National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1866-11-02
JOHN ROD,IAN.

fOf deed he had not done, John
Rodman was arrested, tried and
found guilty. and sentenced to ten
years Imprisonment.
Ten Years, beginning at twenty
five. The best years of his life
Circumstantial evidence. which has
doomed many man. had doomed
him. That. and false witness who
took his oath to a lie. with Gods
name upon his lips, and his guilty
hand on Gods holy Bible. 1t was
a horrible fate: and the worst of it
WAS, that no one believed him limo
'cent--iriend. brother, casual ac-
quaintance, all shook their heads
and said, :. 1t Was a dangerous thing
to trust wild young man with 50
much money!
Only Eva Fay. his Young bctroth-
ed. sent him ii tiny note. blurred
with her tears. wherein shone these
wordS-beacon lights to that unhap-
Ply man IN that dark sea of sorrow :
My darling. whatever others
think, | will trust and love YOU un-
til | die"
Could she have come to him. could
she have spoken words of hope and
tenderness with her white hands in
his own. he could have borne his
fate better. But they would not let
her enter the prison walls.
Who could blame them, thinking
as they did :! Aud she was too
young and too gentle to resist them
by strategcm. SO the girl of six
teen could only break her heart in
silence. and her lover bow beneath
he.jnst laws which for once had done
lniust.ce.
They parted. and the years rolled
on, one after the other. In the world
strange changes happen ,d, and III re
wtredcathS and maria @eS and birt hS.
gid faces went. new ones came. In
Vcntlons set the world ablaze. -
" ars and lunors OF wars shook the
earth. In the prisons. one m0nstrous
routine divided the days. and the
nights were only marked 10y the ex.
change Of sun for gaslig5t.
John Rodman's soul was crushed :
considered telon by all. he grew to
feel Ike Oue--tO shrink from the
eyes of honest men and to have no
hope on earth or in heaven save
those prison walls.
Sometimes he said. "Ten wears
will end at last" And then he ask :,
ed himself, =" For what, My life
is wasted. cannot begin again.
And untimely SHOWS fell upon his
hair. and wrinkles drew themselves
upon his brow. And when at last
the prison doors We're opened to let
out the poor. Wronged man. he felt
older than most men of fifty. He
stood in the world without a cent.
or decent clothes. OF any place to
hide his head, and bowed beneath
the SENSE of his great wrong and
bitter loss.
There had come with him an old
thict. one of his Jail compauions-a
bad. bold man. with a drop of graft
tude somewhere in the midst of his
heart. He followed John Rodman
AMI came up to him in lonely
place. at the bic; corner of a road.
where he stood puzzled, trying to
collect his thoughts.
- / say, what are YOU going TO do !'
he asked.
"Do = said John. gloomilv,-
" Earn an honest living, or hang my
self"
Don't let 'em know you've been
in there said the thief. pointing
prlsonWard. "or you can't do the
first and before YOU put your neck
III the moose, come to our place.
You'll lind friend there, and like
YOU" and he ended with IN oath.
John Rodman Shuddcrcd. He
knew what haunts that man made
his home in. and a horrible dread of
himself fell upon him. He had been
called Il thief SO long. that it seemed
cutie possible that the actual life of
one might lie before him. He grew
cold from the heart out.
~ shall earn an honest living
somehow" he said. "All | want is
bread and shelter. Then good by.r
Good by" said the thief. 1t
is 5---Alley, if you want to come
there; You may yet
And they parted--John Rodman
taking the road toward New York.
His first thought was, when he
quite understood that he was free
of Eva. Not that he might WOO oi
win her after ten years of disgrace
but only to see her once and tell hel
how. through all those years he had
remembered and worshippcd her,
He hardly guessed himself. how h,
had changed. The lnng-down look
the thin. bent frame, the unkemp
locks that blew about his face til,
hat with a hole in it. the ragge,
knees and elbows. 4 squald. beg
carly wretch. who, when he las
looked in u mirror. had'been spr,,c,
young fellow, handsome as a pic
ture.
So he toilcd on toward the city
and when faint with hunger. iount
q horse to hold, or u job to do an,
earn II pittauce,
So when he crawlcd into the town
nc had shilling, and being faint
SUNK INTO a restaurant hard by {,
get glass of ale. II was a place