The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-12-09
as We are. Yell go before them to-day
"a I'll make We navin s5s-

and quietly watched the wfetched ,erea.
lures who crowded around the men; their
wild eyes, their famished faces, their
trembling bodies clad in the dirty rags
which were their sole protection from
The cold. And as I glanced from them
to the frozen windew-panes and the sleet
which fell, covering with a thin crystal
sheet the curb-stone Of the street, my
heart turned sick. y,
HPoor, miserable, haH-starved
wretchesf' Il Thought, "most of you will
have sore hearts tonight, for you will
loose your little nil, God hetp you'll and
there will be nothing but starvation
isftw ar go .4L..t.
Heartsick at the sight of so much woe
which was utterly pOwerless to relieve,
l arose and was about to leave the room,
when my eye was suddenly arrested by q
figure, ragged, wild and woe-begone,
which erouched close up by the window.
Five minutes before, ! had seen This man
crouched like stricken beast before the
agent, his skeleton hands outstretehed
his parcheh lips suing for mercy.
'For the love Of God, Tony Monaghan,
niver be hard on poor boy" he said
call my potatoes had the black disease
this year, and they rotted in the ground.
My pig took the sickness and died. ]
have two little children down wild fe-
yer, and If ye take away my COW Pll'have
no dhrap Of milk to give them, and
they'll die!" .f -'
This appeal, heart-breaking as it was,
had met with the usual repulse:
Don't bring yer lies to me. You'll
so before them as IL make We payv'
So the man had crept back into the
shadow, and, as I saw him crouched be-
side the window noticed that the pite-
Gus look of appeal had left his face; his
features were strangely convulsed, his
wild eyes cleaned, and his hand clenched
and unClenched IN nervous dread.
"Ihat man means mischief" said, as
l passed out into the street. .-...-,
At 2 o'clock the tenants cases were to
'be called on, and, rs the hands Of the
clock approached that hour, made my
way through the crowded streets in the
direction of the court. The wind blew
bitterly, thin flakes of snow were falling,
and as I walked / felt the ice cracking
and breaking beneath my feet. noticed
to my wonder that the streets through
which I passed were almost de.
serted. Presently a succession of
moans and cries struck upon my eur,
then 1 noticed that people were
running excitedly, and, following
the direction which they took, / at
length found myself on the outskirts Of
a great crowd which was collected in the
principal street, before the open door of
the court. Seeing my own servant
among the throng, questioned him as
to the cause of the excitement, for L
noticed that many OF the people were
wringing their hands, Others moaned
feebly, while others glared around them
with wild eyes, and then seemed to utter
sighs of relief. Instead Of replying to
my question, Shawn teok me by the
shoulders and gently propelled me into
the middle of the throng.
There | saw the cause of the disturb
ance. @r' 4
Lying on the curbstone, his head sup
ported in the arms Of a policeman, his
face open to the wondering gaze of hun
treds OF eyes, was the agent, stone dead
Ills body was surrounded by policemen
warders OF the court--nay,at the cry Of
murder the very judge upon the bench
had stopped the course Of Justice and
came forth.
'Goed Godw I exclaimed, recoilinr
upon Shawn; Chow did this happen?'
"He was just walkin' al1ng the street,
yer honor" said Shawn, quietly, "when
he fell, and laid his head down and
died!" ......,... ....- =
"Murderedw ........ \
20, God forbid! yer honor; what for
should he be kilt at all, at aH9'
Nevertheless I felt convinced tnat nv
suppositien was right; ray more, be-
lieved that / could point out the very
man who had done the deed.
That a murder had actually been COM
mitted could not be proved on the spot,
but the manner of the mans death was
50 peculiar as to call for Coroner's in.
quiry and pOst-mortem examination.
The body, therefore, was at once re-
moved to the inn, and several hours af-
ter its removal the tive principal doctors
af the town were on their way armed
with the implements necessary for the
work. On their arrival at the inn a novel
scene awaited them. The people having
1t length solved the meaning of the
awful words, "post-mortem examination"
lad risen up in arms and declared that
40 such desecration of the dead should be
allowed. Before Tony Monaghan became
, land agent he had been one of them
'elves, and though he had been little
lard upon them Of late, there wasn't one
nan among them but would raise his
voice against having the poor boys body
,ut up like beasts. The consequence
vas-a riot. The police were over
powered, the doctors sent packing, the
mn taken by storm. For two nights the
,edy lay in state, being walked by its
wild comrades. At the end Of that time,
he authorities, only too eager to bring
matters to peaceful issue, allowed it to
,e quietly buried. As the grave closed