The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1867-04-12

he should be able 10 60 10 VoWn the
next day. How her tender care stirred
his poor heart to its depths! Would
she ever SO minister to him again I
Once--it was after the children had
gone to bed-he caught her hands, and
crushed them a moment in his own,
looking into her eyes as if he would
read her very soul.
"Jenny, wife," he gasped huskily,
''do you think you would love me
every thingp
One Of Jenny Armstrong; most vital
characteristics was her love of truth-a
love almost morbid, indeed, in its ac-
tion-which would never let her answer
any thing without consideration, and
which made her pause now, and run
over possibilities in her own mind be.
fore she replied, needless of the agony
Of supplication in his eyes.
eyes" she said slowly; 81 could love
you if you were deaf, or blind, or lame,
or mad-any thing but wicked"
The man dropped her hands with a
bitter groafl. 1t seemed to him that
love and life were failing him together.
But when he saw her startled eyes, he
commanded himself again, and muir
injured feebly,-
81 was in pain, o Jenny Pm sickP
All through the long morning hours
next day he watched his children--lit-
tie Jennie, Robert, and Jamie, his eldest
born. Every one of their merry ways,
their innocent carresses, was to him the
keenest of tortures, yet he would moi
have missed one of them for worlds
How slowly the hours wore on! 1t wa'
three o'clock in the afternoon before
carriage stopped at the gate, and he
knew that his sin had found him out.
Still, with that same pathetic sub
mission to Just fate, he uttered no de-
mails. At his trial he pleaded guilty,
and made no petition for mercy. For
saken, as it seemed, of God and man
be sat there in his place, quite alone
When he was sentenced to five year.
in the States Prison, he merely bowec
his stricken head little lower in dumt
assent.
Then, before the prison walls closed
on him, they persuaded his wife to g
to him for few moments. 1t was th'
first time since his afrest; for the dis
grace, the utter ruin which he hao
brought upon her and her children
seemed to have turned her very nature
to gall. She listened to him coldly
while he poured out in frenzied words
the story Of his temptation and of hi
sin. Coldly, then, as if statue hac
opened its mouth and spoken, sh'
said,-
"Wrong is wrong. l see no excus'
for your crime. Have you done will
what you wished to sayl'
And, Just as when he heard from tn
Judges lips his sentence, he bowed mute
ly his stricken head, and she wen
out.
After that the prison wall shut hin
in.
The generosity of those who nigh
legally have claimed the little hom
where all Jane Armstrong; wedde'
life had been passed, spared it to tn
stricken woman and her children. s
she lived on there, doing any work sh
could obtain, managing to keep tn
household in decent comfort; but ivini
such a life as l have told you-a lf
utterly barren of grace, and beauty, an
ioy. In this shadow the children hs'
dwelt, till their faces were sad with
premature despair which could neve
describe.
And now the five years were almos
over; and next week it would be tim
for James Armstrong to come home
In all this time no word or messag
from his wife had ever once reache
him. She had never been known 7
mention his name. At first the chi
dren had asked for him; but she ba
always hushed them so sternly ths
soon they had learned to understan
her will, and had gone on silently in tn
shadow which overhung the house.
1t was Saturday afternoon-of ths
LAST week before the one in which be
husband would be free-when sh
looked out, and saw the minister con
ing up the path from the gate to th
door; the minister in whose church sh
used to sit Sunday after Sunday by he
husbands side 1t was long since sh
had seen him-she had never been
church since the shadow came-and o
his few visits she had shown him s
plainly how unwelcone he was, that b
had been constrained to say aye. II
came now with message as urgent {
that of Nathan the prophet when b
went to King David with his "Thou a
the man." an errant that would ne
brook delay or DENIAL
She offered him a chair in gloom
silence that promised i'll. She motione
to the children to go out and the
obeyed her noislessly as spirits. The
she looked at him, as if waiting to kno
his purpose.
daughter" he said, in low, pen
trating tones that seemed to search h
very heart "did you ever sin again
God?
| Every transgression of her life seeme
as if it summoned for judgment by b
will, to rise before her. Even as jam
Armstrong had done, when he heat
his sentence, she bowed her head
shame and silence.
'Do you hope, then, ever to be r
ceived into His heavenly home 7"
Through grace, through infni
mercy, l hope" she answered in lo'
awe stricken tones.
!. The old man rose and looked dow
on her as the angel Of justice might
the last. His voice rang clear and SC
emn through the low room.
"Is any mercy promised to them wi
have shown no mercy9 With VIII
measure you mete it shall be measure
to you again."
She understood his meaning. The
She bowed her head lower still, an
her spare, bent figure shook like a rec
in the tempest of her emotion.
Il dared not forgive him or lo'
him." she murmered. Il thought
would be fellowship with evil-toucI