The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1886-11-20

ground. In the train of confused emotions
that crowd upon him there is not only the
memory of the long-fergotteh pfecepts, but
the awakening of feelings that have hever
before found place In 'hisileart.
Hours after the singers voice has ceased
this NTH rises, ohanSed In heart, with tic
germ of better life struggling into exist
ence within him. AS yet his mind is con-
fused, bht'6he thought has seized upon II
and dominates all others. He will be a nah
mo more criminal. He will try to fol-
low odt the preceps, the remembrance Dr.
witch has thus Nh ely come to him. He is
young yet and strong. He can labor and
reform. But that is not all. He has been
criminal; he has %rchged society ami
owes it Some reparatioh. That debt must
be paid and then he wifi start clear again.
Just how he will pay 1t he can not Think
now, but he has no doubt the knowledge
of what to do, and the Opportunity will
come TO Him.
II he can only get away from the conse-
quences of this last Crime fer which he is
being pursued he will do something that
will do something that will take away the
reproachful look from those sad eyes. If
he can elude the vigilance OF the laws off,
GERS and get away somewhere where Ire can
work ett'fis paration-if-ahl+- ''Ttu
kre ihy prisbherl Put oh the bracelete,
I'Jim."
Rhdely as this is his dream hrokgh IN
tpon. ALMOST before he is aware Of 1t he
is ihansGled--in the clutches of the law.
y
"To think that that dreadful man should
have been lettering about our grounds last
hight. It's shocking, John do look around
and SEE If anything has been stolen. Dear
me, &ishFhe police would protect peoples
property better. l trust the judge will see
to it that an example is made of this man."
Thus rattles on the hostess of the last
night, she who invoked the genius of song
which enthralled this dangerous criminal,
when on the day following she discusses
the arrest made in the grounds of her
mansion some time after the departure of
her guests.
GLOW say you, prlsoner-gulty or not
guilty?'
The judges tones are sharp. There is !
business-like ring to his words. He is
ahSioAs to get through with this case, as
there can be but one ending to it, the evil !
dence is so clear. Why then should there
hn n halny fnrrnaiftvO ha
tingy little court room is crowded, Its at |
mosphere not the most congenial, while
outside there is the summer air. the bright
sunshine. Why then linger over this case?
It is only one criminal who is to get his
desefts1Ao only one man to be taken away
from these fresh fields, that bright sun
shine, the songs of the birds, the sweet
scents of the Iheadows, and in.mured behind !
stone walls ard iron bars. Here he sits. !
Replying to the formal query of tie judge,
he has Just pleaded "not guilty" That
also is mere form, followed only at the
suggestion of the half-netGed attorney ap-
pointed by the court as matter of form to !
look after the prisoners interests. He
hhO"o thNlO 10 iiO tiidliCC VI CoCupt anu llt
knows also how merciless the law is to such |
as he. He has waited for this hour, not |
with any hope, but with dull seFt tf res.
iGnation, as one stage TO be passed. He |
Has already sounded the blackest depths of |
despair and to-day lies in the abyss with
upturned eyes waiting for the inevitable
waiting as might have waited some hone
abandoned victim of the Ihquisition, who
with daily terror watched the walls of his
cell close in about him, and hourly counted |
the fractions OF the inches of breathing
space yet left him.
A Strange metamorphosis has been
wrought in him since he came into court
this morning He has become possessed Of |
double consciousness. He stands here
awaiting trial and condemnation, but an
other self is far away, out of the reach of
turnkeys and gives, beyond the limitations
of iron bars and stone walls. One of his
two selves is trammeled by the body and
remains in the dock; the other ranges the
universe One is mechanically attentive
to all that is going on in the court room:
the other is coShizant of occurrences of
the past and reviews the present and fn.
ture. With this last self at one Ifoiuent
every thing swims about, the spectators.
judge and Jurors whirlinG in wild, mad
dance; at another the crowd presses in up-
on him until he gasps for breath; now he
is at the bottom of deep rit where the
dpath-like stiffness almost maLas HE i,rai
giddy; anon, n confused murniur is borne
to his ears, at first like the pattering of the
rain drops on a dusty road, then like tho
cidsh OF thunder in forest He is look
ing at the spectators and the hundreds of
faces seem to be blending into one huge
commentaries With myriad eyes, glnting
and gisteniiig afd sending darts to Ills very
soul.
HeI Willie he is racked with this mind
tofttife; Is physically awake to the slightest
ploPenent in the coiift f06lt. lie ii5tiEes
that the judges whiskers are longer and
winter on one side than on the other, and
mentsiiy Goes tiif6ugh the operation of ar
ranging them; lie is actually observant of
the actions OF three or four newspaper fe-
poFters, who, used 10 such SCENES, sit iRdif-
ferent onlookersi dffahgng and rearranging
their notes and sharpening their pencils: he
hears the uiefrt cliirping of bird in tis
branches Of a tree outside tile window; he
even sniiles at d witty sally Of one ef the
eallous lawyers rear him
Yet he never for AM instant forgets his
present situation. That fdrnts the dark
background OF the mental Kaleidoscope on
which these varied fancies and pictures
arc outlined How strong the evidence
agdrist him, lie has NO need to tr0Jible him
self to consider. 1t Is conclusjge=daHin