New-York tribune., 1884-10-05
THE STORY OF MARY,
CHAPTER |
the prisoner


IN on carth-a COnvIcts liie
Ten years and for what
,ov stolen pumpkins that were iound storeu
=, behind his little log cabin
H., they came there he knew not. 10 tins he
swore -, .., 80 aoto,5 hin, n
-, from whom could be expected no fees.
70 whom as such he despised felt no interest
- the case And he was, moreover, III has'e 10
.a,n,, 20 some friends with whom he had been en-
IT, lille game when the courts order had
sumuoned him. H..
sn.mn the nirgers now that they are not slaves
,,or. they made for!" he had said. keeping the
,als IN attendance he played his hand ana
uoeketed his winnings.
Whilc IN Che crowded cour, room man. despite
-; Llacl skin every inch a man. with bitter feel
;,c NJ unnerited wrongs. was waiting his dcichce
And woman poor palId creature, her mulatto
.,ce procaming in it, color the wrong dohe py
nb;e 20 AN unborn child. was close to the prison.
.,s' dock holding to its rail for help to stand her
,;,eou. agony. that spoke IN the drawn mouth the
dIs.eI horror-stricken eyes. appealed to every
,oa,t m the room. But there were no hearts VT
sse tie color line rose too broad anu hIgh 1or theh
- hc tourbcl Men looked on ndifercntly rs this
,rial progressed Each. impatient to begin ms own
,it,Ie mat cr. wished the damned Niger was in
90. hof cuongh the crowd of human beings taking
,t their breath the little frcahncSs out OF the air
The nudge himself sitting So gravcly on the hcnch'
x,sarvlons FOR the morning to be over, ana was
,b,nklng of the pleasant shade and jolly c0mpan-
ions WITH whom lac was 10 spend the afternoon. 10
him the niger was not an interesting phase ot
humanity It had beaten him NJ the last election
when lD ran for continuance in an Office lac abused.
Inn wine. cin he would willingly have continued 10
serve M. country. Indignant at being displaced by
such " lo,, element" hc had registered vow that
he'd "pi, it of on every damned black skin IN the
,onntry This negro. tired for larceny. gave him
M. ffsi chance And If there could be taken the
measure of his yexntion and the depth of the agony
ofth,l Condemned man. we'll might hc have been
delighted with his success
The pro-a,utor in the case had been man "i
ve,lt, and influence a man standing high IN the
community. He had been robbed OF great many
Of ihe.r pumpkins. They were new kind he
v,sntroducing man had been ordered to wat,h
thein llo had not Hcen the tibet IN the act hut hhd
tfn,kel footsteps to Tom O'Ncals cabin, whci" oh
scarohiuz thc missing pumplin~ had been found.
In do.cncr the evidence ofcrod was that the FOOT
ptnls dll no, correspond 10 either Jnlio' oi
ONonla The footprints had been Rooh hN h'NolH'
friends oi tho negfoca who testified that they hid
ionn made IL, boots without nails boots mucn larger
y
b,ois were heavily nailed They also testified that
,ucS had mover sccn any pumpkins on Tome table.
now any nigna of pumpkins around the house.
These witnesses for the defence, frightened look
Ing gntsrDcs had taken their oaths and given tcstl-
mony 100 cy idcnt terror II IN each word they were
eoniemning themselves However, through their
nervousness, they did not vary in their statements.
Not even the rigid cross-eXam nation OF Mr.. Eatons
hwvcr disturbed their testimony.
His questions were SO searching that. to his annoy
ance they drew forth a circumstance which. had
tLere been any one present who was interested III
the doing of Justice, might have changed tn result
Of the ,se. 1t shown that the footprints which
did not correspond to ONeal's or jules were evil
IDENTITY those of person whose right foot was either
lame or injured. as there was a uniformity i'll the
shorness of step and lighter impression of the right
foot-and that the body servant of young d" Mars
Eaton " was lame in that foot. This very impor-
tant fac; was CLOSED by Mr.. EatOn's attorney
and ,milinsly passed Ill silence by ONeals de-
fender
When the prisoner in a few impassioned words al
luded TO this, the crOwning point Ill his case his
throat swelling with an indignant sob, and the
dread OF what coming sending its cold sweat To
his brow he was for his audacity frowned down
b. the Judge, and silenccd by cries of " order
The bah a man of humble station and without
influence. whispered in his ear:
sYOuli make il worse tor yerself, pore devil
So with bursting heart, and every drop of his
honest blood turning to ice he had listened to his
condemnation and sentence.
That aconized cry from his wife, that falling
fgure-and the ice changed to flame.
He sprang toward her, breaking down the slight
rail that divided them. and had his arms about
lor before the baifi who had been too iull Of SYM
pathy To move quickly, caught his shoulder.
The prisoner evidently was a dangerous criminal
for he did not notice the awful touch of the law.
but pressing to his breast the woman he held, kept
whispering in her deathike face "Julie. Julie.
my darlin'. don't give up. I'm not gOin' ter be
killed you know I'll come hack all right" On.
God Is there a God p he half shreked as grasped
by two OF three men he was dragged away from
that poor fantlng creature and despite his struggles
ihe struggles of captured liOn-he was handcutfed
forced from the room, and thence sent to his tor
tnre. For the contractors of convict la Dor short
Of hands and had left order for able bodied con
vcts. So ONeal, with the physique of a hero of my
thology. was to be shipped at once to his master
ies. master
Bodies Of heroes buried. whose lives were laid
down TO wipe out the black crime of slavery well
may We rise from your graves
What has your death accomplished Freedom
ko-it- pretence.
Manned soldiers wrecked lives all lost all use-
kss
10 free rom slavery. and then to leave unpro-
te<ted the rights OF the freed-puttng them at the
mercy Of the conquered Is il not a fact in history
That defeat brings forth the worst of human pas-
hons is victory the best THAT the longing for
revenge crushes out the nobcr elements of people
sublusated 10y foroe' Aud the hands that dare no
longer fal-e their weapons in open battle keep
'h'm. tools lot tlo demon assassination.
he'omo OF interest tu The curious crowd that
moved ium side io side. and stood ON tiptoc &C.
The hgsoi show light O'Nrel. ovorpowctcd. hut
sui struggling with the blood ticklinR down ha