South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-04-07
seeing no more of my lodger or his wife

When ne Drought the supper beer, that, 81
though it was hushed up as much as pos
sible, yet it certainly was the Fenisn wh
had escaped, and that it was one of tn
most desperate and ingenious escapes eve
heard of. "Not, ma'am," he said, Gas
believe in any of your ingenious es
capes / don't believe in man doinl
with rusty nail, or two oprongs of a din
ner-fork, or some such thing, in four o
five hours, what it would take couple o
smiths all day to do with basket of tools
It's the warders, ma'am, and they max
these excuses that's what it is, ma'am.
This was the opinion of Robert at tn
White Lion, and must own that l had, ol
similar occasions, heard many people II
Weymouth express themselves to the sam
effect.
Once or twice the next day saw Mrs Lew
is, and each time the impression that hRl
previously met her grew stronger. / fan
cied, however, that my looking straight q
her, to try and remember when it coult
have been, disturbed her, so avoided DO
ing so as much as possible, but for th'
life of me / could not help doing it some
times. On the following morning / haC
to go out for an hour or two, and, when
came back, found my windows cleaned
the mold in the flower. boxes turned over
and various little things done, which tolG
me that Lewis had been at work again, as
indeed, found was the case. He had, un
fortunately, been taken very unwell JUS
before / came home, but previously he had
been busy as usual in the front of the
house. rt--
AS all attempts to recapture the convict
had failed, and so there was no longer,
suppose, hope of keeping it quiet, that
night great bills were stuck up about the
town, offering $500 reward for the appre
hension of the Fenian Colonel-for it was
he, after all-and one Of these bills was
stuck up on an empty house just opposite
to my own door naturally got to talk.
ing about this with Mrs. Lewis; at least
talked, and she listened, for she said hard.
ly word; and, at last, when struck q
light to find something she wanted, / found
she was crying. told her was afraid she
was weak and low, and that her long journey
and her husbands illness had upset her,
and asked her to let me make her some
port wine negus the last thing that night
She thanked me, but declined; and when
she went away, the remembrance of her
face, with the tears on her cheeks, seemed
ten times more familiar to me than ever.
/ determined TO ask Mr.. Lewis, when ]
saw him, if his wife had ever lived in
Weymouth, but it seemed as though /
never should see him again. However,
did see him that evening.
had been up stairs for some time, and
as l was looking over the contents of an
old drawer, 1 was very quiet, and my
dodgers thought was out; but presently
came down, and met Lewis ascending,
carrying light was in the dark.
"Good evening, Mr.. Lewis" l said; al
hope you are better"
He looked up and said: "Yes; much
better, thank you" He passed on, and
left me almost petrifed. 1t was not the same
man. There was the same dark skin,
mustache hair, and whiskers; the same
clothes; but this man, although short, was
taller than my lodger, decidedly stouter,
and had altogether harder, sterner ex-
preston. There was no possible mistake !;
his voice, too, was wholly different; and
/ staggered, rather than walked, into my
kitchen, feeling as though l had seen a
ghost. / had not strength to procure a
light, but in q few minutes Mrs. Lewis,
sent down, as l. found, by her husband,
came in with one. Seeing me sitting, so
pale and scared, in my chair, she said; /;
Are you ill, Mrs. Gerran? My husband
fears you are" As if flash of lightning
had suddenly penetrated all the dark places
of my mind, saw, as she spoke, the
of all that had been mysterious,
and by her face saw that she knew her
secret was revealed. She was my lodger,
she was the Mr.. Lewis had known. Al
tered and changed in every respect as she
was, 1 knew her now. She locked her
hands together, and twisted her fingers
with nervous, frightened air, and looked
anxiously at me.
Who-who are you?" asked. "Why
are you dressed like thisi Who is the
40, Mrs. GerranI" she cried, throwing
herself down at my knees, before / could
move to stay her, forgive my deceiving
you, and still be my friend. If you are
not kind and true to us we are lost. We
have no home but this-no friend but you.
1t will soon, i trust, be different; but at
this moment my poor husband is fugi-
tive, an outlaw, convict, and a price is
set upon his head"
"a price upon his headr" l echoed. ais
be, them a.
"Yes," she said, interrupting me, al
though she was sobbing as if her heart
would break, "yes, my husband is Colonel
La Trouble, the Fenian. We are Ameri-
cans, and we are only waiting for pursuit
to cool, when we shall cross to France,
and can then easily regain our home,
never more, l trust to leave il"
"Rise up, my poor dear girl" I said,
lifting her on to chair; "and believe me
that no money would tempt me to betray
your husband for your sake, at any rate,
| will be true to you both. hope for
your sake, too, that he will leave his
dreadful and desperate schemes"
90, Mrs. Gerran," she answered, "do
not think him bloodthirsty man; there
never breathed a gentler or kinder being.
He was sadly deceived in the business
which brought him here; but pray, come
and see him, that he may know he is safe
under your roof"
Invent with her and found this desper-
ate Fenian quite mild, gentlemanly per-
son. He was full of gratitude to me; and
although his close-cut hair, now he sat
without his wig, and his dark face made
him look stern enough, yet his eyes swan
with genuine tears over and over again,
when he spoke of his wife and her ,devo-
ton to him. f., .f... led.
OF course, every one can now see how
It was managed. When he was sent to
Portland his wife came down, dressed as
a man, and, while lodging with me, took
care to familiarize the neighbors with the
fact that had a young man lodger. One
Of the warders had already been gained
over-so Robert at the "White Lyon"
was not far wrong IN his guess-and he it
was with whom l had seen the supposed
Mr. Lewis talking, and who came to my
house twice. On his second visit he came
to say that all was arranged, and that her
husband would get away soon after dark
the next night. 1t was, fortunately for the
very stormy one; so La Trouble
got past the station, and followed the
Chesil Bank until he thought it safe to
strike the line, and then got over the rail
way bridge without being recognized. He
had large railway rug over his shoulders
which hid his convict dress; and the only
really dangerous part of his Journey was
through the streets to reach my house but
the dreadful storm cleared away all pas
sengers, and he entered our street without
having met half dozen people. His wife
was watching from her window, and, see
ing him, slipped down and opened the
street door without my knowing anything
about it. Then they removed the stains
from her face, hands, and neck with
washes which she had 1ar0I1oht with her