Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1852-07-08


By my prayers and many tears,
By the mercy that endears,
Spare him! he my love, hath shared!
Spare him! as thou would'st be spared!
Marion Harvey's position was not an en-
viable one. Col. Blenham was preludiced a.
gainst him. Dor Wilson was his mortal en-
emy, and he had seen enough of the influence
of the latter over the former to give good
grounds for apprehension, or, had he been
less courageous than he was, TO have made
HIM tremble at the consequences. From the
hints of the Colonel, he imagined what the
charges against him would be and, although
he could not conjecture in what manner it
could be made good, he had sufficient conf
dence IN the malignity of his enemy to be-
lieve that he would make every effort for his
conviction. He, therefore, waited with con-
siderable anxiety for the return of Dor Will
son, and the fulfilment of one of the COM
mandants promises. With these feelings
he passed long and weary hour, at the end
OF which the sentry who had charge of him
received orders to bring him before the COM
mandant, He rose and followed in silence.
Upon entering the room in which he had con-
yersed with the Colonel but an hour before,
he perceived that officer, accompanied by Dor
Wilson. Resolved that nothing in his own
appearance should bear the aspect of fear or
submission, he raised his head proudly, and
walking directly up TO them, addressed the
commander of the fort in a firm, decided
tone
Col. Blenham, again demand to know
why have been detained or, if am sus-
Pected Of crime, insist upon knowing my
offence =
Silence, sirl You shall know of what
you are charged. Do you know that, sir =
and as he spoke, he held before the eyes of
his astonished prisoner small file.
No, sir, am not aware that | have ever
seen it before
Perhaps, sir, if it were one of your boor-
ish companions that laid cllim to it, you
would not so readily deny your property
l beg your pardon, sir; that file does not
belong 10 me. | repeat l have never seen it
before
1t does not belong to you, Ell? What do
you say to that? at the same time showing
him the other side of the handle, upon which
were rudely scratched the words Marion Har-
vey.' Mistaking his look of indignant sur
prise for that of conscious gilt, the Colonel
continued-'Ah, sir, l thought you would
acknowledge It. | would advise you, when
you again make so poor a use of tools, not to
take so much pains 10 let others know your
ownership
file you have Just shown me Is not mine
that the name which bears the marks of hav-
ing been written in haste, was not placed
there by me-that, in short, to the best of IN
knowledge, | never saw that tool before this
moment
You still persist in your denial Then,
sir, will show you how vain your hopes of
escaping by this means are, and how much
better manly acknowledgment of your
crime would have been, to the open and pub
lie exposure that awaits you. Wilson, call
Andrews and kesrney.'
Dor stepped out, and returned in a moment
with the two soldiers who had accompanied
him In his researches.
Andrews said the Colonel, where did
you find this file, and what did you discover
about the chain 2
why, sir, we found the chain-that is,
one side of one of the links-cut through, sir
and the other began on
That is what told you heard last night,
Colonel
Be quiet sir, and listen to the evidence !;
go on, A ndrews.'
Well, sir, l haven't much more to say
except that the chain looked as if it had been
part filed and part cut with something like a
saw afterwards, as we came home, when we
were little this side of the sentry box,
seed something laying on the ground, pick
ed it up, and found 1t was that file, with Mr..
Harvey's name on il; says |, Bob! here's a
file with Mr.. HarYey's name on it.
- ''Taiut possible,' says he. Look at it
YOURSELF says land then he looked at it,
and we showed it to Dor Wilson there, and
he took 1t and brought it to yo-. That's all
know about it.
Are you satisfied now, Mr.. Harvey l
think you may safely claim that file, without
any scruples that in so doing you are taking
the property of another
And now, sir, supposing the file were
mine, how, sir, would that fact justify you IN
my confinement
Because, sir, the chain has been nearly
severed by fling-a file is found few PAGES
off-this file is found to be yours-you un-
derstand the inference.
Am | to understand, then that | am ar
rested, not because It is thought that own
file but because 1t is suspected that | have
been attempting to destroy the chain =
Just SO, SIN
We'll, then, sir, / declare solemnly my
innocence; and, while making the declara-
ton | accuse the man now beside you, Dor
las Wilson, Of having attempted that Of
which | am now falsely accused, and also of
leagueing with the enemy for the delivery OF
this fort and military post into their hands!
y oung man, such conduct as this can on
iy be preJudiclai 10 you would recommend
more quiet and respectful demeanOr. You
will be tried for the offence of which you are
charged by cour;-martial, to be held as
soon as possible. Circumstances are strong,
very strong, against you, and need not say
that, if convicted, the penalty will be-death.
Remove the prisonern
As the Colonel ceased speaking, shrek
was heard outside of the door. Marion rush
ed forward and opened it-at the risk of his
life, for the Colonel called out Shoot him, If
he attempts to escape !'-and found upon the
floor the insensibIe form of Mary Blenham.
She had been listening anxiously to learn the
result of her lovers examination, and, hear
ing her father pronounce what seemed to her
to be his doom, her strength had failed her,
and she tainted. The Colonel following his
first impulse, snatched her from the arms OF
Marion. and placed her upon a settee, but on
Dor Wilson's attempting TO go near her, he
exclaimed
No. let her alone let her feel the conse-
o,ancss If her faIIv Take him aWey,' ne