Nebraska advertiser., 1878-05-16
No was the answer, and her heart

/
sunk like lead within her. No; ]
am a stranger-have lost my way
you must let me In
Il can not-can nOtl l am a poor
lone woman. l dare not let You in.
You need have no fear. AS there
is God in Heaven, 1 will not harm
you. / am an escaped convict-an
innocent one-ahd as you have mer.
cy in your heart open the door
When was such an appeal made to
an Irish heart i'm vain? An escaped
convict; aud wanting succor? That
is a talisman to open every door-to
! have the last pOtatoe or bite of bread
forced into the hungry mouth. Yes,
IL is truly the open sesame to an Ir-
ish heart, and it operated so in this
case.
The woman arose, opened the door,
gave the fugitive food, and having
again received his assurance that he
would do her no harm, but on the
contrary protect her, and having also
seen him stretch himself upon the
floor before the remnant of the peat
fire, she again sought the side of her
sleeping children.
But even then she was not allowed
to rest. AT first her fears kept her
awake. Then came another rap for
admission, and both she and her
strange visitor arose.
rs this part of your gang?' she ask
ed in trembling whispers.
Il call Heaven to Witness he an
swered, soImnly. that such is not the
case. Ask them what they want
She did so and was told that they
knew she had money in the house,
and were determined to have 1t.
Tell them, whispered the stranger,
that you have friend with you, and
that it will be dangerous for them TO
enter
L have friend here, she said going
close to the door, "a man who will pro-
tect me, and you had better not try to
get in
L know better laughed a female
voice-that of Bridget, the servant
girl. Il know that there is no one ex-
cept the children
What shall I-what shall I do?'
asked the poor woman, wringing her
hands.
Tell them. again said the stranger
that have pistols, and will shoot the
first one that dares to step his fool
within the door. God help me-! ]
would not have blood upon my hands
but promised to protectyou with my
life, and 1 will. Warn them yet once
more
Bridget shouted Mrs O'Brien, 'the
friend have here has pistols. and will
certainly kill you. 1 warn you to &c
away
Again the bold, bad laugh of the
servant girl rang out, and her voice
could be distinctly heard urging them
on.
It's only talking they are. Divil a
one is there in the cabin but the chill
dren. Break down the door. and be
done withit. tell you there's more'n
a hundred pounds hidden between
the BEDS
Stand back, whispered,the convict
to HE hostoss 'Thair hlnnd ho upon
their.own heads
Scarcely had the words been uttered
before heavy blows fell upon the door,
and made it tremble on its hinges.
The self appointed protector stood a
little to one side, calm and firm. In
either hand he held a pistol. and his
manner showed that he was no stran.
ger to their use.
Down with the door, shouted
Bridget, or else stand aside and give
me the AK
A shower of heavy blows, and it
fell. The false servant girl entered, f,
and dropped with bullet buried in
her brain. The foremost of the men
met the same fate. and the others
fled. They had quite enough of
blood-shed.
To leave the helpless woman thus,
was not to be thought of by the stran-
ger, and though prison or transporta-
ton stared him in the face, he COM
forted her as well as possible, straight
ened the corpses, and then fastening
to the nearest magistrate, told the en-
tire story, not even denying who and
what he was.
The facts were too evident to even
bear questioning. and as a reward of
his bravery the convict was pardoned
subsequently found to have been
convicted innocently, and when the
husband and father returned, was re-
ally persuaded to emigrate with the
family to the land of the free and the
home of the brave
Now in one of the western states,
Terrence O'Brien has house by the
side of a beautiful river, and not far
from it is another where the once fu-
gitive convict has a wife and children
of his own to protect, and both families
will give as an heirloom to their de-
scendants the little but true story, of
how pardon was won.
Chicago Inter Ocean: The phono-
graph grows more wonderful. An ex-
hibition was lately given at the Acad-
emy of Music in Philadelphia. and |