American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-09-14
VOL. XXII.

VOL. AAll.
Instead of seeking worthy field to ris,
in the world, through persevering in
dustry, or the pursuit of some prOfitabl,
object in life, young Earl became NOR,
and more depressed in mind, and wa;
known to frequent company of NJ
reputable position i'm society, in spite o
the circumstances of his foster-father, the
good padre. Whether instigated by som,
low associate, or of his own motion, he
conceived the plan ofinfluenciag Don An
tonic to give him the hand of Dona Lus.
cinda in marriage. through the comics
siOnal, being well aware that the young
lady's father was not only piOus, but big
Oted, and not little superstitious. Don
! Antonio was accustomed to perform his
EASTER duties'' with great punctuality
and that season was drawing to a close.
In order to avoid the crowd. he usually
sought the 8 tribunal of repentance" in
the evening of Good Friday. At least. so
he chose to do on this particular occasion,
sending a written request to the priest to
be in attendance at an hour named. The
note fell into the hands of young Earl,
who read it; and instantly the resolution
was formed to personate the priest. and so
work on the fears of Don Antonio to
grant the object he had in view. The
. CONFESSIONAL was dark box in one
corner of the church, which was very
rarely lighted. beyond toe feeble, flicker
| ing flame of the sanctuary lamp before
the distant altar, quite hidden in the deep
embrasure of the vault-like chancel of the
sacred edifice. To make sure of the padre,
| the young man sent him on a distant sick
call, half an hour before the expected ar
rival of Don Antonio.
| Scarcely had he assumed the priestly
robes of the Father, and placed himself in
the confessor's half of the confessional.
when the wealthy penitent arrived.
kneeling few moments upon the mar
BILE floor, he entered the box.
ssSay the 'confteor,'" said the false
priest, in the very tones of the true one.
''Mea culpa! mea marina culpa"' re-
piled the penitent.
$50 on with your confession. / will
advise you when 1 have heard your sins
disclosed
'sShall make general confession this
year. Father?''
'sYes, if you choose. have forgotten
your last confession"
'sWell, to begin: have as yet been I'M
able to make restitution of that money!
''What mOney?'
tsDo you forget so soon? Heretofore
you had always borne it uppermost in
your mind. Imean the money borrowed
and never paid to old Earl, the banker.
God have mercy on him ~
''How much was it?''
'.FOrty thousand dollars, interest be-
sides: but you agreed to let me off with
that
The false confessor could hardly con-
troll his emotions. With the utmost diff
ficulty, he continued:
''YOu must restore that treasure to
young Earl without delay, or l shall de-
nounce you to him as debtor of his ia
ther's-a fact which 1 know outside of
the confessional. You must, moreover,
give the hand of your daughter to the
young man, now your creditor for such
considerable amount
''But, Father, you surely forget very
strangely-yOur memory used to be bet
ter. You know l can do no such thing.''
Here the sacrilegiOus wretch trembled
so with emotion that he could scarcely
restrain betraying his disguise. His knees
trembled, his heart seemed to stick in his
throat, and his breathing became hard
like the painting of one in the agonies of
terror. He pretended to be absorbed in
in prayer, in order to gain time and COM
pose his excited nerves. An Overwhelm-
infamous researches into the sacred con-
fidence of the penitent. Had the latter
been person of the least penetration, he
would have discovered the cheat.
Explain the reason why not" con-
tinued the false priest.
" w
the false information against the poor
banker. You know l denounced him as
traitor against the Imperial government;
it was L that suborned the witnesses, in
order to save myself from the clutches of
the banker, to whom l owed the money.
He or 1 had to be sacrificed so L chose TO
compass his ruin, in order to save myself
Besides the fact of my daughter being
pledged to another, loving and beloved,
she shall not be the price of blood. She
can not marry my unfortunate enemy. for
it was l that murdered William Earl!
Iturbide's minions fired the bullets, but l
was the real assassin! God have mercy
on my SOUL"
The attendants of Don Antonio became
impatient over their masters seemingly
interminable devotions. Jose, the coach
man, remarked to a companion that ''hiS
OLD master must have big balance to
clear off this time, if his stay in the church
meant any thing"
''Well, you know what the padre said
last Sunday, that a man could only COM
nit Just so many sins then the devil got
him sure.'
.'Well, the devil take my master if l
wait another mnute!'' Scarcely had the
servants come to this conclusion, when
they observed the good padre advancing
along the street in front of the church,
evidently arriving from a long walk.
why. dtneT- SsilU Jose. we Thought
You were cOntessing Don AntOniO!"
'.Don Antonio? Where is he? In the
church ?'' With that the priest and two
servants entered the church-the former
proceeded to the sacristy for a candle. On
reaching the confessional, an awful sight
met their astOnished gaze. Before them
on the floor lay the body Of Don Antonio,
his head on the raised platform of the con-
fcssional. and the body on the marble
pavement. He had been stabbed twice
through the heart with a small pom
lard, which was found lying near
the inanimate corpse. The mus
pool of slippery blood upon the now ac-
cursed spot. The alarm was given, but
the ;:ssassins or murderers were never dis
covered, and the circumstance was vari-
Ously interpreted by the people, while the
dreadful end of Don Antonio remained
the nine-days' wonder of the Mexican cap
ital, rich i'm histories of rapine and
bIoodshed. Young Earl was not for a
moment suspected of the crime. He dis
played no signs of guilt, or the least emo
ton beyond what would have been natuI-
rally expected from a sutton of the MUIR
dered mans daughter. That the murder
had been committed with his poniard was
well known to the padre, but how or
wherefore he could not explain. The
priest, however. suspected his foster-son.
One day young Earl and the padre We're
closetcd in the good mans study for
hours. When they, at last, came out of
the room, they were both in tears. The
last words ever uttered between them
were:
go. my son. and join the army fight
ing for the best interests of our country.
Lay down your life for the republic, il
IL ha will ha taf f,rI