The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-06-22

terribly long operation, ana seemed u
hundred times longer than it was. For
tunately, the weight at the other end
helped the incision by stretching the
gap, and when strand was half cut
through, it tore the rest oft.
As Tom lay there on his stomach, with
his left arm around the bough, his right
arm saving and hacking, his head and
shoulders leaning over, he noticed de-
cided kick in one of his legs, and o
molten in one of the arms of the hangee
which could not be due to the swaying
motion given to him by the operation
going on overhead and the sight gave
frantic energy to the cutting. When
the rope was three parts severed, the
rest tore out, and the body fell lumpily
to the ground, the feet striking first, so
that it remained erect while you could
count two, and then tumbled over with
a dead thug.
Tom dropped down beside it in mo-
ment, and proceeded to loose the slip
not from about the neck. There was an
ugly deep red mark, showing the pat
tern of the rope, all round, and the face
was not pleasant to look upon. The
starting eyes, the protruding tongue,
were calculated to reappear in dreams
whenever the digestive organs were out
of order-for years.
When Tom had turned the body on
its back, and raised the head little, he
wondered what to DO next, but chafed
the hands and the chest, while he pom
dered and as he was thus occupied, he
had the satisfaction Of seeing the cholS-
ing look disappear. Whether, indeed,
this was sign Of death or recovery, he
could not tell, but it made the face very
much less unpleasant to behold.
He had never in all his life felt q
greater sense of relief than he did now
on hearing the sound of wheels. Run
ming in the direction, he came, after
sixty yards, to lane, masked by under
wood ; in the lane was dog cart, just
passed.
"Hi! dog-cart, ahoy stop !" he
cried, and it stopped. The dog-cart con-
tanned a neat gentleman in u frock- coat
and spectacles, who drove, and q smart,
adolescent groom, who folded his arms.
"Is it Mrs. Bunnythrope Z" asked the
gentleman, as Tom ran up breathless.
"No; it's fellow I've cut down. Are
you q medical man I"
Eyes"
"What luck Come along 1 think
he is alive"
The groom took the lines the doctor
accompanied Tom to the body under the
oak
"Is he alive Z" asked Tom.
90 yes; his heart is beating. But he
must be properly attended to as quickly
as possible"
They carried him to the dog cart easily
enough, but it was another matter to
haul him up; however, it was managed.
Where am to drive Z" asked the
doctor; and Tom, who had the one vir-
tue of promptness, named his own lodg-
ings, regardless of consequences.
CHAPTER III-A PLUNGE IN A NEW d.
RECTIoN.
Tire spot whore Tom Chatteris had
temporarily located himself was not SO
thickly built over then as it is now, and
they got home pretty quietly; but the
few people who did see them showed
interest, In front, the doctor, driving
FAST and the groom, kneeling on the
seat; behind, Tom and a Body, which,
with the assistance of the groom, he was
preventing from rolling off into the
road.
When they arrived, the landlady be-.
came hysterical but Tom, ignoring
her, had his charge carried up into his
own room, laid on his own bed, and
there properly treated.
First, the patient recovered, and then
he went to sleep. Sterne tells us that
we water flower because we have
planted it; imagine, then, the interest
felt by Tom in this individual declared
by the tail of his shirt to be S. P. Col
lins), for whose sake he had ruined a
penknife, slept on the sofa, and possibly
incurred doctors bill.
81 suppose 1 ought to thanl, you?'
said S. ?. Collins.
"Wcll, perhaps it would be the cor
rect thing to do" replied Tom, for, hav-
ing prepared himself to check an over
powering burst Of gratitude, he was
taken aback.
Exactly" continued the unhanged
one; "and yet you might give man
credit for knowing his own mind. You
don't suppose / placed myself in the
position in which you found me for the
sake Of testing yOur agility, or intruding
on your hospitality, do you? However,
you meant well. But when l think
that had got over that first horrible
chol1y feeling, and had foated into deli
cious insensibility; and thnt now /
have got to go through it all again-
l wonder if laudanum is better"
"Well, you are cool hand - cried
Tom.
"Why Z" replied Collins. "You have
stopped my making a certain journey
by one route, l must try another"
Don't talk such infamous nonsense.
One may commit crime in moment
of impulse, and be deserving, perhaps,
CT more pity than blame; but to medi-
tale on it beforehand is unpardonable
Oh, l don't want to split hairs, and
listen to cssuistry; if people were ut
terly selfish, and believed in nothing,
and killed themselves directly life
was a bore, the world could not go on.
You owe me nothing for preserving
your life, but you do owe me lot for
saving you from crime.
"Ahl it is very well for you to talk,
young man; but you do not know what
hope deferred is; to see Fortune Just
within your grasp, and never be able to
seize her; to be neglected, laughed at,
when you kROl0 you have reason on your
side"
Tom, who had set his heart on effect
ing cure, encouraged him to talk. The
man was an inventor, who had the bad
luck of his tribe-one OF his discoveries
had hean d;onovara1 alraadv hv soDa