Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-07-20
sprang to her feet and faced me

/ LNCfCt blAC OiiC03 anu knNh lOA
lowed such torrent of reproach a
| l hope a parent may never hea
again. Then came the story of he
betrothal. | glanced at Mary. Sh'
sat as if transfixed. Not a tear wa
visible in her eyes, the deadly pallo
| of her face alone telling her terrible
grief it was white, rigid and set al
marble while strange expression o.
mingled woe and terror oversprea(
it. Bessie must have caught th'
look for she stopped abruptly ant
the color left her face. At that mo
ment a wild demoniac laugh and ar
unsteady step was heard without
the door opened and Arthur stagger
ed in, falling PROSTATE upon the floor
A piercing shrek broke from my
wife's lips /; / sprang forward just il
time to receive her in my arms
When Arthur entered so beastly
intoxicated, it proved too much +; the
spell had broken and she fell forward
her hand clutching wildly at hel
heart, and dark purple stream CUR
gled from her mouth. l carried the
lfeless form to her room and laid il
tenderly upon the bed. / then re-
turned to the parlor for Bessie's as
sistence; but the room was empty
Arthur had recovered sufficiently tC
stagger from the house into the
street but where was Bessie ? Nc
one knew but Townsend, and when
| accused him of her abduction, he
swore revenge for the insult. Then
l was fully convinced of his villainy
l knew him guilty.
| About this time robberies became
a frequent occurrence Vigilence
Committee was formed to deal jus.
tice to the offenders. Arthur and
Harry grew desperate ever return.
ing home under the influence OF
liquor. Mary grew worse, daily, and
no news came from our missing
Bessie. Townsend still remained
holding the boys under his heavy
influence, and leading them on to the
brink AYE, casting them over the
awful brink ofruint
One day our town was startled by
the cry of Murder = | saw the
murdered man with the blood still
oozing from his heart, and / prayed
that the murderer might suffer the
laws severest penalties. They were
caught-there were two of them.
They were 20 be hung on the NOR
rows dawn without any trial. Every
body crowded forward to see the
victims. heard murmur of sur
prise run through the throng: a
vague terror seized me and | hurried
home to my wife. She was very ow
and the slightest disturbance wold
prove fatal. l sat down by the bid
and watched her every motion. SUD
denly there came tramp of man!
feet and confused murmur Of
voices. Mary opened her eyes with
a moan. The door opened and an
excited mob entered bearing pros
trate form from which the blood
dripped at every step. Mary raised
herself with strong effort and
looked towards the door. Her pierre
ing cry froze me to the spot 'Ar
thur, Arthur God Arthur
That was all. When | was arousd
from the stupor into which | hd
fallen, a purplish hue had settled ur
on her face, she was dead. turnd
away. 1t was growing dark andI
was alone, alone with the dead. |
essayed to cross the room, but stua-
bled and fell, my hand striking
something that sent chill creeping
through my veins. | held it to tie
dim light, it was blood Then it IL
came back to me. Arthur had ben
one of the murderers and had take
his own life. A strange madness
seized me. l grasped for light AMI
then wrote to Townsend. Oh ! sucl
a letter! May mortal man neva
again be called upon to write its Sc
quel-I a0r0te &c in Arthur'S blood
The dawn was breaking when agar
/ recovered my senses so as to re
member. l found myself walking
through the street destitute of ha
and coat. A loud shout was what
reused met was the murderer
execution ! l quickened my pace
and hurried on to get sight of the
doomed man. AS / entered the
crowd hand clutched my arm and
a voice Kissed in my ear Talk O.
another's villainy-of ruin {! See, thit
is a sweet revenge ha hal 1t was
Townsend. l raised my eyes to the
scaffold. The victim was Harry, my
darling Harry I heard a shout; the
crack of timber saw the scaffold
descend and Harry was in eternity
Townsend hooking laugh rang in
my ears; darkness closed around and
l knew no more. When / re
covered the crowd had partially dis
persed ; the remainder had gathered
around the dead body of my boy. ]
made my way toward them /; they
parted and l entered. Kneeling be-
side that stiffened form, / placed one
hand upon the boyish brow now dark
and purple raised the other to
heaven and called upon God to wit
ness and help me to fulfill my vow,-
twas vow to take the life of the
perpetrator of that deed /; whose
hand had murdered my wife and
boys, and tore my daughter from me.
They dragged me away and again
all was oblivion. Weeks past be-
fore recovered. | had been kindly
cared for by one of our neighbors.
Mary, Harry and Arthur, were buried
in the cemetery at the head of this
lake where our town stands. Town
send was gone and no news from
Bessie. When / was sufficiently
recovered, / started for the noun
tains fully equipped for hunters
life, and strong determination to
fulfill my VOW in ayenging Harry's
ignominious death.
Two years passed by. One morn
ing / was ascending a mountain
toward small plateau where l had
seen, the night before, a small white
1 tent