopes of reaching our destination grew fainter

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and fainter, and I could almost fancy, from the anxious

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glances that Dick cast around him, that in spite of

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his boasted knowledge of the woods, he had lost his way.

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It was not, however, until night actually fell, and we

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were both sinking from hunger and exhaustion, that I could

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get him to acknowledge it. We're in a nice pickle,

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Master Dick, said I rather crossly, for an empty stomach

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does much to destroy a man's natural ail ability. Confound

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your assurance that led you to set up as a guide.

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Of all men, painters are the most conceited. Come, Charlie,

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answered Dick, good humoredly. There's no use in growling so loudly.

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You'll bring the bears and panthers on us if you do.

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We must make the best of a bad job and

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sleep in a tree. Oh it's easy to talk, my

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good fellow. I'm not a partridge and don't know how to.

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Speaker 1: Roost on a bow.

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Speaker 2: Well you'll have to learn then, for if you sleep

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on the ground, the chances are ten to one. But

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you will have the wolves nibbling at your toes before daylight.

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I'm hanged if I'll do either, said I desperately. I'm

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going to walk all night, and i'll drop before I

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lie down.

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Speaker 1: Come, Come, Charlie, don't be a fool.

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Speaker 2: I was a fool only when I consented to let

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you assume the role of guy. Well, Charlie, if you

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are determined to go on, let it be, so we'll

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go together. After all, it's only an adventure, I say, Dick,

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don't you see a light by jove, so there is

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come you see Providence intervenes between us and wolves and hunger.

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Speaker 1: That must be some squat us hut.

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Speaker 2: The light to which I had so suddenly called Dick's

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attention was very faint, and seemed to be about a

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half a mile distant. It glimmered through the dark branches

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of the hemlock and spruce trees, and weak as the

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light was, I hailed it as a mariner without a compass,

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hails the star by which he steers. We instantly set

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out in the direction of our beacon. In a moment,

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it seemed as if all fatigue had vanished, and we

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walked as if our muscles were as tense as iron,

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and our joints oily as a piston shaft. We soon

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arrived at what, in the dusk seemed to be clearing

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of about five acres, but it may have been larger,

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for the tall forest rising up around it must have

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diminished its apparent size, giving it the appearance of a

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square pit rather than a farm. Toward one corner of

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the clearing we discerned the dusty outline of a log hut,

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through whose single end window a faint light was streaming.

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With a sigh of relief, we hastened to the door

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and knocked. It was opened immediately, and a man appeared

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on the threshold. We explained our condition and were instantly

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invited to walk in and make ourselves at home. All

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our hosts said he could offer us was some cold

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Indian corncakes and a slice of dry deer's flesh, to all.

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Speaker 1: Of which we were heartily welcome.

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Speaker 2: These beyonds, in our starving condition, were luxuries to us,

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and we literally reveled in anticipation of a full meal

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the heart into which we had so unceremoniously it was

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of the most poverty stricken order. It consisted of but

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one room, with a rude brick fireplace at one end.

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Some deer skins and old blankets were stretched out by

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way of a bed at the other extremity of the apartment,

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and the only seats visible were two sections of a

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large pine trunk that stood close to the fireplace. There

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was no vestige of the table, and the rest of

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the furniture was embodied in a long Tennessee rifle that

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hung close to the rough wall. If the hut was remarkable,

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its proprietor was still more so. He was, I think,

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the most villainous looking man I ever beheld, about six

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feet two inches in height, proportionately broad across the shoulders,

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and with a hand large enough to pick up a

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fifty six pound shot. He seemed to be a combination

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of extraordinary strength and agility. His head was narrow and

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oblong in shape. His straight Indian like hair fell smoothly

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over his low forehead as if it had been plastered

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with soap, and his black, beadlike eyes were set obliquely

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and slanted downward toward his nose, giving him a mingled

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expression of ferocity and cunning. As I examined his features attentively,

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in which I could trace almost every bad passion, I

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confess I experienced a certain feeling of apprehension and distrust

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that I could not shake off. While he was getting

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us the promised food, we tried by questioning him to

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draw him into conversation. He seemed very tessaturn and reserved.

