The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1880-04-21

y tne reverses of fortune was a. ,.uo..
z unable to keep It I'D himself t. PneSe 1uo',
e seem as though a person who 1,y.~ "OI ~.
. 10 nVe In such r place might hear tbo b., tsn
: uen OF entertaining at least those IF !, J.
! parish who telt disposed to call nno
4 nlnl- NO enc, however. attributed ~
IOuise oi Jne pastor to an unwillin0na,
, s ~ pear the expense of entertaining' r.
Inough he did ask for salarx a1i y
could get, it was known that he 20. = =
Ior the benefit of the church and ~ -. sop :,
0i charity as much as lie rece;rsd 4 ~
MS services. 1t was out of the n,,est;o, ~
aiso 10 accuse him of pride. for aithon0i
aiways diRnited he was ALWAYS bu i,Ya
Dlll1ence had nothing to do with ~.
@ soanu ne had taken. He was selcnos'
9gSseu Ig ana agreeable, and vet grave
t; az is9iated himself to the extent men'
o,Uneu, ana neither gave nor showed
ssuy Leason Ior doing SO. He did do as
- ud osi. as consent to see all who desired
tbo ~ ''sh auVlce OF him, Immediately after
fto. 'eL n. VICE ne on Sunday, and a moment
ss'Ier Che thursday evening MEETING A
man man so interesting. and abont S1baS,., "a a
llttle was known, and SO iittIe. co,SId So Io
lOuno out, IS sure TO be talked ahont
ana watched. It was soon d;scovo,.o1S
sl5aC tne lights in his house on tho b;Ii
s,sue, si, seen through the treesJ from tbe
aig, vuIaaige, were often burning All night !.
another mysterious circumstance CON
aecIea a1 with this gentleman. did he
Iln4 IL necessary to study and write 81;
1ignt 10 prepare for the Sabbath M ~,
uIu ne nave strange visitors no c.,,oa 10 |
ana went in the darkness of the niobIS |
a year passed away, and nothing new
zane zane 70 light concerning him. Rrt
naC ior a season had been simnIo
was now suspicion-a fear
Sn". s4methlng must be wrong. based
.pUn 1a tne profound secrecy in which tbe
iasVors -bs domestic affairs were kent. and
ool,S ake n,sd that was apparent in his
vbHs vb;ton anu ACTIONS. His hair had grown
nn,, IL nts eyes more sunken, the lines
~ ln =. niiS !lce deeper; and there was a :
Hn : o;rrht ~ ms countenance that a person
a'ght have who was almost ~ ~ eIn 9I {
ONT where hope is lost. This channo
Impressed no one so much as r. 6{d l
gorge Rankin on his return to Rerkto,, !
June TO spend the summer II Sn !
llne Lne burden of his thought He c
as sure that the pastor was wog;p1a
arIul warfare with some great evil a
- c0uio not doubt what that evil w,s. u
~ ne ieiG That it was a contest in .
andtle minister was LOSING orownd L
demned him Tor ke5t,>utfer d. d
what he had known of-.s.soa' oa' m
He thought it his duty to go to. the 'GJI el
GERS of the church at once ard tell
them what he knew and what he feared
of the man who stood over them in
holy things, and he did it, By Sunday
the secret was generally known. Never
theless, the congregation that gathered
while the tolling of the bell sounded
out through the beautiful valley and
over the hill of Berkton to hear the pop
ular preacher was as large as ever.
Douotless many who were there had
more curiosity than ever to hear him
And nanv, too, felt genuine pity for the
man. The seats were filed, the bell
ceased telling. There was silent, wait
ing audience, but there was no speaker.
The pastor failed to come that morning.
After remaining n little while the people
left the church; and outside, for some
time after the congregation had broken
up, there were many little groups of
persons discussing in quiet and solemn
tones the melancholy fate of their tai
ented preacher.
The day passed and a dark nj ght set
in. That night was not soon forgotten
by the residents of Berkton. The news
that flew through the village the next
morning was of the most startling
nature. 1t was that woman had been
found at about midnight near the pas
tors house in an unconscious state, with
a knife driven into her body near her
heart. The two physicians Of the place
were summoned to attend her, and
though she still lived they pronounced
her wound probably fatal. At the time
she was found the minister's where
abouts was not known. About an hour
later he walked into the room where
the still unconscious woman lay. He
had haggard look, and acted like a
| person not fully conscious of what was
going on. He asked no questions and
made no remarks; but preserved per-
! feet silence through the remainder OF
the night. What his thoughts were as
he stood for long while at a time by
the side of the bed, and gazed at the
figure lying upon it; or when he paced
back and forth in the corridor outside
the chamber door, no one could tell
The knife that had been used for the
dreadful deed was identified by the SER
wants as one which had sometimes lain
on Mr.. Raymond's desk in his library,
and was at other times carried by him
The country for miles around was
searched, but no one was found who
was suspected of the crime. In the light
of the events of the previous year, an6
of present circumstances, the people Of
Berkton soon discerned who must have
been the perpetrator of the awful act
They came to the conclusion that the
Rev. John Raymond, while laboring
under some dark delusion, caused by a
long indulgence in that habit which il
was now considered proved had mas
tered him, had committed this crime
The once popular preacher became il
their eyes fiend. There was a deter
mination that justice should certainly
and speedily take its course. At the sug
gestion OF some OF the citizens, the sus
pected man was taken into custody by
the officers of the law, and hurried tt
Jail, TO wait the result of the woman'
injuries. The arrest seemed a great sur
prise to Raymond. When the officers
called at his house, and in the library
inf forsoaT him of fhaf,. inkonkinv, bo ,,v.o