The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1871-06-29
NO.

olive :" and some oae groancd ."Yes."
BIsck with smoke, scorched by the
clnders We handled, We wen, at it oeain
and at last carnc to spct where the
beams bad made kind Of penthouse.
There, jammed together and half SUI.
focattd, but alive, were four men,, And
such yc!l went up as mo,tll e:r; never
neard before. -Four saved fouY saved
Aud we drew them cut aad gave them
70 doctors Then there WIS another
shout Dot.so loud, for we had come to
onc' ipscn,ible, jannc3 between two
logs He brcathcd though as soon as We
brought hi y to air.
o. Monday I was at work. 1t was
the third Of } u]y, and the Fourt', was,
OF course, to be holiday. 1t was hard
to keep TIE yoaoscr hands at wo,k.
they H'fe crazy abou: the Fourth, and
suppose every eno Of them had pis.
tol. | never cared fer banging st any
thing, and I should not have had one
even had l felt indiferentl,.
After supper Twas eeming back when
among the shadows, saw two figures
standing whispering together. l felt
IN a moment who they must be, and
got close enough to hear their voices.
Ooe was Annie May, the other Richard
James. I heard enough IN their parting
wo1ts :
"Ele7en will be the best time; the
moo' will be up BY then. I'll have the
carriage waiting under the two elms in
Baliwin's woods. Be certain about the
hour, for the down train starts 1T a
quarter to twelve. Good bye; God
bless you"
Not another word, but I knew the
whole. She was going off with Rich
ard James. She whom 1 loved SO The
enc ct all the world wbe had seemed to
love me. l heard bis firm tread die
away L heard her light footstep rustic
over The grass, and went back to the
werk-rocm, for We were to work until .
late hour that night.
Il wanted to get rid of m3 t;resome
lie. -
There was nothing left to live for-so
. it seemed TO me.
| At halfpast, ten I got tho chance
wanted, and slipped out. T was going
, to kill myself in Baldwin's woods, on
the dead log behind which tie frs,
spring viclets grew, and where we hid
sat so often since together.
The moon was just ,i>irg round and
yellow behind the black trees, and the
tactory windows were ablaze. AS !
SUNK by the office I saw Dir. Richard
r James there alone He was standing
exactly under swinging lamp. A try.
ing lamp for anybody bu, PIE ty face,
but lis as net hurt by it. Grea,
Heavens i! how handsome he I,okcd
ard how happy! ily blood boile / with
: jealousy and grief. I was as mad for a
moment as lunatic could be. My hand
went into my bosom and caught at =
pistol hidden there The next instaut |
hsd fired, taking aim at the handsome
head.
But it was not good aim. The ball
passed over its mark, and struck the
swinging lamp. I saw it fall, and a
great blaze sTr;ng up on the instant
and knew that the ircvork factory was
en- fire. That factory filled to the ro,1
with ex x?loSivc substances, and with q
hundred and fifty men and boys and
pretty, innocent girls, shut up within it.
walls. I do not know whether Satan
ever feels remorse, but if he does it
must he such as felt, hopeless, madden
ing, scorching.
The next moment there was hor.
rible report, and I was thrown into tie
air.
Not hurt, though. Lpickcd myself
up from the grass, and stood looking a,
my work. Hundreds of rockets and
blue lights. and wheels tossing aud fam
ing. Hundreds Of cannons seemed tc
be roaring, and over it all you could
hear screams-womcn's screams-and
l went down on my knees and prayed
"Ob, save her, save her to be his
wife to hate me-only save her."
People we're aocking in from the vii
lage. In the midst Of the widest tu-
rult some one caught my arm. l
turned-it vas Annie, aod beside her,
! white and trembling, stood Miss Red.
ford. -:
I "Oh, Seth-thank Gcd for this p
cried Annie; you are safe. Oh, dear
young lady try to hopc-ho may be
too."
| And then that beautiful Miss Red
ford sank on her kness before NE, and
clasped her HANDS and pray ed d'me to save
her Richard !!
|"I should have been Ills wife iu an
hour" she said. "Oh save my husband
my love, my life, my darling!
Tie truth rushed into my mind then
II saw all in my bind folly. I re-
membercd tho feud between the Red
fords and Williams family, and knew
that my Annie had only been helping
Miss Redford to meet and correspond
with her lover; that it would have been
better for mo to be dead.
| go out Of danger! ~ painted. "1'll
bring him to you or die with him !"