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He said he lived entirely alone, and had cleared the

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spot he occupied with his own hands. He said his

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name was Joel, but when he hinted that he must

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have some other name, he pretended not to hear us,

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though I saw his brows knit and his small.

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Speaker 1: Black eyes flash angrily.

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Speaker 2: My suspicion of this man were further aroused by observing

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a pair of shoes lying in the center of the hut.

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The shoes were at least three sizes smaller than those

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that are gigantic coast war, and yet he had distinctly

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replied that he lived entirely alone. If those shoes were

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not his, whose were they. The more I reflected on

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this circumstance, the more uneasy I felt. Apprehensions were still

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further aroused when Joel, as he called himself, took both

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our fowling pieces, and, in order to have them out

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of the way, as he said, hung them on crooks

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from the wall, at a height that neither Dick nor

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I could reach without getting on a stool. I smiled inwardly, however,

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as I felt the smooth barrel of my revolver that

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was slung in the hollow of my back by its

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leathern belt, and thought to myself, if this fellow has

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any bad designs, the more unprotected he thinks us, the

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more incautious he will be.

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Speaker 1: So I made no effort to retain our guns.

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Speaker 2: Dick also had a revolver, and was one of those

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men who I knew would use it well. When the

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time came, My suspicions of our host grew at last

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to such a pitch that I.

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Speaker 1: Determined to communicate them to Dick.

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Speaker 2: Nothing would be easier than for this villainous half breed,

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for I felt convinced he had Indian blood in him.

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Nothing would be easier than with the aid of an

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accomplice to cut our throats or shoot us while we

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were asleep, and so get our guns, waters, and whatever

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money we carried. Who, in those lonely words would hear

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the shot or our cries for help? What emissary of law,

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however sharp, could point out our graves in those wild

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woods and bring the murder home to those who committed it. Linton,

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at first laughed, then grew serious, and gradually became a

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convert to my apprehensions. We hurriedly agreed that while one slept,

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the other should watch, and so take it in turns.

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Speaker 1: Through the night.

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Speaker 2: Joel had surrendered to us his couch of deer skin

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and his blankets. He himself said he could sleep quite

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as well on the floor near the fire. As Dick

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and I were both very tired, we were anxious to

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get our rest as soon as possible, So after a

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hearty meal of deer steak and tough cakes, washed down

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by a good draft from our brandy flask, I being

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the youngest, got the first hour's sleep and flung myself

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on the couch of skins. As my eyes gradually closed,

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I saw a dim picture of Dick, a seated sternly

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watching by the fire, and the long shape of the

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half breed stretching out like a huge shadow upon the floor.

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After what I could have sworn to be only a

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three minute doze, Dick woke me and informed me that

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my hour was out, and, turning me out of my

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warm nest, laid down without any ceremony, and in a

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few seconds was heavily snoring. I rubbed my eyes, I

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felt for my revolver, and seating myself on one of

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the pine stumps, commenced my watch.

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Speaker 1: The half breed appeared to be buried.

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Speaker 2: In a profound slumber, and in the half weird light

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cast by the wood embers, his enormous figure seemed almost

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titanic in its proportions. I confess I felt that, in

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a struggle for life, he was more than a match

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for Dick and myself. I then looked at the fire

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and began a favorite amusement of mine, shaping forms in

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the embers. All sorts of figures defined themselves before me, battles,

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tempests at see familiar faces, and above all shone ever

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returning the dear features of Bertha Linton, my affianced bride.

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She seemed to smile at me through a burning haze,

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and I could almost fancy I heard her say, while

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you are watching in the clonely forest, I am thinking

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of you and praying for your safety. A slight movement

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on the part of the slumbering half breed here recalled

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me from those sweet dreams. He turned on his side,

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lifted himself slowly on his elbow, and gazed attentively at me.

