The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-05-23

tence has only been cOmmuted 10 one
OF Imprisonment for life; and how on
earth they managed to persuade the
governor to do that | can't tell. Well,
since that has been made plain to
Dirk, he has been changed man. He
| talks hopelessly OF the future-and
God knows, poor fellow, it's dark
enough he seems to be pining for
| freedom, he says the convict dress
cings to him like cerecloth, and the
other day, Just after his wife had Wis
| tied him, | saw such a quo er look IN
| his eyes that | quietly turned over
! his things. At the bottom of the
/ basket of comforts she had brought
him found this"
He opened the packet, and poured
out before my eyes II whitish powder
| "Weli?' | said, interrogatively.
| "Poisonl" he briefly replied, as he
swept the powder back into the pack
/ ct. And now" he added, "don t
think me hard if send Dirk to Cape
/ Town"
X
/ There vas an unusual stir and ex-
element in Kimberley; the streets
were crowded with men and women,
/ whose faces bespoke every kind OF
/ emotion, from despairing rage to re-
! jOicing malice; while hither and thith-
er among the throng in the market
/ square rode officials in the dark blue
uniform of the Cape Civil Service.
At length there was a cloud of whirl-
ing dust in the TransvaaI road; the
crowd swayed and parted, and at Il
/ hand gallop two heavily laden mule
wagons passed through the surging
ranks and halted for the escort to close
round.
A wOful freight those wagons bore;
a load OF human misery; a company of
wretched convicts, into whose souls
| the iron of captivity had already en-
tered; a consignment of baffled,
/ trapped, and forsaken seekers after
/ illicit wealth. Youth and age were
! there, and the CALLING letters bound all
/ together in the links of common de-
/ spair. Chained as they We're, like wild
! beasts, some stood up and in agonized
voice called upon friend, wife and child.
who answered not; while others,
COUGHING piteously in a corner of the
/ rude conveyance, bowed their heads
| between their trembling hands and
sought to keep out the light OF sun
! which had become hateful to them.
Suddenly caught sight of Dirk Syl-
vester. He was sitting on the side Of
the foremost wagon, his arms folded
across his chest, and a look OF eager
/ expectation on his finely nodded face,
thin and pale with confinement and
/ suffering. | called to him, but heheard
/ not; his gaze seemed fixed on some far
! away object, and a smile played upon
his wan lips.
! | hurried on in advance of the calva-
/ cade toward THE Oasis" which
! knew it must pass on its way to the
/ open veldt. | remembered that the
governor of the Jail had told me the
/ night before that he had allowed alast
/ interview before the fearful Journey to
! Cape Town between man and wife, and
| that they spoke some words in French
! which he did not understand, but which
/ seemed to have q wonderful effect on
/ Dirk
As | neared the gate of 1.-The Oasis, )"
| over which the blue gums cast their
/ shade, and where the sweet trailing flow
ers were In their full autumnal beauty,
| saw Sylvester wife neutrality-suspicious.
/ less. She was attired in the plain
white dress she wore on the day Of the
| trial, and also when shecrOWned Dirk s
hopes and rendered him the envy OF
/ the bachelors of the Fields by becOm-
ing his own. Her golden hair Hoated
mheeded on the lazy breath from the
distant plain; her eyes were turned up
ward to the deep blue sky above, and
her lips seemed to be moving as if in
silent prayer. There was no need to
/ tell her OF the approach OF the convict
| party; their coming was heralded by
| the wild refrain Of dismal sOngchant-
| ed by the prisoners; and adown the
| startled air came the sound of creak-
| ing wheels, the cracking of whips, the
| shouting OF orders, and the responsive
! curses OF the mob. | was unwilling to
Obtrude myself on her notice, and
! therefore | did not speak to her, but
merely took up a position close by the
gate.
Nearer and nearer came the rolling
| wagons, and the crowd rushed on
through the eddying dust, till sudden
/ ly they caught a glimpse of the lonely
watcher at the gateway. There was
not man there who did not know
that the slight, pale woman standing
with her hands clasped convulsive-
| ly together, and her whole soul con
| centrated as it were in one long gaze,
! was Sylvester's wife. Even the Off
Gals knew his history; they knew he
was no midnight purchaser of stolen
gems, but only q passionate, hapless
man; and as if by instinct, the melan-
| chOly procession slowed and steadied
and paused before what was once the
home OF pure and holy love.
Dirk was standing now; the smile on
his lips lit up his whole countenance;
he looked like the careless, happy
Dirk of former days; the lines of care
and deep dull agony seemed to soften
and disappear from his face
He made a motion with his left hand
to his breast; with his right hepointed
to the awful blue of thecloudless heav-
en-, and then-a thin streak of flame
leaped from the midst of the creepers
and the qulverlng leaves, q sharp re-
port rang upon the morning air, puff
OF smoke curled upward from the gate
way, and Dirk Sylvester, with that
strange, glad smile upon his lips, fell
heavily forward, shot right through
the heart by his wife
She never lived to take her trial. in
deed she was unconscious from the
time when by one supreme act she
broke the letters which were wearing
Dirk Sylvester's spirits down into the
dust and ashes OF a misery too keen
for his endurance, till within few
minutes of her death.
Then new light shone in her fast
closing eyes; she stretched out her
arms as II to embrace viewless form,
and with the words, Dirk Dirk Free
for ever, dear. Free, Dirk, free ~
trembling on her lips, her soul went
forth rejoicing on the mystic Journey
to the dark hearafter.
Soon after she had been laid % rest
by the side OF her husband in the cene-