Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1879-01-01


Nobody. After few hurried direc-
tons, the bluff and generous hearted
captain started eagerly toward the dear
old home The old lady in the next
house had stolen over, unlocked the
door and gone back again, How light
bis step rs he went over the threshold.
How natural everything looked.
Mother Oracle"
No answer.
Not very warm welcome to a
homeless fellow ten years away" he
said. The old lady had crept in.
Your mothers gone, Captain. |
hoped you'd heerd ont afore you got
here. Wonderful good womanl Such
clean houses, and so good to me, She
was aIlus askin' me to IA cup o tea.
Never had nothn' 60 to my heart so
since my John died."
And where's Grace?'
She and her ba 'y's lynn aside her"
and then between her sobs, the kind cid
woman told the pitiful story.
George Reeverly's eyes grew very
black and bis lips very white. He went
straightway TO the new graves, and with
curses in his heart he wept like a child.
| And that man had been the causel
/ There was much talk in the village, but
the captain kept his own thoughts.
/ The Betsey was ready much sooner
than usual for the next "Trip. The cap
/ tain never seemed so anxious to be
away from the town. Some lumber
! was laid in, with extra quantities Of
corn, potatoes and unground flour, but
why, the men could not divine. The
night for starting came There was a
knock at the door of the young ply
sician, who was just preparing to leave
| the village. "You are to go on a Jour
ney;" said the captain. Take your
clothes and books, If you want EN-"
The young man struggled, but sailors
arms were too strong, and he was hur
ried on to the ship. From that time on,
no one spoke to him save once, when a
sailor was commanded to print in India
ink, across his forehead, so that the
world might read, "This man robs
womanhood,' and, on either hand,
that it might be forever in his sight, the
word Grace"
That was an Undesirable journey.
Going away from kindred he knew not
whittier, but he had sent another on
longer journey. The days wore away
III bitter sitting thoughts. What was
their plan for him? How could he
ever appear before the world, branded
as he was? Would they bury him in
the ocean, where no law could reach
them because the world would say his
penalty was Just? What would life
| #
it be spent! He slept and ate little
Lines were growing along his brow and
about his eyes.
After weeks of anguish an island
| came in sight. Thither the ship turned
her course and stopped. 1t was IA desc
late place, with no sign Of habitation
for man or beast. Rock-bound, the
ocean washed up with the same sound
1t used to have against the cliff, where
Grace and he had 50 often sat, and from
whence she went to her death. There
was SOLITARY clump of trees, Just like
the spot where they found her body.
Must everything remind him of her?
The lumber was taken out. Then
quick hands fashioned a rude shelter.
sufficient food vas placed in the hut,
and seed for planting. Then, as the
Betseu made ready tor starting, the
captain said in cold, hard way, This
is to be your home. Rememberl"
"Great God! MOI" gasped the young
man; kill me! Do anything rather
than this death by inches. l shall go
wildr
Another went wild for youpi and
the Betsy moved out of her barren
moorings, and there was only the far
off sky, the limltless ocean and the
desolate waste wherein he stood.
Should he kill himself? A man who
robs another Of life usually has not the
courage to rob himself? We are crea-
lures of necessity. We accept what
we must. With faltering steps he
walked around his prison. There was
not one thing to love, not flower or
bird, only the monotone Of the sea that
had no kinship With Joy.
Tired, broker, an old man in a day,
he flung himself down in his hut to
sleep. Nature is kind even to her enc
mics, and he slept. He dreamed that
! he and Grace sat again on the headland,
and she talked, IN her purity and trust,
of her confidence in him, her belief that
he could do no wrong; of their peace
full and blessed future, and of the JOY
her brother would feel when he came
home, for he so reverenced noble
man. How pretty their home should
be down where they could hear the
waters as they heard them on the cliff.
She vas prettier even than he thought;
! her hand so smooth and white as he
held it, and her cheeks so deicately
tinged with red. She trusted IN him
too fully; would that she doubted him