The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1882-02-21
Selerf Stury.
The Murderer's Ordeal.
BY CLARENCE MowBRAY.

oA SbauCNNL hOW DafhAs
! was always fond of the science OF
physiosnomy. From my youth up !
was noted for my proclivity for reading
the character of man from his face
and | finally became such an adept in
the art that l could occasionally guess
the very thoughts of the individual
whose countenance l was studying.
Soon after the gold fever broke out
went to California; and there, / mus
confess, among what else there was to
interest me, l had grand opportunity
for exercising my skill upon all sorts o.
faces, seen under all sorts of circum.
stances, from the highest triumph o'
success to the deepest despair OF failure
| first tried my luck at digging gold my.
self, but soon tired of that, and believ
ing / could make money faster and with
less labor, ! opened kind of grocery
and provision store and went regularly
into the business of trade, buying most
OF nv articles at Sacramento, getting
them bauled 10 my quarters and dispos.
ing OF them at fair advance to the
miners and others.
My store, as dignihed my place Of
trade, consisted of rude skeleton OF
poles, with sufficiency CT cheap muslin
drawn over them and pinned down to
the earth, and was stocked only with
the most salable articles of which -four,
pork and whisky, which found the most
ready market-especially whisky. In
the dry season it was very dusty, and
everybody seemed to he dry with thirst
which mere water would not quench. II
a man we're succe cessful he wanted whisky
to bring his body up to the altitude OF
his spirits; if unsuccessful he wanted
whisky to bring his spirits up to the al
titude Of his body if he chaDced to be
q little cool he wanted whisky to warm
him; if he was very hot he wanted whls-
Ky to cool him; he needed whisky in the
t, make him bright and active !;
be needed whisky at night to rest him
and make him sleep well; he wanted it
when he bought and when be sold when
be won aud when he lost; when be stood
up and when he sat down-in short,
whisky was the great regulator of all
human feeling-the genuine eli1ir vite-
and consequently l did an immense bu-
siness in whisky.
Now this, though somewhat irrele-
Vant, brings me to my story.
Ny -. ore being the headquarters of
hat locality for whisky and provisions,
was brought in contact with nearly
every specimen of the genus homo that
'entured into that region; and such an
,thor conglomeration Of white, black and
ed-such another mixture of gentle
men, laborers, Containers, gamblers,
hieves and assassins--it would be hard
o ind outside the limits of California.
)f course I had a chance to study all
'orts of faces to my hearts content; but
having, as said, become an adept in the
Irt, an ordinary countenance, or man
governed by ordinary passions, whether
.entle or brutlsh, did not interest me.
wanted to get hold of what is termed
cbaracter-or one whose external
would give no indication of his internal
o any but connnisseur-or one that
would really puzzle you what to think
If him.
Among the many, such cne / at
ength found. At first l did not notice
lim-did not think of him. At a casual
lance there was nothing to distinguish
i'm from the herd. He came in quietly,
purchased a quantity of
lour, pork and tea, paid for the same in
,old dust, and we2t out about his busi-
less. He repeated his visits at different
perhaps some half-a-dozen
ines, before be attracted my attention
o ANYTHING peculiar in his appearance,
nd then l should have been at loss to
ay what saw more In him at last than
It first.
He was apparently about TWENTY-FIVE
ears of age, of medium height and
lender figure, of a dark complexion,
egular features, with dark, straight hair,
lark eyes, and beard that covered the
over part OF his ace-in all of which
here was nothing remarkabe-no,hing
trikine. He was quiet-not taIka,ive-
lad nothing 10 say except about the bu-
iness he came on-got what he wanted
when was disengaged, paid for what he
.ot like gentleman, and generally re-
ired with an ordinary "good day." or
ONE similar civility.
Aud yet, ss have said, he began to
ttract my attention at last, and began
o wonder whv. Was it because he was
% qniet reserved and gentlemanlv, and
lid not purchase whisky like the rest
md occasionally get excited and bois
erous2 or was it because there was
omething about him | could not readily
atbom ? At all events he had begun to
interest. me in some way; and the verv
act, perhaps, that could not tell how
,r why, led me into closer scrutiny.
leeper study Of The man.
After this / prolonged his visits as
much as | could without causing him to
suspect l dill so Intentionally The
hings he wsn'ed | g gnerally had some
roubie in getting, and | filed up the in
eryals by remarks about the weather,
he country, the mines, the success of
some and the failure OF others-in
word, anything I could think of to in
luce watching him fur
lively ali the while He answered easily
md readily, and yet with that peculiar
Kind OF reserve that was mo-. suggestive
Or tending toward familiarity. His re
olies, however, evinced a man of mind
and education; and began to give him
credit fnr being o thinker-perbaps
practical and selfish dreamer, if l may
ase a paradoxieal term that best express
,es my ides.
One day, / scarcely know how, l
,ouched upon the general superstitions
Of mankind, aud to my surprise saw
that at last he was Interested. His eye
expression, aud frightened, and
emitted q strange aid peculiar glesm !;
and my attention being thus directed to
his eye, now bethought me that / had
never seen one exactly like it-one ca
pable of being 80 apparently open down
to the soul while concealing 80 much
1t was off its guard now--the door was
really open down to the Soul of the
man-and i looked in at that door, that
opening, and sdo that the Soal Of that
In,n .sos n Jo.E oos nauaj.os foor