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

husbands, carried with it magnetism
that always thrilled him to the heart.
There was an atmosphere about this
woman which precluded them, though oc-
cuPying the position of Mayor and May
Dress, from having many visiting acouaint-
ances, even among tue class of peonIe
whose votes had elected Alvin. TIE Ia.
dies said s.The Mayor is a nice enouoh
man, but then his wife" and gave that
shrug of the shoulders which means so
much and says nothing.
She noticed his gloom, for the happi-
ness of her life was stayed upon him, and
not word or gesture of his escaped her.
She knew the hatred to which his unpop~
ularlty exposed him and he never left
her sight but what she dreaded that some
of the less patient and peaceable of these
might have Instigated tumu.t that had
proved fatal to him. But she knew his
disposition, and said nothing, only watch
ed him.
1t was the sixteenth day of the month
and consequently, but fortnight re-
mained until its close. Every morning
and evening, regularly, Mayor Alvin
walked as usual, to and from his Office
He had no additional precaution about his
person, for IN those days and in that sec
tlOn, it was only accident that found a
man with bowie knife or revolver
He had almost forgotten the circumstan-
ces OF the threat. 1t only vaguely occur
ed 10 him at intervals
At any rate he was not thinking of it
as he walked home one night, and it was
the evening of the 30th day of November.
Now, if ever, he ought to have remem-
bered that warning hand had been out
stretched to him from the darkness that
surrounded the barren waste which he
was at that moment traversing. Now, if
eyer, he ought to have recollected that be-
yond the solitary and mist -enveloped dis
tance, lying between him and his home,
everything that his heart held dear, was
waiting-anxiously waiting-his arrival.
For he was little latc, and, as he be-
thought himself of this, there was rust,
ling in clump of bushes Immediately in
front of him, and in the next instant he
was himself confronted by man of i'm
| mense stature and corresponding girth -
So unexpected was the encounter that the
intruder had one arm twisted in Mayor
Alvln's neckcloth and the other Uplifting
! adagger about to strike, before the assault
ed man had clear comprehension of what
had happened. ea
81 gave you good warning" said the
stranger between his set teeth. 'sYou had
plenty of time. You knew. what was to
be your fate if you stayed here. 1 have
waited till almost the last hour of the last
| day
His strength was herculean. Though
the neckcloth was loose, and the man had
scarcely given one twist to it, yet the
| Mayor felt the indications of gigantic
strength through the clutch of those huge,
nervous fingers.
Ills adversary, without relaxing his
grasp, had moved while speaking, and was
standing partly behind his victim, who
was forced back SO that his face was half
raised TO that of his assassin, and the
breadth of his chest exposed. ,StIong a
man as the Mayor was, he felt himself
/ baby in such a grasp as this. The light
of his home was not visible. He was in
the middle of that lonely waste, an equal
distance between them and " A
strange sort of pride mixed itself with his
brute courage, and he was ashamed to cry
for succor. Besides his adversary's grasp
had grown tighter in the change of posi-
tion, and the Mayor felt his breath come
short. He made desperate endeaver to
free himself, and as he did so maaaged to
articulate:
''Whas have I done to ipjure you and
yours ?"
.sAlyarettal" was the reply, and the
next moment there was dull warm
thud of repeated stabs, as the assassin's s
dagger was sheathed IN the Mayors
! breast,
Alvaretta was the name of the dead
mans wife.
In the place where he fell he was found
the next morning, and in few DAYS his
murderer was in the hands of the authori-
ties. He gave his name as Gregory Hurl-
but, and was identified as having recently
become a resident of v. The whole
course of the trial, however, discovered no
adequate motive for the deed. The crimi-
nal made no confession, and when the
morning for the execution dawned-a
bitter cold day in Jauuary--the public
were none the wiser than at first as to
the precedents which had conduced to the
crime.
The dead Mayor had left his wife in
excellent circumstances, and while there
was chary expression of sympathy for
her, there was not, except among the
ruftians whom he had made his friends
and comrades, a word of regret spoken
tor the deceased. The sheriff, who was,
in the main, man equally just and ten
der-hearted, and whose one public fault
had been the bitterness of bis hatred to-
ward the late Mayor Alvin, found himself
in dilemma upon which he had little
calculated. In Atkins death he sincerely
felt that v had lost the worst enemy
to its good order and prosperity. In his