Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-09-16

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when necessary, the fireman creeps, tC
clean the inside of the boiler. One o
these holes was open, and some boys, chill
dren of the fireman, were playing with a
short iron bar near by.
] do not know what made me stop and
watch them pushing the bar through the
aperture, while they listened to the sound
of the waters as its wavelets moved past
the bar, and dashed against the inside OF
the boiler
"Stop that play, boys" said |, land tell
James to close up the boiler" They had
not seen me before and when they heard
my voice they let the iron bar fall and
scampered away. The bar dropped with
a loud splash into the water
Never mind, Z" thought 1, "the fireman
can get it out again when they clean the
boiler next Sunday" was about to leave
! the bolcrroom when James entered.
Good evening, sir" began he, in q
cheerful tone; ~ guess the new engineer
will arrive tomorrow night, and lam glad
of it. Please step into my room and read
this letter, which Eve received this after
noon From it you can see why I'm glad
to get away from here
He gave me a letter. 1t was too dark to
read it outside, and entered his room.
sat down and read the letter, which was
from James mother, urging him to come
home instantly.
You thought ! was mad at you because
you made love TO Minnie But you were
mistaken, old boy for look at this letter
said he, handing me another. 1t was a
letter apparently from young girl, al
though the handwriting looked rather
masculine. 1t was dated from the same
New England village in which James
mother was living, and its contents
breathed intense love for him. 1t was
signed annie"
" Ye5," replied he, in answer to my ques.
tioning look, "lll marry Annie as soon as
| set foot in my native village
Won't you wait until the bans are pub
lishcd " asked |, with a laugh
Not minute, I'll go straight to her
house, take her to the next parson who,
for money and good words, will soon tie
the knot! Now continued he after u
pause during which he took a bottle and
two tin cups from shelf above his head /;
"now let's drink to the health of our in
tended brides And he filled the cups.
"Hold on, James First, let me know
what is in the cups" said |.
"Your intended hther-in-law gave me
a bottle of Angelica wine He said that
it was the best that he had in the cellar"
answered James,
| like sweet wine, and | took the cup.
Here is to the health and prosperity
of Anne!' exclaimed l. emptying the
cup.
Heres to Miss Minnie, who am sure
will be the best and truest of wives" was
the toast Of James, as he too emptied his
cup.
Now here is real Havana - said he,
taking some cigars from his pocket, and
handed one which | lighted. Then
settling back into the chair listened to a
detailed account Of his previous life. The
narrative seemed very uninteresting to
me, and was wishing inwardly that it
would soon end, for had to 60 to s.
that very night on business connected with
the mill.
Gradually the light became dim, and the
voice Of James sounded hollow. | tried
to tell him to trim the lamp and speak a
little louder but my lips only moved, and
not a sound came from my throat, The
tobacco smoke is choking me, thought |,
casting my eyes toward my right hand,
which was slowly slipping from the edge
OF the table upon which was lying the
halfconSumcd cigar. Strange that | felt
no pain as the hand struck the sharp cor
ner of the chair. | tried TO rise, but nv
endeavors were vain, Some heavy weight
seemed to press on my shoulders, weight
that | could not shake off | lifted my
eyes toward James, who was sitting op.
posite to me. My God Was it hallucina-
ton of my whirling brain, or was it
reality?
! saw, as If through T. haze, the eyes Of
James, gIaring at ne Ike those Of wild.
eat about to spring upon its prey.
Every line Of his features proclaimed hate
--undyng hate. lie rose and came close
to where sat.
His voice sounded to me like the roar of
thunder, as he said
Aha I've got you now, my fine fell
low; this time | am sure that you can
never, never marry Minnie. Ten minutes
more and you are dead. Ont it's no use
cried he, in voice that pierced my ears
as he saw how | tried to shake off the
coils that seemed to bind me to the chair
" No use whatever old boy. If | would
LET You 90 now you would hang me. True
enough, gypsy once said that | would
break my neck, but not upon the gallows,
no : no! Some weeks ago | tried to kill
you, but il was already too dark to take
good aim, and you escaped
&" The letters you have pcruSed are moth.
ing but torgerics. My mother has been
dead these four years, and the girl Annie
is only a creation OF my brain
His voice seemed to lower to a whisper
as he continued;
They win say that you have been a
villain, that You lied few days before the
day SCI for the wedding. Minnie will be
very unhappy, and | win do my hest to
cheer hcrup She would have loved me
had you not crossed my path with yolr
fine talk and soft nonsense, which won her
affections"