, 1885-01-02


So with our cheeks all but touching, zoe
read together.
''Ths confession OF William Evans, now
lying in Tevnham Jail under sentence Of
death:
On the fifth of January. this yOar. | re-
passage home. When l reached London 1
had but a few shillings in my pocket | had
no articles OF value which l could sell. All
owned, except my clothes and the little bit
OF money, WINS u pistol which u man on
board the ship had given mo 1t was n pistol
HIM. and said he wanted to get the sort
known. Why he gave it to me God knows;
but he did, and II couple OF cartridges.
"l spent my money-all but a shilling or
two. | tried to get work, but none was to
be had. Then l remembered that / onca had
a friend who lived near Roding. | went
there by train. | had just enough money
To pay my fare. l found that the man l
knew had left the place two years ago. l
walked back to the town penniless and des.
perate.
The first thing l did was to 60 to the
pawnbroker's and try and sell the pistol.
The man wouldn't buy it at any price. He
said his shop was full Of pistols. ! went away
and wnlke To the railway station to try and
earn n few ponce somehow. l was In despair
all but starving.
About seven o'clock the train from Lon
don came in A tall gentleman anne opt of
the door OF the station. l asked him II he
had any luggage | could carry for him. He
told me to be oil. Then l asked him, for
PHYS sake, to give me a shilling to buy some
food He cursed mo, and 1 began to hate
him.
'ho stood under the gas lamp, and drew
out a great gold watch and looked at tho
time. Then he asked a man near which road
he must take to get to a village named Cher
well. The man told him. I saw him walk
way. and l knew whore he was going.
II shall be hanged next week; there Is no
hope for me-. But l tell the truth whep /
say" that, bad fellow as l am, | had never
committed such a crime as the ono which At
that moment entered my head. That tall
man had money, jewelry and good clothing
l had nothing. / was starving. So | ran
on, got before him, went miles up the road,
and sat down in the bitter cold on a heap Of
stones, waiting for him to come, and making
up my mind to kill and rob him. l knew I
must kill him. because he was 20 much
stronger and bigger than l was. Ny pistol
was loaded.
He came. | saw him In the moonlight.
/ stood up as he came near and, God forgive
me, pulled the trigger, and shot him through
the heart He fell like a stone. and l knew
| was a murderer.
'Oh, IL ! could | would have undone the
deedi l stood for a long timo before / dared
to go to the body and steal the things for
which l had committed the crime. Then /
nerved myself And went to take the price
lOl MulCns uuloSs bOu II ultICliult 4 uhu hOlu
my soul.
Il never took a ~farthing. Just az I was
about to begin ! heard the sound OF foet /
looked up, and saw a woman or q spirit
coming to me. dropped the pistol in terror.
l felt sure she saw me. l looked at her
under tho moon. Her face was white, her
lips were moving. her hair was all flying
about. She came straight to whore the
dead man lay, then stopped and wrung her
hands l fed away in deadly fear. Iran
$3.50 a-aro AalNa In~.I rAf aN1- 7
thought that spirit or ghost was foll6wlng,me
~ ran on until the snow began. l must
have died in that snow storm IL l had not
found a half rooted cowshed. crept into
this. and lay all the night and partSof the
next day. ! was the most wretched being in
tho world.
Hunger at last drove me out l got
through the snow somehow, aud reached q
house, where the people saSAd me from
starvation. But nothing could mako mo 60
to the spot where l had don the murder.
My life since thon has been one Of agony.
Evon now that | am going to be hanged /
i'm happier than | have folt for months.
May God forgive my crimei
al pleaded guilty at the trial because /
turned round in tho dock and sdw the
woman who | thought was a spirit standing
up and rendy to denounce mo to the Judge.
Iknew that she saw mo that night, and |
was bound to be found guilty.
al have confessed all. Every word OF this
." - bhhH ed0s
'fWfLfIAM EvANs.n
p. ST. took the above confession down
from the prisoners dlctation- 1t should DO
all you want. The man seems thorohRhly
ponitent, but | do not trouble you with his
expressions of remorss and regret.
81 remain. dear sir, yours faithfully,
"STErBKN CRIsP.n
We road the letter; the paper Adstered
down from our hands; We turned to each
other, Tears of deep thankfulness were In
my tyffete aNVaat aVaQ Dawn tn thu nm a1iaat
detail the wretchod mans confession made
everything clear. Nothing was left unex-
planned, except perhaps, the motive which
induced Philippe to go that night to
more. This we shall never know, but her
temporary madness may amply account for
it, We need sock no further; the ~falntest
doubt as to her own perfect innocence is re.
moved from my wifee mind. Hand in hand,
heart to heart. lip to lip. we can stand and
feel that our troubles are at last over.
Our troubles overl Shall those words be
the last ! writei No, ono scene moro-the
scene that lies before me even now.
An English home. Outside, green shayen
lawps, trim paths, and fino old trees. In
aide, the comfort and the peace which make
an English home the sweetest ia the world.
For when the need was gone; when sunny
Spain no longer was for us the one safe land,
its charms diminished, and we pinned to sec
once more E%ngland's fair fields and ruddy
honest faces. So back we came, and made
ourselves a home, far, far away from every
spot the sight Of which might wake sad
thoughts. And here we live, and shall live
TIL that hour when one Of us must kiss the
others clay-cold brow, and know that death
has parted those whom naught but death
could part
Look out; look throughthis hades win
dow, There she sits, my wife; a tall son at
her side, fair daughter near her. Years,
many years have passed. but left no lines
upon her hrow; brought no white threads to
streak that raven hair. The rich, bright
beauty OF the girl is still her own. To me,
now as of yore, the sweetest, fairest woman
In the world
The children SOC ma asI gaze with thought
full, happy eyes upon that group beneath
the trees. They call and bockon me. My
wife looks upi her eyes meet mine. just
raised from those sad pages. Ali love,
sweet love, in those dear eyes what was 1t
once my fate TO readl Shame, sorrow, dread.
despair and love. All these, save love, have
vanished long ago; and as ! turn to pen
these lines-the last-that look Of calm, as.
sured, u~nclouded joy keeps with me, telling
me that from her life has passed even the
very memory OF those dark, dark days.
1.-THE KSD.l