Litchfield enquirer., 1876-11-02

and came back to her fathers feet. stOk
 spare him. father, spare him-for m
 sake Let me be slain in his place v
 Poor lamb. who offerest myself for tn
 sacrifice Thou knowest not what tho
 sayest, Ruth
 ''For 8ag sake. father-my saker'
 May, were he my own son. as I sai,
 before, would not spare him, either fo
 my sake or yours. And I would CUTS
 with a fathers curse the child who dare,
 interfere with my sentence
 The old mans voice had grown terrible
 his eyes flashed; he was not thinking o
 poor little Ruth then. Perhaps he wa
 thinking of some dark event of his owl
 past which had made him what he was.
 Ruth guailed and sank before him t.
 the ground. The pitying sisters raise.
 her in their arms. But, ere they coul,
 bear her away. the grave Miriam came forward. 'sRuth," she said, gently, talk
 ing her hand, ''stand down on your fee one moment, my child" The girl obey ed. elf you have anything to say t.
 Herndon, now, Ruth, now, saoaU, for tht last time, Ruth; your father cannot re strain you," she whispered; at the sam, time she led the young girl swiftly across the small enclosed space until they stood close to the doomed man. For Marian alone. of all that company, knew the SC cret of these two.
 The girl, pallid as death itself, looked up into the face of Richard Herndon. Miriam sustained her She was small fragile creature, her large eyes were strain ed wide open with fear, like the eyes of a hunted hare, her little lips were parched her breath came in gasps. Her small head-the arched head of the timid and highly reverent temperaneut-lay back against the elder woman's arm; it almost seemed as though she would die there, looking mutely upward into her lover's face. Yes, her lover; and she loved him But the horror of 8 crime and of fa' ther's curse lay between. The man read her face like the open page of book, and, loving her as he did, he pitied her, and with an inward malediction upon wo. mans innate weakness, he helped her to turn from him by cold and vicious look which suited we'll murderer's counte- closed her eyes. She had had her mo. ment, and she spoke not. The sisters came forward, and bore her away faint. ing; Miriam stepped back into the shad- OW.
 The elder felt constrained to offer an apology for his daughter. ''She is but a child," he said, too fragile for such scenes as this. Small wonder that her heart failed her, and that nervous inco- herence overcome her speech. Pardon the maid, brethren; she knew not what she did"
 There was pause The old man bow ed h1s head for a moment; they saw that he prayed. When he lifted his face again, 1t was set to fulfill all his purpose. "Let the dead be covered" he said,
 Two of the brethren stepped forward and reverently drew the blanket over the slain man. Herndon had withdrawn lew paces, and stood leaning against a rec; he seemed to scorn making any fur 'her attempt, or even speaking again. 'I wish I had cigar, though" he thought, with the insouciance which natures like lis feel when they have made up their binds to accept fate and struggle no lon
 Richard Herndon, your crime IS mur- Ter; it's penalty is death By the legal power hold, by the authority I wield over you as member of this society, and oy the law of Jehovah, now pass sen- ence upon you; and seeing that we have 10 proper prison, and that each day is filed to tLe full with our mission duties. [ now decree that at dawn you be led :orth and hanged from a convenient tree lntil life be extinct. And may God have mercy upon your soul!"
 Herndon did not speak; he looked around the circle contemptuously. "A nice lot of executioners, "he thought. The elder turned and repeated the sentence to he Indians. Ruth might get pistol to ne if she tried, some time during the 1ight,' thought Herndon. ''and at least save me from hanging. Why do women never think of such rhings?' But poor little Ruth would have considered it mortal sin to aid man in taking his own life under any circumstances. In New England, fifty years ago, burial at four with a stake through the heart, was still the popular verdict upon felo- desc. The Indians had given their ugh, "ugh," of assent, the council was about to break up, the brethren advanced to lead away the prisoner, when, ''Walt, friends, 1 have word to speak" said a woman's voice. It was Miriam. She came forward to the center of the group, the only woman present: the others had gone with Ruth The circles were broken; the white men and Indians looked at her and pressed nearer. She stood among them--a tall, dark skinned clad in the plain garb of the sis ters. In her everyday life she spoke rarely, save when engaged in her teach CTS work; she was counted especially holy by all With the far-off, faintly cool ho- Illness of some distant star, however, very different from the fervid, loving piety of the other sisters who were wives, and the gentle, girlish religion of fair Ruth. The brethren esteemed Miriam; but they were also somewhat afraid of her. They felt that she was almost too saintly for mis- sion such as theirs-a mission of common human life, where husbands and wives lived and labored together in the same good cause; they thought that her place should be higher, among those who had altogether the joys of this life, and who lived as the angels lived. The elder counted Marian as almost on lev el with men, so far above the weaknesses of her sex she seemed to him. She was the one woman to whom he paid mute respect; in all his life the only one; for Ruth's mother has been, as Ruth was now, q fragile little creature, fitted for love and timid obedience
 Friends" said Miriam. breaking the grave surprised silence, ''you have. done justly in sentencing this man to death; in- deed, you could do no less He is gull ty of great crime.
 Herndon looked at the speaker with in. difference. She was the one woman at the mission for whom he felt dislike. He was kind to women by Dature, and liked them without effort; but his idea was that they should be either pretty or gentle tempered. This woman was neither. He said to himself. ''She wants to try her hand at a speech. as sge.7-<
 Having duly performed your part ac- cording to law," continued Marian, Il ask you to suspend the execution of this mans sentence, brethren, and give him tc me- -- rel r s-r.. F There was murmur of astonisnment Herndon himself drew back, darkly frown' ing. What was this woman to him?
 You have custom" said Marian, turning to the Indians, and speaking 1T their tongue, s'that when man is con demned to die, if woman will come for,
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