St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-06-13


a pair of goggles; but it somehow
dampened the hilarity of the occasion
to recognize it as the very formula by
which he had years ago passed false
Judgment on his friend, poor Biggs,
who had upset the hypothesis and re-
yersed the result by laying down his
life in noble self-sacrifce for fellow
being. And there was the simple equa-
ton that had brought ruin and death
upon young Markham's father. Odd
| that he had never taken into considera-
ton the wound the old Major had re-
ceived in his head while gallantly de-
! Tending his country at the battle of
Shiloh. Macy tried to calculate the
problem anew, and to figure out the
negative influence of this powerful and
neglected factor in its action upon the
next generation, but found himself in
capable of continuous and sustained
reasoning.
By this time he had passed into a
| state of the most acute torture, physical
and mental Lines of all descriptions
ran him through and through, like so
many arrowy and curvilinear lances.
Logarithms danced over his flesh, scar
ing it with red-hot irons. Exponents
and co-efficients, fractions and quad.
ratio surds, moduli and binomial theo-
rems swarmed about him, tauntingA re-
Wiling, accusing.
Amid the throngs of uncanny crea-
tons he at last discerned a face with
corrugated brow, unfathomable eyes,
and grim, relentless features. Macy
shrank in terrier from the reproachful
meaning of the gaze, realizing that he
was in the presence of none other than
| Pythagoras, greatest of the tabled
faithfully and employed in every walk
| of life Then he walled out piteous
appeal for relief from his prosecutors.
An oracular utterance left the grave
lips of the old philosopher:
"Thus is punishment melted out to
the human upstart who has sought to
pervert great science from it's predes-
tined sphere, and who would measure
human soul and determine its COM
ponent elements by the rules and laws
which were framed for the world of
matter alone. =
Macy felt a whitening sensation as he
listened to the words of the sage and
met the calm scrutiny of the deep eyes.
He thrust out his hands with a gesture
of despair, when-oh, joy!-the coils of
the steel spiral loosened, and he felt
himself slipping back into time and
space and the happy, matchmaking
world. The ancient philosophers feat
ures relaxed and altered.
y
1t was his daughter, pale and fearful.
bending over his PROSTATE form, laying
an ice-cold cloth upon his head where
that singular sensation of dull pain still
fingered.
'sOh, father! Thought you would never
know me again. -
| He could not contrive to articulate,
but his eyes framed question which
her lips fastened to answer:
1--WE had been watching him for days,
perate. If we had only come moment
sooner. But the key caught in the lock.
He had knocked you down before we
got the door open
Macy closed his eyes, and endeavored
to make mental digestion of this infor-
nation by slow and painful process.
AS he comprehended their purport, the
awful word murder" framed itself in
his mind. Then his gaze became fixed in
sad rebuke on one who stood behind
the girl, as if Sinking from his sight.
Strange travesty of creation that should
mask a guilt-laden soul behind that
clear-eyed handsome face. How he had
liked, and admired, and trusted the boy,
| 4hn Of n hain
full hereditary influence. Monstrous!
| that confidence should be repaid with
deceit, generosity with cupidity, and
| that all his kindness should be rewarded
with cowardly murderous blow. No
mathematical formulas came to Macy's
aid, no scientific course of reasoning
was needed to solye the miserable GER
/ tainty or phrase the tragical result; but
as he looked at the graceless scamp his
own eyes slowly filled with tears.
''Tissan' The girl had not heard that
| tender chord in his voice since her
babyhood. ''HoW can you-how can he
stand there and-look-the same''--
"The same? You are joking, papa.
Ned handled HIM very roughly. = In
| her excitement and gratitude she
| threw off all restraint and extended her
hand contidingly to the tall fellow
standing behind her. .'Of course /
knew who it was had taken your money
the minute you told me, father. |
didn't need to reason that out, and Ned
and | have been watching him ever
since. Oh, you wicked creature!'
A vengeful CLEAN shot from her eyes
as she flashed them across the room.
Macy followed the direction of the
look In the custody of two officers,
his clothes tumbled and torn, his face
bruised and scratched as if he had just