The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1871-10-05

man Who, IS ,hy ald bid the .prit'
upiise. and write. II brilliant characters
foul confession on thi, piece o. porce
laiu. Il is no sooner written than, by
my aid. tho whole confession. and m,
chosen servant are annilalatcd let ID,
good professor use bis chemicals, ihc bad
BROTHER oaly asks little cau OF nitro.
glyocrlne
heard Ibis speech, indeed but great
heavens Il was eyes aud not my cais
that were busiest then For beneath tbc
table covered by tie crimson cloth, 81
which have before spoken, aud which
faced, appeared The head Of a child. The
hair was rump led and tie blue eyes just
opening from sleep. The intelligent fore
head was wIiukIed strangely. II was my
boy Billy. ! was afraid he would cry
papa, II be did, the implacablc man
would add the murder Of the Child 10 the
murder Of the father.
Bat the boy did mono OF this. lie had
| suppose, crept under the table unknown
to me, and fallen asleep there. tried to
tell the little follow to hide again, and
wait for the final half hour, when nv tor
mentor would be gone. Whether he un-
derslood me or not, aided by what he had
heard. did not know; but he quickly
Withdrew his little curly head, first kiss
ing his hand lightly at me, and then shak-
ing bis fist at the sehemer watching SO
belligercntly his dumb fire agents.
The half hour wore slowly away. o
heavens! what agony did suffer- not
for myself but for my child A light
noise might discover his presence; the
match might run its tether sooner han
was expected. lie might be murdered or
blown TO pieces.
The fuse burned onion. The half
hour is up
The brother of the murdered rises to
goI JOY!
Commit your soul TO Gods keeping,
he said, You hold the evidences of my
brothers guilt : nothing can save you
now
With that he turned TO take his hat
from off the table covered with the Grim
son cloth, beneath which hid my priceless
boy. Something attracted his attention
He held out his hands and leaned for
ward ! thought he had discovered my
boy! lNo, he was lifting something in
either hand--thc wires Of the electric bat
terry! in another moment my boy had
leaped from under the table, and was
turning the crank fast and furiously.
The murderer's brother was in my boys
power. lie could not drop the wires he
was helpless and motionless. How my
boy cried for help. The old college
rung again. The prisoners brother adj
ded bis voice to that of my boys in his
agony. lie begged, he beseeched-all
his nerves were racked--great waves of
galvanism leaped, surged and trembled,
and Jared over every sensitive nerve and
fibre. Still my boy was inhexible,
and shouted and turned faster. unper-
ceivcd, on the marble, in the track of the
fuse was pool OF inhammabe oil.
In an instant a great length had burned
away. 1t would last Just five minutes
longer.
Father, shouted my boy, if no assis-
tancc comes, this villain must die with
us; dare not let him free. Help! Help
Hclpl
Alas could not answer him.
But some one else did Thank God
The fuse is burned up! The rope is on
fire, the nitro-glycerine. The door opens,
Tom Richards on a midnight visit TO the
sick has heard the cry. lie comprehends
all, seizes the can in his hand-the weight
descends, indeed, but not on the death |
dealing oil. No, down il goes through
the Office floor, down, down, like an evil
spirit, to give back dull, metallic echo
from the stones Of the cellar beneath.
We are saved!
Joe johnson, the prisoner, was hanged
but bis brother remains unpunshed by
the law, for he stabbed himself with 4
knife, and TINS escaped the hangman's
rope