The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1856-11-19
iTIro Hundred Pounds Reward
. B. pEATH-BED seen L.

"If were tp tell you all, sir, they cannot
drag me from tie death bed here and hang Inc,
can they? Besides, am innocent. But what
does that matter? More innocent men than /
have been hung, for less crimes than murder,
before this will not tell you'' '55 ',..s,. ~ -,,
g"Murder?" said /, With unfeig1ted astonish-
ment, Murder cllaIrlton?"'. For this man |
was attending in my capacity as house surgeon
Of the Marlborough work house. | had known
him for years and7of all my present patietsts he
had seemed the simplest and least, violent. His
anxious eyes-W7 ifii6h olosed 50 lightly even in
sleep-his ayerted looks, when spoken to, his
nervous timidity at the sight Of any strange
face, ! had sst down as the outward signs, Of .
broken spirit and . waning brain; for he had
enough Of sorrows to shake d stronger mind
than his. could remember him, with wife and
children about him, in a respectable if not. .ex
tensive way of business; and why it suddenly
fell off and was given up, and what misfortune
had changed the couple who had before been 81
blithe, I had often wondered. Their son, Rob
cFt, was now in the Criniea, a sergeant; theil
daughter, Clara, o miliner's apprentice in the
North; Mrs. Charlton had died, few months
after the failure Of their trade Of lingering ant
strange disease; her husband was, indeed, as hi
Said, upon his death bed, had offered to sent
for Clara at my own charge, but he would moi
hear of it. bio SIG + vRW a .E1II1
Il would notlhaye aesoulat my bedside, save
you, doctor, for worlds he said. i@.w 1&fllrF
He was quite friendlcss, too His chamber
was common to five other work. house folks, bn
it was aJuly day, and they were, summing them
selves in the paved court outsideo The noon
day beams which poured into the long, barr
Toons toundtnothng fair to rest upon; no plrn
upon thsafd II II whittew5ashad wall; no commones
wild flower in any Of the few drab colered mug
that strewed thetable; 4i6fsignsof comfort any
where. n 'Fhe sick man lay upon his little iroy
bed, and I was sitting upon aths wooden stoo
beside it. his hand lay upon mine, and his, face
was turned towards the door, listening. i rost
and locked it. andit was then that he began
as have said, to speak of murder, and his in
tiocence---to ask If IT would be dangerous t.
confess all, sss t II 4sbiaaeg lrs ,gbesalI i
Itsaid,s "Ne, nothing can harm you now
Whatyou say to me is a secret as long ss yot
live5 you may speak as if Twas the clerg yfnan'
Nv hom he had refused, for some reason, know
not What to see. IF it win case your mind II
tell mo anything say on,"' 6 ss s9 l5tls.
a4eYou have lSnowncme Doctor, this twenty
years, and will easily believe me when / say
that nolmore expected to becUme dependen
Ion the parish, and die il this work house than q
dreamed of the possibility. of my ,committint
any very terrible ecrimeI Il was young tobth'
world then, and foolish; and my wife was no
older Or wiser. We are, not strong -mindes
folks, nof, ,alasi straightforward. Throagl
q plausible story Of dear times pcomings-wvlhiicl
may yet have been partly true--we sold man,
pound Of butter and ounce eftea; and Il !
was not always pogndnor always an ounce
Iitwas never over thetgjust weight, but under
Spirits, also-there being no public house clos
by--which we ofcourse had no license to sell
we would let t-our best, customers purchase, ans
drink III our back paflor, which appeared il
their weekly bills Under the head OF candies, o
what not; 50 that speaking before our own chill
dren, we had to hbricate strange stories AM
give things their wrong names; and many othe
devices we had, which, though they got US littl
gains, Seemed not much on the whole to benef