New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-04-30

~ geHret toward M pAles soaseatngly
boanfff0l o0unfe1onoo.
alone, Of all that crowd, could interpret
that Raxc. l, know thet 81 that supreme
moment he cared naught e death was the
consequence, the hunger Of his heart must
Fortunately the eyes Of everyone else
wero hxed on her face, pale as marble ex-
cent An unnatural hectic streak Of color in
her cheek, with asingularly Offering fever
ish light in her eyes.
She had evidently braced her nerves with
some drug to 60 through this ordeal.
"Look ut the prisoner" said the prose-
the first time toward him, but his looks were
bent on his. own hands locked together in
his lap, nervously clasping and unclasping.
"Do you think he could have been guilty
of the murder!' said the prosecuting attor-
ney, and before could object to the ques-
ton, she had answered firmly:
mo, l do not"
And that reply had its influence with the
jury; - ,o .,,,, !, ;,
thought /, as my eyes followed her out of
the courtroom. 'She has passed through
this trial SO safely and firmly, giving her
testimony without faltering, saying just
enough and not too much, as a woman is SO
apt to do-her evidence has saved his life. J"
And 30 it proved. He was cleared, de-
clared not guilty-that is, net proven. But
in the minds of many the perplexing doubt
remained: 'If he is not the murderer, who
can BET"
Here was a man murdered on q bright
moonlight night, before bedtime, in a civ
ilized community, and the murderer has van
ished as completely as if the earth had
swallowed him up!
But the steady march Of time, that oblit-
crates all the ravages of crime, passed on,
and the occurrence faded out of the minds
of most Of the community.
Overwhelmed with a multiplicity of other
business, the occurrence was almost forgot
ten, until several years after, / heard the
conclusion.
After the trial was over, when the necessi-
ty for self possession was passed, young Nor
ton seemed to lose all his calmness and ac-
custOmed good spirits. He sank into mel
ancholy and gloom. The suspicious Of his
neighbors, not entirely removed from their
minds, were, he said. more than he could
bear, and one day, in fit Of despair, he
committed suicide.
But to no one but the woman he loved
did he reveal the fatal truth. He left few
lines addressed to her, in which he said it
was not the GOODNESS of his Friends, but his
own burning, guilty conscience that drove
him to the deed.
He. and he alone was guilty Of the muir
der. The demon Of temptation had attacked
him suddenly when alone with the old man
that night, with the thought Of how COM
pletely he was in his power, and how easily
he could step into his place, his fortune, the
possession Of his wife-hOw easily it could
be done, and he never suspected.
That after he had struck the first blow he
would have given worlds to have recalled
it, but it was begun and must be finished,
he must live to tell no tales.
How superhuman was his GOODNESS and
selfpossessicn, when he went to his guilty
rendezvous, to betray no hurry, no agita-
ton, nor excitement, acting in such a
manner that the woman who had the most
cause to believe him guilty, knowing his
motive, believed him innocent. Was not
that retributiou for her! To learn that he
had come directly with his hands red with
the blood of her husband to her embrace
And to know that she was the cause of all
this. She, with her stronger mind, her
powers of will, her fatal beauty, to tempt
this weak. yielding, unbalanced nature be-
yOnd his strength. just to crafty her own
vanity, her love of excitement and flirta-
ton, she had led him downward with guilty
love, murder. despair, madness and suicide.
And she WAS to endure the consciousness Of
all this. Hers was not a nature that could
sink under its burden of guilt and remorse
and find refuge in suicide.
All this dallying with temptation, this
apparently innocent Irritation. is like stand
ing on the seashore and tempting the rosy
tinted waves.
IT'S fascinating-there can be no danger
in allowing the ripples to creep to our very
feet, but linger too long, and suddenly and
unexpectedly the black and bowling waves
arise and drag US down to unfathOmable