Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1873-07-30

taste, and then"
When the clock struck nine the whistle
Of the way.train sounded faint and far of
and Israel Esmayne rose uncertainty TO hi.
feet. The subtle, burning fumes Of the IL
quid fame, had entered into his brain the
walls seemed to reel about him, the stars tc
swim in the great blue armament over.
head Nothingwa real-al was faint and
far of and visionary. But the chains Of
habit arc hard to shake of and Israel had
gone out at nine o'clock every night for a
year. Cropping his way, and walking with
slow, unsteady steps, be went, still clasping
the partially emptied flask to his breast in
the inner pocket Of his coat.
lie could hear the rush Of the river be.
low; he could sec the rails Of the track
glistening in the faint starlight; and me.
chanicaly feeling under a cluster of spice.
bushes for the switch key, he knelt down
and stupidity fumblcd there for an instant
Tho way.train," he muttered to him
self. " Itsall right. And then the freight
train halfrast nine--a quarter to ten
and"
Tie stopped down to tho riyer-shore and
wet his burning forehead with the cool
drops he could scoop up in the hollow Of his
hand. lie sat down on a fallen tree, and
let bis head fall on his palms
"Am | drunk 2" he muttered, half aloud
o God have | come to this in spite Of
eyerything}'
And the memory of Dorothy Beers and
his sacred promise to her rose up in his
mind, as one sometimes remembers promises
made TO the dead. In all the wild, wide,
reeing, rocking world Of his brain there
was but one certainty. lie had lost Doro-
| thy, his solt-stepping sweet-eycd, redeem
ing angel-the one in all the world who
loved and trusted him most implicitly.
don't deserve her, he thought, scarce
able to shape definite thought in his chaotic
mind but but if had only fallen down
dead bciorc--belorc had touched that ac-
cursed stuff She would have believed in
me them
The frcs' cool night air on his brow was
SOLDERING him little; the touch of the cold
riyer-wator cleared the mists Of his clouded
brain in some degree. lie rose up, steady.
ing himself by the slender stem of a young
white-birch tree that grew close beside him,
and looked around
Ilark A clear whistle half a mile
away, cleaying the sisnce like the call Of
some sweet.throated bird
It was the express. whose plume Of lurd
smoke spanned half contnent-the long,
serpent-like train, glttering with lights,
and carving a great eve of fire in front,
which nightly thundered over the rails
and shot like meteor out Of sight into the
hush and silence of the woods. Westward
hound.
The vay-train passed at nine making
brief stoppage at Hurtslev station beyond.
a mere wooden shed with a platform on
either side. Half an hour afterward
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 especial
business of Israel Esmayne to set the
switch for the freight. aud subsequently re.
place it for the hurrying express.
Had he done this?
With an awful doubt poisoning his heart,
he pressed his hand to his temples and tried
to think. He had been there he could re-
call lust how the dewy rails looked. wet
and clistennr in the starlight. He had
had the switch kew in his hand that he
could also remember. But was that before
or after the freight had switched Off He
could not remember whether the freight
had passed or not. He did not know wheth-
er he had locked thoowitobes 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 his temples as if either hand had
been a wise Of iron, in the wild agonizing
effort to recall the last half hour.
90 Cod" he groaned aloud, as he threw
himself on his face in the wet grass, "am
going mad 2'
Something hard struck his breast bone
as he flung himself down; it was the fatal
poison, and dashed it passonately into the
bushes 1t was that-tbat that had done
all the mischief
90 Heavenly Father he cried aloud,
in his great anguish, "if it please Thee to
avert from me this awful crime Of murder,
done a thousandiold, and naught but one of
Thy miracles can avert it now--I swear
before thy pavement of stars to touch that
DEVILS broth no more! o God, hear me
o Christ. save me
The earth beneath his groveling breast
thrilled and quivered as the express train
flew over the rails, and Israel Esmayne
held his breath. momeutarily expecting the |
awful crash. which should stain his soul
with the eternal brand of Cain.
Hush An owl hootiug afar off in the
woods, the cry Of some sad-yoiced night
bird overhead, and theu-another whistle,
clear and CHEEKY The express had passed
through Hurstley-passed through safe and
sound And Israel Esmayne, staggering
to his feet. gazed around him an instant,
clutching vaguely at the air, and then fell
unconscious.
's Uncle, he is coming to. Oh, Uncle
knew knelr that he was not dead "
And the soft eyes of Dorothy Beers were
the frs. thing Israel l,smayne saw as his
soul came out of the world of shadows and
oblivion. wrh old Jonathan leaning on his
cane lust beyond.