The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-09-02

the better classes of society. This dilem-
ma, which threatened to leave Hurlbut
without an execution, was destined TO be
overcome in an unexpected manner.
Early on the morning of the execution,
just after the prisoner had eaten his break
fast, and before the minister had come to
administer the last consultations, the door
of the cell opened, and a solitary Individ-
uai entered. In his ear the jailor whis-
Pered, as he closed the door upon him:
Make haste, for there's never know
ing what may happen, and if it should be
dlscovered-" 81
Leaving the sentence unfinished, the
jailer withdrew, and the visitor remained
standing in the center of the apartment
1t was the executioner. He appear
ed to be very young and very slim. He
was dressed in new jacket and panta-
looms. and a red and white striped hat.
His face was rendered indistinguishable by
the black Grape with which it was so
closely swathed, and which left room only
for the eyes, the nostris, aud the mouth.
He spoke in deep, low voice, and rapids
ly, as though the time allowed him for the
business he had come about, was brief.
81 come from Alvaretta Alvin, his
wife. Never mind how she sent mes
sage through me-she has money. You
loved her once. You betrayed her. and
blighted her prospects years ago, before
ever she met the man you killed. He
never suspected her, and in spite of all his
faults they were happy as man and wife.
She wants to know why you killed him.
She has that much curiosity. You have
been well supplied with luxuries since you
have been here. You have wondered 10y
whom-I will tel you. She has cared
for you-I said she had money. She
asks this one return-why did you kill
him :"
The condemned man looked at his visi~
tor vaguely. Perhaps his long confine-
ment, and the prospect of immediate death
rendered him more patient, more enduring,
more credulous, than he would otherwise
have been. However this is, he answer
ed:
''That had loved her once; that she
was false to me-not to her that she
had become the respectable, unsuspected
wife of a an high in power-those are
my reasons. Accident brought nae near
them. If he had gone far away aRd taken
her with him. as he could have done, and
as / warned him to do, he might be living
now. As it was, he was in nay power
and killed him. But, young man, who
are you ?"
At this moment the janitor opened the
door.
"For Gods sake GOMEZ! he exclaim-
ed, ''they will be here in momeBtl"
and almost dragged the executioner forth,
| leaving Huribut plunged in amaze ment.
At II O'clock, the court yard of the
prison was crowded with spectators. The
prisoner was standing, pale. bat brave, his
aims pimoned, and the eXecutfoner, with
crape-bound face, beside him. The sem
tence had been read, the last prayer ut
tered, the ministers had withdrawn, the
spectators were awaiting in sileRce the
solemn, retributiYe act. In pulling the
cap over the criminals face, the execu>
toner turned his back upon the crowd,
and drew aside the Grape that concealed
his own. As he did so, he hissed ia tire
ear of the man about to die
Gregory Hurlburt, you asked me in
the prison who was Do you know me
now :" a4 = s-,g
f'Great God! Atvaretta T"
Every one noticed the frightful change
that came over the criminals features at
that moment. There were some, too, who
remarked the extreme smalIness and
whiteness of the executioner's hand. But
there was. none who heard her, as she
breathed into the prisoners ear as she
drew the death-cap down and adjusted The
moose @ tH a
sin nay youth you ruined me. There
cannot be found one man in all y to
hate the murderer of my husband well
enoagh- to execute the sentence of the law
upon him, do it. / have money. In
killing him you repeated the INJURY you did
rae in my youth. This is my revenge -
The spectators were too intent on the
struggles of the dying man to notice that
thu executioner stumbled and alaaost fe II
as ne descended from the scaffold. But
in the Sheriff's private Office in the pris-
on, his clothes were exchanged for that of
woman, and from that hour Alyeretta
disappeared from the town of V
CURIOUS PRoPERrY OF IRON. In 1850,
Mr. Marsh, an able chemist of the royal
arsenal, England. discovered that it is in
variable with iron which has remained
considerable time under water, when re-
duced to small grains or an inpalpable
powder, to become red hot, and ignite any
substance with which it comes in contact
This he found by scraping corroded metal
, from a gun, which ignited the paper con-
tanning it, and burned hole in his pock,
ct. The Knowledge of this fact is of i'm
mense Importance, as it may account for
many spontaneous fires and explosions,
the origin Of which has not been traced.
A piece OF rusty iron, brought in contact
with bale of cotton in warehouse or on
shipboard, may occasion extensive confa-