St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-02-16


support even for one of my slender
frame. 1t WAS not to be hanging, then.
To one end of the rope he attached a
weight, and raised it by pulling the
other six oI eight feet from the floor
The loose end he secured to the sink.
Was he mad Did he mean to draw
me under this weight and send ne out
of the world i'll novel way by letting
it fall and dash my brains out To
the sink end he attached Il long, yellow
string. Under the weight, on the floor,
he placed the can of nitro glycerine |
recognized the yellow string; it was Il
fuse, and it would burn III sixty min
ute$. IT would run across the marble
slah-thcrc was NO hope of igmiting any
substance that would warn my friends.
''Do YOU begin to see through it -
asked Joe Johnsun's brother.
believe cursed him with my eyes.
could only breathe through my nos
trllS, and great veins We're swelling and
gr0Nng hot in my forehead.
Drawing Il match from his pocket, he
lighted and applied it to the fuse: that
little tyrant that gave Il man an hour
to live, and kill him at the end Of it
that little, Irresponsible terror that less
nIclcitul than Providence. told man
the second he WAS to die. if fright and
horror spared him To itself. Slowly the
flames crept. SNAKE like. around the
tWinc
"ln one hour" said the prisoners
''Nou will be in heaven or hell. | will
watch with y"u for half an hour. and
the other half you viii spend alone"
He sal down some minutes i'll chair
watching the hamc. Then he arose
and took Il piece of porcelain, with the
mundrrrI'- name thereon. from the ta-
bile and shook his head glo"mily.
Il am chemist enough To know ii is
arsenic" he sand "lcS. those bright.
metallic eyes. Il BETRAYAL of the guilty
Science. thou w"uld>t Kill my brother
thou shalt save him. Let Us see in
whose hand thou AT most pow Wciful.
Here j. u man Whu. 10y thy aid. bids the
poison >plitr umi>r and write III bril-
liant characters Il foul confession on
this piece of porcelain. But hrh"ld.
. science 1t Is II" >"oncr written than
hl the Nold thr whole confession and
thy chosen >crNa ant are :umihiiatcd.
Let the good professor use his chrmi
can of mirr"-@ll crIinr.
heard this speech. indeed: but
great heavens, il MAS IN, eyes aud not
my ears that wrrr busiest then: for he
meath the table. r">cIrd hl Il crimson
cloth, and which faced. Appealed the
face ut Il child. The hIir N.I> Iumpled.
and the blue ryc- we've iu~t opening
from sleep. The intelligent forehead
WAS wIlmkl,d strangely. 1t MAS my
boy Billy. WAS afraid hr would cIl
"papa." If he did, the implncahl, man
would add the murder of the child I"
the murder of th, father
But my hnN heard none of this. lic
had. >upp">'.. clrpt under the table
unknown to me-. and had fallen asleep
there. tlcd To- tell the little fellow
Ia hide again and wait foI the final
half hour when my tnrmcutur would h,.
gone. Whether he understood me, "l
not aided 10y what he heard. did not
know. bat hr quickly Withdrew his lit
tie head. til>t kissing his hand lightly
at me. and then shaking his fist At the
schrmrl watching :" hcllig,rcmtly hi>
dumb illt agents.
The halt hour N"rc SLOWLY away. Oh.
heavens What agony did | ~jttrI Not
tuI my sell. hat for my child. \ Slight
noise might di>vuNrI his presence: the
match nn-hr run it. tctlIt'l >uoucr thHu
VAS, r\lrr,tcd he might hr murdered
ar blown {" at"m>.
The tu~,. burned on ON. / he halt
h"ul i up. he hr"thl "l the mHl
d,r.I arises t" -. Joy
c"rmnit ,"ur s"nl Ia G"d'~ keep
/ M. he said "luu h"ld the eN idcnc,
! If M. hrrlhrI'- gdiit .p"thiun cau save
lnu new.
" itir that IL, turned tu takr hi hat
from oil the tail, covered with the
/ crimson CLOTH, hruriitm which hid my
/ priceless boy. Something attlart,d hi-
/ attention He held "ut his hands and
leaned forward. | thuught Ia, had di~
covered hN h",. No: hr MAS IiItir.
s"mcthin" in cith,l htnd the wires "t
the electric battery la nnolht, instant
my h"N had lc.,rcd tl"u rn,lcI thr t.,
bic. and Wds tlnHIn:r the, rl.ni, fast IN,
turinu>lN.
The mmdrIrI'~ hiuthcl Na> in IT,,
p"Wrl of my boy lie could not dl"I
th, wires; he Vas helpless. How my
hoy ci,i for help The old r"lltg,
Tng with his voice. I'hc pli>nnel !
brother added his voice to my hu}'s il
his agony. He begged. he ht~ccchtd
all his nerves were rackcd great wave
! al galNdnlSm ltdpcd, >urGed, trcmhlcI
and II1cd over every sensitive nerve
and fibre. Still my hoy Was intteXihlt
and shouted and turned faster. lnpci
crived upon the marble. in track of tn,
milming fuse. was pool of imtiammahl,
oil. In an instant great length burn
ed away. 1t would last just five min.
utes and no more
"Fathrr" shoutcd my hoy, III no as
sistnncc comes, this villain must iii,
with as. / dare not let him free. Help
help, help
Alas could not answer him.
Thank Cod, But some on, else did
The fuse Is burnt mp. The rope is ol
tire the nitl"- gl>ccIinr The do"
opens: Tom richards. on Il midmigh
visit to the sick. has heard the cry h,
comprehends all seilc> the can in hi
hand; the weight dtSCtndS indeed bu
not on the death dealing oil. No: dowl
it goes. through the office floor down
down. like an evil spirit, to give hacl
Il dull metallic echo from the stones u
the cellar beneath.
We are saved
Joe johnson. the prisoner, was hang
ed hut his brother remains unpunish
ed bN the law. for he stabbed hinrSel
with knife, and thus escaped the hang
mans nope.
A Little Mistake