The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-05-16

81 must go at once" / said.
$50 soon?' she said in a voice of re-
monstrance.
Eyes, l am sorry to say, but 1 have an
imperative engagement"
"And l shall not see you again before
you go?'
SIN afraid not. The stage leaves at
Q o'clock in the morning, hours before
you will have left dreamland."
Her long lashes fell over her eyes.
'You will give me a good-by kiss,
won't you?"
She drew herself back as if frightened
OF offended.
"No, no.; not so far as that"
"You are unkind and unreasonable. l
only ask one. We may never see each
other again."
She still kept herself away from me. 1
persisted in my importantly. At last
she bent toward me.
"Once, then" she murmured in faint
voice. 1 touched her lips with mine, and
at the precise moment Of contact the
heavy, suIlen report of a gunshot rang
through the air. 1t was from the direc-
ton of the Bryne house, and / felt a
deadly thrill in my heart as if 1 had been
pierced by a bullet. / sprang down the
steps and ran in the direction of the re-
port.
1t was just at dusk, permitting objects
to be dimly seen. At the distance Of a
block 1 saw two or three figures scatter
ing from the front of the Bryne house.
One of them came toward me with a
wabbling, staggering gait, like a man
far in the stages of intoxication, and
who at every step gave utterance to a
cry like the inarticulate howl Of a wild
beast. Just as he reached me he tum-
bled at my feet in a lump, the froth cover
ing his upturned mouth. He was an ep-
ileptic named landlord, and l saw that
he had a fit. l was about to raise him
up, when he suddenly, after writhing
convulsively in the dust, staggered to his
feet and ran on, bowling like a tortured
demon.
There was a commotion in the narrow
alley that led across the Bryne place to
the barn. A voice shrieked: You've
killed him! You've killed himt'
rushed into the alley, and saw just
beyond the entrance a form lying ON the
ground, over which was bent another,
trying to raise it up by the shoulders,
while a little father on was a mar who
menaced the two with a revolver.
"Go way from here" said the man in
a hoarse, harsh voice.
81 shall not said the one bending
over the fallen figure. SIT lis my brother"
The man with the revolver backed
away, pointing it at them as he left.
I recognized all three Of the party.
The PROSTATE form was that of the eldest
of the Bryne brothers, the second who
bent over him was another brother, and
the third man, with the weapon, al a
cabinetmaker named CHASER.
Attracted by the shot, some neighbors
had gathered, and by them was borne
into the house the wounded boy. He
had been shot through the lung by a ball
from a navy revolver. Medical aid and
a priest-for the Brynes were Roman
Catholics = were summoned. Neither
availed to cure him; within a few hours
he was dead.
The horror with which I contemplated
the awful result cannot be told. Had
Anna not coquettishly refused me the
kiss; had she conceded it when first
asked, I should have been on time at the
gate, and would have received the bullet
shot through the body Of poor Bryne.
Her little hesitation saved n life and
lost another.
CHASER lived in a house a half a block
away, and thither the town constable
with q posse proceeded o after the
shooting. He was found in bed and
fast asleep.
CHASER was q Frenchman by birth,
who had wandered about the world a
good deal, who had been to California,
and who had at last reached the town in
which the homicide was committed.
AT his trial it was shown for the de-
tense that he was unused to the ways of
the country; that he had secured the re-
volver in his California experience; that
he was a dependent upon the lawyer, and,
hearing that the boys of the village were
making preparations to hang him, he had
determined to defend him, and knowing
the programme had placed himself in the
alley. Hewas shown to be pacific and
harmless in his average life, and achurch
member in good standing. He was given
a short term of imprisonment, and on his
discharge moved to Iowa, to which state
the lawyer had preceded him.
CHASER and the lawyer are still in the
Hawkeye state; Anna died in Quincy
two or three years ago, leaving q family
of sons. and daughters. ~ y