Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1860-06-16

Lake, Immediately the sheriff, who hHh left
the room while wa speaking, returned, with
lovely. b'u,hng vot.ng grl leading upon hi
ARA. Thrns>cmb'y was ~ first T,trilicd with
establishment. then stormy with wrath ut the
supposed ifnp0skIrr ! arose again.
This young lady aud Archie Lake nrc nne
and the -nuc prr,0u | ran establish the ihen-
ti,v 10 ynur sati>iaction.' Here ] called upon
Mr. AMI Mrs. h.. ard the doctor aud the sheriff,
wi,"-r 'init"d lesiirDeBy VA, IDdl>pnlable. The
guilt of Bully Lake was made apparent in a
short time. After It number nf witnesses bad
been examined Us to the completely Of the
young girl il the r"i,l"ry, her connection with
Lake, and 50 on, | requested that she might
be allowed to tell her own story, which she did.
My naIue is Esther Forrest father
was a wealthy merchant in New York city,
and layi-hcd upon me every luxury with such
patcrnal tenderness as ] believe was never
,quallcd lie seat HE tn the best schools; he
-uicrintcndcd my education in person; he
tDuk cafe that all NV associations should be
r;'ir0hiing and purifying. Among the select
circle WHO visited onr house, was Young
man, n cousin Of ny mother, who was deter.
mined 10 win my hand. He was PROPOSES
>i"g inappcaiairc and Eanncrs, yet there was
something abolt Ina feared aud disiiked. -
rLcrrfpc | avoided him as much rs possible.
Ny father r.tcclncd him highly, ard would
ha'r rci"ircd to 81. him united to mr, hut
would lav@ struck 0T his own right hand be.
fore ii should 80 an net t. give me pain. So,
when comp!ain"d t0 him thnt the young
nIaH prosecuted INC WITT his arvcnI161I, he
t. * him inside MnG tod him that nO,with.
standing III, owTafitction for him, had none,
ahd conid have none, urging him Strcnnou~'y
to think no more % lie as nm object of special
Ne,n h..
with IN uhscrupul1hs bDiducSS worthy Of
better Cause. My father at length forbade
him TO remain longer ut our iIouar, telling him
that he wn> still lis fi,nd. aud tint lac might
cal upon him whci,ver he needed one that
lc appreciated the sincerity Of his love Of me,
,tt ri'r'tEttr '-t: TIN; il WIS the Strc-gttI for
. his ipNc which led him to cxtravAgant, aud
under existing circumstance, S, highly IMPROPER
rundGct. adding that he could not >uci llicc hiS
dau2a;r- h"iPntss to the dearest friend he
! lad on Garth.
81 he young nan departed, md as III name
was never mentioned in my hearing, ! ApDu
forgot him, and for a long time was perfectly
happy. But when was fiteen-about two
years agony father endorsed note for n
merchant, whose name he never told nv mo-
thcr and me. Ih, merchant failcd-fni!ed
dishonesty v and bis fiilurc ruined my inthrr,
who, overwhelmed with modification, died in
Il ic" days. The remnant Of the property
was barely sufficient to enable my mother t.
rcnt small cottage III the country. We had
: hardly removed to this, when my mother icl
Il victim 10 fatigue mud exposure. All our
! summer snH,ln. friends had forSaken Us in
adversely, aud was left alone in the cold cold
world. The only relation knew was IA dis.
tant connection Of my mother, in St. Louis,
- h,s | oil, H.
ten after my nthrs death, but hal received
no answer. Now letter came from him, Ill.
rcctcd to my mother, full Of confidence for her
afllictions-not, however, Offering to relieve
them by any direct measures, but proposing
70 adopt me "a, his daughter. Thi, incOn>tan
~ should have awakened my suspicious; but
!, homeless and tIlcndlrSS, and unused to the
ways ot the world, readily accepted the Oilcr
ne letter contained sufficient money to pay
my cXptIi,es 10 Cincinnati. There Lake met
lac. Us he tad proposed. Judge my horror
when recognized in him the would be lover
and prosecutor Of my childhood. But there
! Wa> np help ior m: IL: took me, not to ST.
L"l!l-, bat to an Out Of the way settlement ia
D.i". where he kept Il filthy grogahop in n
>aIaiil tenement. Here he nnnounccd to Inc,
With cXultation that himself aud the d,lnultcr
were one that he Ind been longing to get me
into his power, ami nov cjoccd in his sue
cess ChurkIhg over what he termed the
Iarkbrain confidence of my father, hc told lnc
t'At after he left our house, Ee cUrrcspondcd
with my iathcr under the name Of Lake. where.
rs, his rcal name, by which had known him,
WAS l'rull. This was done, he said, that
/ might not be annoyed by any rclnini>ccacc Of
hun. Now must consider myself as his prop
crtv, and might take time to choose whether
III. ,;t
nativc-a fate worse than death"
Here the witness was interrupted bv a
movement Of intense Indignation among the
audience. The Judge ordered silence, and she
proceeded
>lni, ked in ng0Ly-I moaned in despair.
! sank upon the floor in uttcrr hclplcs>nr>s
! his man cursed me in terms Of the ioulcst
: r"rr"arh, and dragged me by the hair into an
inner apartment, whore | tainted When
recovered, he was Standing. over me. lie told
N" II expected any mcrcySgrOm him, must
do his bidding. In detection and terror,
promised 10 do whatever hc required. it he
would only spare my virtue. lie made me
swear never to reveal my sex TO any one, aud,
laying down a suit Of boys clothes, ord, red
me to exchange my dress, aud lett the room.
Tie returned by the time the change was effected
and cutting short my curlS, of which INV dear
ilthcr was so proud he made me q bar. tender
/ in his shop. Day after DAY and month after
month was compelled to serve ont liquor to
the bcaottcd wrctrhcS who hung around the
place. and listen To their foul In0uthrd cOnvcr-
saton. bore all with patience, and by my
assumed alarllty. 50 gained his confidence,
! that lie would leave me alone in the store
sometimes for days together, and nearly always
IN the evening One day, some public gath.
crinS in nciglholing town drew all the men
out Of our ncighborhood. Consequently we
had 10 custonrSt that day-a thing which had
not occurred before since ] entered the shop.
lie embraced the opportunity to propose that
! should become his wife. The very thought
filled Inc with horror; but past experience had
taught me cunning; so, without manicstlng
my rcpuSnancc, consented, and the dav was
fixed upon the following week. That evening
he left me in the store as usual. ! watched
him till he turned the corner Of the street !;
then, lcavnGthc light burning that no suspi.
ciOn might be excited should any one happen
To pass by, slipped from the back door and
fed. determined to escape to the next town,
some five miles distant and implore protection
aud concCament from some of It's best DISPOSED
inhabitants. had heard the road 10 $
described so often that supposed could not
miss il but | did, and was soon wandering in
the thick woods. struggled through The
bushes and briars till became exhausted
then sank down, and prayed for death as nv
only hope OF escape. But was not permitted
! tO pSpnnn IIo huotoI .,,o l,.... l..