Squatter sovereign., 1857-10-24

conduct Of men often srsyed on mos, ina
portant occasions.
!. If the poor young fellow really did
commit the act. said one Of the jury. .it
seems likely he did il IN state of iutoxi-
cation. / was once drunk myself and
they told me Afterwards thai / had quar-
relied with man and knoeired him down
q flight of steps; but had no recollec-
rion Of il. If / had killed him. and they
hung me for it, what an awful thing It
would have been for my poor father and
mother. It taught me lesson. for ] was
never againsinioxicaled. Perhaps this
poor youth might profit by his dreadful
experience, if chance were allowed him
He is so young and there is nothing bad
in his countenance.
As for his wonaEly face" replied
Mr.. Barker. :. there is no trusting TO that.
The worst Williams srss always the woFss
looking. As for his being intoxicated.
| there is no telling whether il is true or
not. That, cunning lawyer may have
made up the story for the sake of exciting
compassion. and the witnesses may be
more than willing enough 70 Aelieve eve-
.ything strange in the prisonefs 5 conduc.
| was the result of intoxicasion. Moreover,
| it Won't do to admit that plea in extenua-
ton for then, don't you see. man who
want to kill his enemy has only 20 gel
drunk in the first place II anybody
| killed my Joe. drunk OIL, not drunk, | should
want him TO swing for it.
BY such remarks. urged in his sehe-
ment way, he swayed minds more ti,nid
and lenient .han his own, without being
fully aware Of what he was doing. He
was foreman of the jury and when the
awful moment arrived on which depended
the life of a fellow being. he pronounced
the word "Guilty," in strong. firm voice.
The next instant his eye fell on the pris-
oner, standing there so pale, and still look
ing at him with such fixed despair. There
was something in the face that moved him
strongly. He turned quickly away. but
the vision was before him. always and
everywhere before him. A. This is weak
ness" be said TO himself. a. I have mere.
ly done my duty" But still the pale young
face looked at him always and every
where i, looked at him.,
He feared to touch newspaper, for he
| wished not to know when the day Of exc
| cu,ion would arrive. But officious neigh.
bors, ignorant oil his state Of mind. were
eager to talk upon the subject and when
| drawn into such discourses. he stroved to
forlify his own feelings by dwelling on
all the worst circumstances of the Ca se.-
Notwithstanding all his efforts. the nigh
| preceding rheexesu;ior. he had troubled
| dreams; in which that ghasiiy young face
was always conspicuous. When he weIe
he saw il in the air Z .,sHiellssi bssid,
e. as he PioweG the 4eIds, It sasod be
| fore him on the threshold of his own door
! All that the merciful juryman had sug
| gested came before him with painful dis
tinctness. Could there be douh. that lh,
condemned had really committed murder
Might he have happened to be intoxicated
for the first time in his life 2 And he S,
yonng? But he drove these thoughts away
saying over to himself. .' The law re-
quired it. / merely did my duty" Sill
everything looked gloomy to him. Th,
evening clouds seemed like funeral pals
and pale despairing face gazed at hin
forever.
For the first time in his manhood. h,
craved a companion in the darkness
| Neighbors came in. and described the ex
ecuton aad while they talked the agita
ted juryman beat the firebrands into
thousand pieces. and spoke never a word
They told how sthe youth he'd written I
long letter to his mother, ard had die,
calm and resigned. by the way. per
haps you knew his mother, Mr.. Barker,
srid one :. they tell me she used to iiv
in this neighborhooi. Do yol rememhe
a girl by the name of Mary Williams 2"
i The tongs dropped from Mr.. Barker
hand. as he gasped out :. Mary Williams
! Was he her son 2 God forgive me7 Wa
he her son And the strong man lai
his head upon the table and wep,.
Il There. was silence in the room. At las
the loquacious neighbor said, in subdue
tone. !. an sorry l hurt your feelings
didn't know she was friend of yours. %
i The troubled jurynan rose hastily
walked to the window, looked out at ,h
stars. and clearing his choked voice. saic
!" Il is many years since knew her. 81
she was good tempered, pretty girl; an
il seems but yesterday that we used to g
together to pick our baske, full Of berrie.
And so she was his mother I reneu
} Der now there was something IS his ey
/ that seemed familiar 10 me"
u Perhaps the mention of Mary's beaut,
or the melting mood, so unssiaI, with he
husband. might have excited . vague fee
/ ing of jealousy in Mrs. Barker. Wha
ever might have been the motive. she sa
, in her demure way, without raising b.
eyes from her knitting well. il w;
+ natural enough 10 suppose that the youu
: man had a mother; and other mothe
| are likely to have hearts that can feel.
] we'll as this Mary Williams"
RI He only answered by shaking his hes
: slowly. and repeating. as if to himseI
/ l"Poor Mary and so he was her son"
Joseph came in. and the details of Il
: dreadful scene were repeated anI dive
upon, as human beings are prone to DIV.
n on all that exci,es strcng emotion. ]
5 him the name of Mary Williams conju
: ed up no smiling visions Of juvenile Low.
r | and he stroye 10 forfify his fathers reter