The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-08-17

- ~1k14I lac 10 GAU-
tured, and imprisoned for the crime.
He Committed suicide In prison, but be-
fore he died he performed one act OF
justice. He wrote . confession declar-
ing Walter Gales innocence Of the
crime of which he was suspected, and
admitted that he had been the real
criminal The particulars of this mans
arrest, imprisonment, confession and
suicide were published in the newspa-
pers far and near. Surely, il Walter
Gale were living they must have reach
ed him. But three years had passed
since then and no tidings had been
heard Of him, and the inference was
that he was dead Mrs. Gala and her
family were known to be in great pow
erty, still there were few who were
aware that they ever suffered from act
ual want. for Ellen was very proud-too
proud to complain. much less to beg
Alas, for the poor and proud. And,
indeed, when she could obtain work,
her nimble fingers earned enough to
supply herself and children with food
and elothing-just that and no more.
For the past month. however. it had
been impossible for her to obtain work,
and tonight there is nothing in the
house put half q loaf Of bread, and half
o dozen potatoes. . little meal and q
few handouts Of coal And the next
day il Christmas-the day of plenty, and
happy family reunions. and happy chill
dren.
Ellen Gale sits shivering in the cold,
bare room, while outside the wind
bowls. and the rain beats against the
windows. Her thoughts go back to the
past-to the merry Christmas times she
has spent in her fathers house, the dear!
old farm house up among the hills of
New Hampshire. She thinks Of those
who gathered around that festal board
father. mother. sisters and brothers.
They are all gone-all except ons broth
err, who has removed to the far West.
This memory recalls to her that happiest
Christmas OF all. her wedding day, when
she stood up in the old fashioned parlor
Of the same old farm house, with her
handsome, young lover, and tho words
were spoken by the gray-haired man Of
God, which made her his wife. Obi
the happy days and years that followed.
How tender. how true, how noble he
was-that husband of hers. How he
had loved her. Then the children had
rome. How proud he had been Of them.
What a future he had planned for them.
And now they were suffering from want,
from hunger and from cold. She rose
and walked to their bed side. There
they lay fast asleep, looking SO fair, SO
angelic, but. oh: so thin and pale. No
Christmas toys and pleasures for them
no pleasant surprise in the morning
10 gladden. their hearts and make home
happy. ]
oh! God,' she cried, Il cannot, oh! {,
cannot endure that they should suffer, |
my dear ones, his and mine. Obi Wal
Ter, Walter, come back to them, to me /!
Many and many a time in the past
four years has that cry, walter, come |
back to me-" been wrung from the
depths Of her agonized heart. She had
we'll nigh despaired Of that PRAYER ever
being answered. But as the sound Of
her voice dies away upon the air, she
hears o loud rap upon the door. Shelf
aot afraid, as many women would have
been, for it Is past ten O'Clock. She
goes to the door and opens it. A man
itands before her enveloped In q heavy
o~vercoat. buttoned up to the chin. He
Is bearded and bronzed, and it is no
wonder she does not recognize him.
But he knows her, and taxing q step
forward, says, "Nellie, my darling.h
and folds her close to his heart. Her
prayer had been answered at last
That heart-wnrm embrace over, and AZ
Ter tho father has imprinted . kiss
pn the face of each of his sleep
ing children, he looks around the bare
room and says:
Nellie, dear, are you very poorP"
81 have been out Of work lately,
Walter. dear, and We have but little
tood IN the house. and but Q handful
GOALS"
put it ON, dear Nell, for 1 have much
10 say to you, and tho room is like -
barn; and you, my own darling, are
shivering with cold. Heaven forgive
ne! l was . coward to leave you, but
| could not stay at home and be looked
spon as q thief"
Your name was cleared long ago,
lear Walter" said Ellen. 'It was
iIartwell who was guilty. He confessed
i before his DEATH"
NELLY. is that really trueP"
Eyes, dear Walter" said Ellen, and
sitting upon his knee, his loving arms
around her, she told him the whole
story.
Thank heavenr' said Walter fer
yently, THAT my name stands umblem-
shed before tho world, for your sake
and theirs" he said. pointing to the bed
where lay his sleeping children. 81
could have borne anything but to be sus-
pected Of dishonesty. That maddened
me. Unjust have been mad, l think, or
I should not have left you and your ba-
les to starve. Invent away determined
never to, come back until my innocence
was proved. Invent to New York and
,hipped on o vessel bound to India
The ship was wrecked off the Cape of
Good Hope, and l and . few Others OF
the crew were taken on board an En-
glish vessel. bound for Australia. Ar
irving there, I started immediately for
the gold diggings. For . long time /
had no luck at al. and l had not the cour-
age to write home. having no good news
to communicate. But at last good for
tune favored me. Il found . nugget
worth three thousand pounds. I went
10 Melbourne and exchanged it for bank
of England notes. I was nov able to
repay Jones & Co. the money they &C
cused me Of stealing, so ! started for
home. ARRIVED in Il half an hour
ago. 1 enquired with fear and trem-
bling for Mrs. Gale. I was afraid that
l should hear you were dead. But.
thank heaven, that sorrow was spared
me. They directed me here. Nellie,
my wife, a you forgive meP"
Dear Walter, i have nothing to for
give. But lam so happy. My heart
Is SO full Of thankfulnessr'
Then with light hearts, they put on
their cloaks, and from the numerous
stores selected many nice and beautiful
presents. and before they retired each
stocking was hung up and well filled
with Santa Claus best gifts.
Oh, the joy of the children when, on
waking the next morning, they were