The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1871-03-16
-Ssleet Stora.
[Trom the New ZOE sIereary.l
From the New York Mercnry.l
THE PERJURED SON.
4 LEAF FKOSI THE DIARY OF A
PHYSIi IAN.
BY ISAAC EARN1ssE.

BY ISAAC EARNIssE.
| 1 was still quite a young man when 1
| first commenced practice in BrookYale, a
small but beautiful town IN one of our
Western States, and I have seen many of
its inhabitants, who, when first came
among them, were in their prime, become
gray and staff-ridden, and children, at
whose birth l attended, arrive at the es-
tate of man and woman.
Thus, it was but natural that should
become acquainted with the private his
tory of most of the inhabitants of Brook
vale and can truly aver that one need
not 60 to large cities to verify the old
saying that truth is stranger than fc-
tion"' 1sT
One of the most prominent men in
Brookvale, in point of wealth, was Colo
mel Benson. He lived, together with his
son Arthur, delicate youth of nineteen,
in the elegant brick mansion by the river
side. Colonel Benson's wife had been
dead for over nIns years. and their sole
domesties were housekeePef, an old wo-
man past sixty, and a man of all work
named Bill Purcell, one OF the most vii
famous and ill-favored looking fellows 1
ever came across. He was thought to be
somewhat deranged, for he was strangely
taciturn, and never spoke but in mono
syllables, except to his master.
Twenty years prior to the incidents
am about to relate, Col. Benson had been
will and reckless character Left
large fortune by his father, he soon man
aged to squander it, and he was on the
verge of almost total ruin when he sud
denly seemed to reform, and mended his
shattered fortunes by wedding Clara
Mortlake, lovely but delicate girl Of on
ly seventeen summers who was helress OF
a hundred thousand.
The neighbors averred that the mar
ried life of Mrs. Benson had been any
thing but happy one but, be that as it
may, her health visibly declined after
giving birth to Arthur, and when the boy
who had inherited his mothers delicate
condition, was only ten years Of age, she
expired, and left him motherless. s,
attended Mrs. Benson during her last
illness. When she knew that death was
near. she sent for lawyer and made her
will, to which was witness.
With q wise forethought-for it seems
she perfectly understood the character of
her husband-she had preserved her prop
erty in her own right, and now left it
equally divided between him and her son,
ArthuPs share being SO restricted that his
father could not touch a penny Of it dur
ing the minority of his son.
Shortly after the death of his wife, the
Colonel returned to his former wild and
reckless mode of life, and filled his home
with boon companions and men of the
most disreputable character, and amidst
revelries and earnivals which made the
pious people of Brookvale shake their
heads with dark forebodings, he passed
his time, and still seemed to go from bad
to worse
As for little Arthur, he had been sent
to boarding school, and then to college,
when, at the age of eighteen, he gradua-
ted with the highest honors, and came
home to reside with his father.
The young man was of an afectionate
and chnging disposition, and all the
wealth of his loving nature was twined
about his father, who IN turn lavished
upon him all the fondness Of which he
seemed capable; and notwithstanding the
difference of their inclinations and tenn
peraments, the two were almost insepara-
Bile.
had not crossed the Threshold of the
Bensons since the death of the Colonel's
wife, for there was something about the
man that forbade anything like famihari-
ty or friendship. - ,'''-
q Having met Arthur only the day be-
fore In good health, / was not little
shocked and astonished TO receive hasty
summons from the Colonel to come with
all speed, as his son was dyingl Leaving
everything followed the messenger, and 4
was soon at the Colonel's mansion. "a
/ was met at the door by Arthur's
father, who Immediately conducted me in
to his sons room, where found the
young man lying on his bed in a state of
insensibiity. On examining him, found
an ugly cash or wound on one side of
his head, which had the appearance of
having been inflicted by some blunt in
strument, but otherwise no marks of Vio-
lence on any other part of his person.
The head was swollen to almost twice its
natural size. After properly dressing it,
l then turned to the Colonel with an in
quiring look, which Immediately changed
INTO one of astonishment
The Colonel, who had always been
handsome, well proportional man, had
suddenly (as it seemed to me, to have
grown twenty years older, his face wore
an anxious, haggard look, painful to be-
hold, and his once glossy hair had turned
prematurely gray. He was deadly pale,
and trembled and shook like one stricken
with the palsy. -r.- &C.,. .-a--'
"Will he die, do you think, Doctor p
be uttered, in a gasping, hoarse voice, 3
world of anxious dread trembling in his
tone.
al cannot tell positively as yet" I re-
piled qbut it viii be hours before he
RECEIVERS consciousness" @
"But If worst comes to worst, do you
think that he will recover his speech2'
he asked, IN q tone of such involuntary
significance that it started me unpleas-
antly. BE
at is hard to tell but we will hope for
the best" answered coldly; for the mans
manner affected me In an unaecountable
way, and his tones harshly. grated upon
my feelings like the fling of q saw.
eident@ / suddenly asked.
The Coloners eyes visibly quailed un-
der my searching glance
HIn call Purcell he was with him
Whenhit occurred, and can give the par
tieulars better than l car" he replied, as
if anxious to evade answering himself
Purcell, the groom and man OF all
work, was o short, stout-built man,
whose face bore a bulldog like aspect;
while his eyes, which were of greenish
hue, had such cruel, Satanic CLEAN in
them that / quickly thought of the blood
thirsty crouching tiger. 1t was darkly
whispered that he had once been q pirate,
and that he only escaped the gallows
through the influence of Col. Benson; but
it was undoubtedly his ill-favored ap-
pearance, combined with his sullen taci-
turnity, which gave the foundation to
these wild stories.
"TeIl the Doctor how Arthur met with
this accident, Purcell, said the Col l2i'iis.
"Well, you see, Sir, !" responded Purcell,
addressing his master, young master and
me were out riding this morning, when
Arthur said as how he'd go round and see
the new home which you are Citing
built and right there by heap Of stones,
he got suddenly dizzy, and fell from his
horse, and struck his head against the
stones SO hard that he kept laying ike a
log, and had to carry him home"
Somehow the mans story did not salts
fy me, and leaving some directions ! left
promising to cali again soon, being i'm
pressed with the convection that Arthur
had been the victim of fOul play .--