Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-09-25
DAYS
BY HUGH CONWAY.
Author b aCansd Rnnkn

2AeHaH
OF justice. hs Is innocent, ami viii come
from the ordeal unscathed. II found guilty,
let him die. He will not be the first limo
cant man who has died, nor will he be the
last to die. tits but one live! He Is nothing
70 you; think Of him no more. Come what
may, you win always have your sunHy home
ana the woman you love. Her children will
grow up around you. Why hesitatai A
nfe's happiness Is 10 be won BY simply seal.
ing YOU lips. Its cost is but, supposing
Justice blunders, to bear the burden Of one
mans death A paltry pricel
This was the temptation with which !
Wrestled during thoss long hours Again
and again ! was on the point Of yielding.
fixed determination Of destroying THAI
paper, and letting things take their own
course. Once or twice ! even forced my
steps some distance in the direction Of home,
but each time l turned, went back to the
sheltered spot, threw myself again on the
ground, and fought the battle anew.
No, l could not do this thing. l was a
gentleman and a man Of honor. Paltry as
the price was when compared with what 1t
might buy. | could not pay it. Although
my whole soul was merged in Philippa's vel
fare, | could not, even for her sake, suffer
an innocent man to be done unjustly TO
death. The crime wa too black, too base,
too contemplate! Ifelt sure that, with the
mans blood morally on my head, the SUI
premest joys which life could give would
not lull my conscience to rest. knew 1t
would not be long before remorse and shame
drove me to commit suicide.
Let the preachers say that sin is easy; that
wrong is more alluring than right There
may be some sins W ,ich are easily COM
united, but / dare to say that there are
~kbaw- vvkg.k A. So n rdrnafon nv
the code Of honor, and dreading shame and
cowardice, finds it far easier to avoid than
to bring himself to commit. No, every sin
Is not easyl
But all the same my struggle was a mortal
one. At times | fancy-it may be but fancy
that even now mr. mind bears some traces
of that conflict; a conflict in which my VIC
tory meant ruin to my nearest and dearest
Was / not right when sail that my tenpta-
ton was an all but unparalleled onel Yet in
reasserting this let me humbly disclaim all
credit for not having yielded. strove to
yield, but could not.
1t vas only when Ihad conquered and put
the temptation from me that | was able tc
see how utterly useless such a crime as that
urged upon ms would a been. Doubtless
Philippe, sooner or later, would have learned
that Sir Mervyn Ferrand's supposed muir
derer had paid the penalty OF the crime,
How would it have Jared with us then
then, when reparation was placed out OF the
question: Knowing as l did every thought
of my wifeis, every turn Of her impulsive,
sensitive nature, | was fain to tell myself
that such news would be simply her dealt
blow.
But what was to be donel Finding that !
could not compass the treachery which
dared to mediate, | cast about for another
looDhole of escape. What If were to retur
to England and accuse myself Of the crime
To insure Philippa's safety | would right
willingly give away my own life. 1t showed
the state to which my mind was reduced
when | say that | considered this scheme in
NIL It's bearings, and for a while thought ii
furnished a solution to my difficulties!
wonder If my brain was wandering2
laughed in bitter merriment as the alb
surdity of my new plan forced itself upon
me. Ihed forgotten Philippa, and what the
effect of such a sacrifice would be upon her.
i had forgotten that she loved me, even as |
loved her; that my dying for her sake-for
tie sake Of saving her fromthe consequences
of that gruesome ~night-would make an ex-
piation, if any were due from her, the most
fearful which human or diabolical ingenuity
could devise.
Mol Neither by shining against my fellow
man nor by a voluntary sacrifice of my owl
life could l save her. After all my pro
tracted mental struggles, all my lonely hour:
OF anguish and wild scheming, l was forced
to return to the point from which | started.
Philippa must surrender herself, and free
this innocent man. There was, indeed, nc
a~lternativel
And a day gone, or all but gone! The
trial on the 20thi To reach England-to
reach Tewnham in time to stop that trial,
we must travel day and night Day and
night across sunny or starlit Spain-across
DIeasant France-we must speed on, until
we reached our W native land, now lying
in all the rich calm of the early autumn. J
must lead my wife; my love, to her dooml
/ rose from the ground. felt weary, and
s if l had been cudgeled in every limb.
dragged myself slowly back to my home
stShe must be told: she must be told. BuI
how to tell herr l muttered as l went along
NV appearance must have been wretched
for / received the impression that severa
grave looking Sevillanos turned and looked
after me as | passed by. Even as a cowardly
felon who drags himself slowly to the scat
fold l dragged myself TO the gate Of m,
pleasant home, and on tottering feet passeC
into that fragrant space in which the hap
piest hours OF my life had been spent
AS | entered, the remembrance OF som
tale which once l had read flashed throug
my mind-a tale Of the ferocity OF a bygon
age. 1t was of a prisoner who was force
by his captors to strike a dagger into tn
heart of the woman he loved. l know nj
where the tale is to be found or where
read it
But 1t seemed to me thai mine was
parallel case.
Pity mel