Tribune and telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1855-1856, 1856-06-12

shook the door, she thought to herself that the
sound was not so authoritative az usual. No won
der; for when he came in he was pale and hag-
gard looking, and sat down without rendering
a word of explanation, or even seeming to know
that he was later than usual. The wife made
no remark but getting glass of wine from
the cupboard, made him drink it, with one of
those pretty gestures of command that never
fail with right-minded husbands.
THAT has done me good, !" said he; wanted
it, and you couldn't guess why in month";
lis it anything about Jones ~ FHt 5U,+
"Jones No--what put that into your head
lit is about somebody you saw more lately than
Jones'" aHH se& -s #
~ am curious to know who tits, and what it
is; but wait till after dinner; you are not look
ing as well as usual" EHa sg
"Let me tell you now, while dinner is coming
up; shall eat all the better for getting it off
my mind. You must know, have been looking
in at coroners inquest"
"a coroner's inquest ARE you sure it is not
about Jones ~ M
s. Don't be silly, or won't say another word
Am always to have Jones flung at my head in
this way" au rast trst e5.e aa
II am sure never mentioned his name be-
fore, since the night we were at the theatre
You must have been thinking of him yourself
that's it." frefa-f Iuee 4i ea
II tell you, looked in at a coroners in
quest but kept staring so much at the wit
ness who was giving evidence when went in,
that lost good deal of what he said at first.
was sure knew the man his face, his ges-
lures the tone of his voice, all were familiar to
me; but could not call to mind where had
seen or known him. He described the appear.
ance and manner of the gentleman who had died
under the circumstances that were to be inves-
gated and, from what he said, nothing could
be more unlikely than that the unfortunate man
had died by his own act What he told, how
ever. of the way of living OF the deceased, called
up strange suspicion in my mind. Icould not
learn from those round nae, who had come in
late like myself, the name of the street talked of
and waited, with an impotence can hardly
describe, throughout the whole proceedings, till
it was painfully clear to everybody present that
it was actually one of the most deliberate cases
of suicide on record. The jury, however came
to no decision some other evidence was wan
ted, and they adjourned to future day. The
moment the court broke up, few to look at the
dead body" 4I,....- 4. .~r.. ....saa.
"Wel, JOHN" CRIED the wife, "you knew the
unhappy man! He was one of our acquaint-
aDces Speak ~ I'LL. .e.r
HE was no acqur ntance of ours; we never
saw him but once IL our lives; and yet l am
sure you cannot help being shocked when you
hear that the corpse / saw lying in the dead
house, stiff and stark, was that of the man we
saw alight from a carriage on our way home
from the theatre, and in whose worldly position
l so earnestly wished myself to be !" The young
wife trembled yisibly, and the color left her
cheeks. 80. 7, ...... ...f
"Wel, John, said she, "and his worldly pos.
ition-what had that to do with it'll
Nothing, of course-nothing that anybody
knows. There were surmises in the court,
whispers, rumors but that is always the case.
Nothing more is known than that the gentle
man left his home late at night--or rather early
in the mornng-with the implements of destruc-
ton in his pocket, and that he was never seen
again alive .....-....s..$, ae....
"But his worldly position 1.-THE business he
was constantly broodng over, according to his
servants account; surely he did not abandon
that in his prosperity to rush into an accused
grave -
"How can / tell know nothing about his
business, but that it was great, heavy and mul.
tifarious. That, however, is nothing 30 the pur-
pose men commit suicide from other causes
than business. - a.
"Such was not the case here, john" said the
little wife decisively. II remember his look,
and it had nothing in it of love, hate jealousy
or revenge. That man had more than f100 at
stake-more than was his own to lose-more
than he could lose and live Was Jones there?''
The husband muttered something terribly like
an oath.
'He was there, but at a distance from me-"
"How did he look %
Just like everybody else-fushed with ex-
element
Ibid you 60 together to the dead house I"
mo; what business had he in the deadhouse?
He never saw the man when living, and had no
curiosity about him when dead. That was not
likely, for he was not fool enough to spend his
money in the theatre, and trudge home through
the ram and mire and so, as soon as the court
broke up, he set out full speed for home. / saw
him at a distance rushing along, and then he
vanished -,.-.----...
Il can understand lis haste; there was some.
body after him.
Somebody after him What do you mean
Who was after him ?" ase
1.-THE corpse in the dead-house.''
81 declare you will make me angry. Jones
is not the fool you take him for; he is "a very
clever and a very thriving man. In few days,
he is to get the use of considerable sum of mo-
ney and it will work, have no doubt, like his
first hundred
THAT is, it will run off to some region of
hope, and another considerable sum Of money
with it, ...e
"You don't understand business, my dear"
said the husband, contemptuously; "you'd have
man sit down all his life, with his hands across,
without making any attempt to elevate his po-
siton."
"On the contrary, would have a man make
the most strenuous attempts TO elevate his pc.
siton, but not by placing himselfin circumstan-
ces of constant worry and constant temptation.
When you placed a number Of pounds in that
Hamburg lottery-which you afterwards called
the Humbug lcttery-I made no opposition, be-
cause saw you were bent upon it-and, in
fact had a hankering myself after the folly,
although knew very we'll 1t was hundreds or
thousands to one against us. But what then
The money was spent, and there was and end.
had to do without new dress for while,
that was the very worst of it; and in the mean
time we were in waking dream now and then,
and had a laugh, about the fairy fortune that
was coming TO us. That was a mere folly, but
comparatively harmless one, because we knew
the cost, and by trifing, sacrifice, could afford
it. But such speculations as Joness."-
tell you Jones will ride in his carriage while
we are still tramping through the mire.n But
enough of this. cannot get the dead house
and its still tenant out of my head; or that last
midnight ramble, alone but for the haunting
shadows that pursued, surrounded, and mar
shalled him the way that he was going;
or the white, dead face, with the fixed, open
eyes that were found looking up to God in the
morning. Get me another glass Of wine--there S
q good girl.
"No, dear" said the little wife; al will get
You glass of brandy -and-water, and make it,
as they say, "screeching hot;' and we will
talk no more tonight about the dead man, or
our friend JONES'
81 * Isssf. IL. AZ. ,