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I did not stir, still, retaining my stooping attitude. I

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half closed my eyes and remained motionless. Doubtless he thought

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I was asleep, for in a moment or two, he rose, noiselessly,

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and creeping with a stealthy step across the floor, passed

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out of the hut. I listened, Oh, how eagerly it

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seemed to me that through the imperfectly joined crevices of

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the walls, I could plainly hear voices whispering. I would

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have given worlds to have crept nearer to listen, but

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I was fearful of disturbing the fancied security of our host,

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who I now felt certain had sinister designs upon us,

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so I remained perfectly still.

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Speaker 1: The whispering suddenly ceased.

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Speaker 2: The half breed re entered the hut in the same

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stealthy way in which he had quitted it, and, after

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giving a scrutinizing glance at me, once more stretched himself

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upon the floor and affected to sleep. In a few moments,

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I pretended to wake yawned, looked at my watch, and

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finding that my hour had more than expired, but she

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needed to wake Dick. As I turned him out of bed,

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I whispered in his ear, don't take your eyes off

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that fellow, Dick.

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Speaker 1: He has accomplices outside. Be careful. Dick gave a meaning glance.

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Speaker 2: Carelessly touched his revolver as much as to say, here's

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something into fear with his little arrangements, and took his

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seat on the pine stump. In such a position as

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to command a view of the sleeping half breed and

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the doorway at the same time. This time, though horribly tired,

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I could not sleep. A horrible load seemed pressing on

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my chest, and every five minutes I would start up

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to see if Dick was keeping his watch faithfully. My

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nerves were strung to a frightful pitch of tensity. My

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heart beat at every sound, and my head seemed to

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throb until I thought my temples would burst. The more

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I reflected on the conduct of the half breed, the

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more should I was that he intended murder. Full of

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this idea, I took my revolver from its sling and

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held it in my hand, ready to shoot him down.

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At the first movement that appeared at all dangerous, A

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haze seemed now to pass across my eyes. Fatigued with

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long watching and excitement, I passed into that semi conscious

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state in which I seemed perfectly aware of everything that passed,

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although objects were dim and dull in outline and did

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not appear so sharply defined as in one's waking moments.

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I was apparently roused from this state by a slight

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crackling sound. I started and raised myself on my elbow.

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My heart almost ceased to beat at what I saw.

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The half breed had lit some species of dried herb,

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which sent out a strong aromatic odor as it burned.

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This herb he was holding directly under Dick's nostrils, who

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I now perceived, to my horror, was wrapped in profound slumber.

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The smoke of this mysterious herb appeared to deprive him

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of all consciousness, for he rolled gently off the pine

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log and lay stretched upon the floor. The half breed

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now stole to the door and opened it gently. Three

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sinister heads peered in. Out of the gloom. I saw

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the long barrels of rifles, and the huge, brawny hands

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that clasped them. The half breed pointed significantly to where

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I lay with his long bony finger, then, drawing a large,

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thirsty looking knife from his breast, moved toward me. The

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time was come. My blood stopped my hot ceased beat.

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The half breed was within a foot of my bed.

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The knife was raised another instant, and it would have

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buried in my heart, when with a hand as cold

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as ice, I lifted my revolver, took deadly aim and fired.

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A stunning report had dull grown a huge cloud of

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smoke curling around me. I found myself standing upright, with

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a dark mass lying at my feet. Great God, what

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have you done, sir, cried the half breed rushing toward me.

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You have killed him. He was just about to wake you.

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The frightful truth burst upon me in a flash. I

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had shot Dick Linton while under the influence of a nightmare.

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Then everything seemed to fade away, and I remember no more.

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There was a trial. I believe the lawyers were learned

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and proved by physicians that it was a case of

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what is called some no lentia or sleep drunkenness. But

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of the proceedings I took no heed. One form haunted me,

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lying black and heavy on the hot floor, and one

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pale face was ever present, a face I saw once

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after the terrible catastrophe, and never saw him again, the wild,

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despairing face of Bertha Linton, my promised bride.