Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-07-25

and to the left, as if half fearful lest some
one should see him, and grasping at the
bottle-drank
The fevered blood mounted to his cheek !;
strange sparkle came into his eyes.
"Have you got more like thaty' he
whispered, hoarsely, approaching his
burning lips so closely to the mans ear
that he involuntarily started. "MoreY
"I've got another flask, but"
evil you leave it behind? I'll pay
you good price for it,"
"What for?"
Israel's eyes fell guiltily. "In-in case
of sickness, you know. We can't buy such
liquor herc-and it's a lonely spot"
You're right enough there" said the
man, laughing, as he drew out another
flask, the mate to the first Here, take it,
Pshaw, friend, put up your purse. You're
welcome to it as a gift"
And lie was gone, plunging through the
high grass and bushes, all tringed with
scarlet cardinal-iiowers and nodding mari
colds, before Israel could stay him.
Israel Esmayne crept back to his house,
or, rather, the rude log-cabin which was a
sort of hostage that one day real home
should rise on its foundations, holding the
flat bottle close to him, and glancing
round with furtivc, wandering eyes.
II needed IT," he said to HIMSELF "yes,
| needed il. l didn't know how much
until | tasted it. Just ono more taste. 1t
slips over ones palate like glass, so
smooth, so rich, so full of strength. One
more taste, and then"
When the clock struck nine the whistle
of the way train sounded faint and far off,
and Israel Esmayne rose uncertainty to
his feet The subtle, burning fumes of
the liquid flame had entered into his
brain the walls seemed to reel about him,
the stars to swim in the great blue firma-
nent overhead. Nothing was real-all
was faint and far off and visionary. But
the chains of habit are hard to shake off ::
and Israel had gone out at nine o'clock
every night for year. Cropping his way,
and walking with slow, unsteady steps,
he went, still clasping the partially emp
tied flask to his breast in the inner pocket
of his coat.
He could hear the rush of the river be-
low; he could see the rails of the track
glistening in the faint starlight; and me-
chanically feeling under a cluster of
spice bushes for the switch key, he knelt
down and stupidity fumbled there an in
stant
THE way traln," he muttered to him
self "Its all right. And then the
freight train-halfpast nine-a quarter to
ten; and"
He stopped down by the river-house and
wet his burning forehead with the cool
drops he could scoop up in the hollow of
his hand. He sat down on fallen tree,
and let his head fall on his palms.
Am I-drunk ?" lie muttered, half
aloud. 80 God! have | come to this in
spite of everything?'
And the memory of Dorothy Beers and
his sacred promise to her rose up in his
mind, as one sometimes remembers prom
ises made to the dead. In all the wild,
wide, reeling, rocking world of his brain
there was but one certainty. He had lost
Dorothy, his soft-stepping, sweeteyed, re-
deeming angel-the one in all the world
who loved and trusted him most i'm
plicitly.
81 don't deserve her." lie thought,
scarce able to shape definite thought in
his chaotic mind; "but-if l had fallen
down dead before-before | touched that
accursed stuff! She would have believed
in me then"
The fresh, cool night air on his brow
was SOLDERING him little; the touch of the
cold river water cleared the mists of his
clOuded brain in some degree. He rose
up, steadyipg himself by the slender stem
of young white birch tree that grew
close beside him, and looked around
Hark a clear whistle, half a mile
away, cleaving the silence like the call of
some sweet-throated bird.
1t was the express, whose plume of
lurid smoke spanned half a continent
the long, serpent-like train, glittering
with lights, and carrying great eye of
fire in front, which mighty thundered over
the line of rails, and shot like meteor
out Of sight into the hush and silence of
the woods, Westward bound
The way train passed at nine, making a
brief stoppage at Hurstley station beyond,
a mere wooden shed with a platform on
either side. Half an hour afterward a
slow and heavy freight train followed it,
running off on side track toward the
river-shore until the express should have
safely passed. And it was the special
business of Israel Esmayne TO set the
switch for the freight, and subsequently
replace 1t for the hurrying express.
Had he done thisl
With an awful doubt poisoning hi:
heart, he pressed his hands to his temples
and tried to think. He had been there
he could recall just how the dewy rails
| looked, wet and glistening in the star
| light He had had the switch key in hi.
| hand-that he could also remember. Bu
was that before or after the freight haC
| switched off? He could not remember
whether the freight had passed or not. H(
! did not know whether he had locked thC
! switch twice or once, or, good Heavens
not at all. The past was a swaying
vacuum, the future strange and dream
! like. He closed his eyes, he pressed hi,
temples as if either hand had been vi
of iron, in the wild agonizing effort to re
call the last half hour.
so Godw he groaned aloud, as II,
threw himself on his face in the wet grass
"am going madP
Something hard struck against Iii
breastbone as he flung himself down: i
was the fatal flask. He tore it out, hal
full of dark red poison, and dashed
passionately into the bushes. 1t wa
that--that that had done all the mis-
chief
20 Heavenly Fatherp he cried aloud
in his great anguish, "if it pleases The
to avert from me this awful crime of muI
der done thousandfold-an naught bu
one of Thy miracles can avert it now
swear before Thy pavement of stars 4
touch that DEVILS broth no more! o God
hear mel o Christ, save mel"
The earth beneath his groyeling breas
thrilled and quivered as the express trail
flew over the rails, and Israel Esmayn
held his breath, momentarily expecting
the awful crash which should stain hi
soul with the eternal brand of Cain.
Hush An owl hooting aiar off in tn
woods, the cry of some sad-voiced night
bird overhead, and then-another whistle
clear and CHEEKY. The express had passe,
| through HurstleV-DasseQ thrOuUh SAT
and sound! And Israel Esmayne, stag
gered to his feet, gazed around him an in
slant, clutching vaguely at the air, an
then fell unconscious
"Uncle, he is coming to. Oh, uncle,
lNnew-l kRelo that he was not dead"
And the soft eyes of Dorothy Beers wer
| the firsi Ihinn Iernnl EamnNnD enVu ne hi