The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1890-08-02

from the face Of the earth not only the
stomach Of his miserable wife yonder
but also, my dear professor am sorry
to be obliged TO say it, for believe you
were my brothers teacher and friend
yourself as we'll" / saw that he was in
deadly earnest.
"Your death must apparently result
from accidental least so it must seem
to the authorities My brother is in jail
and they viii not suspect him, and they
certainly will not suspect me-
What terrible deed was in this brair
Matching he going to murder me-
Was it myself who was TO hang instead
of Johnson
No; yes. He placed the line pulley
like over an arm Of hanging chandelier
This was altogether too slight support
even for one of my tender frame It wal
not to be hanging, then. Under the
weight on the floor he placed can oi
nitro -glycerine; recognized the yellow
string; it was fuse, and it would burr
in sixty minutes. 1t would run acros.
the marble slab; there was no hope Of
igniting any substance that would warn
my friends.
do you begin to see through itT
asked Joe Johnson's brother.
believe 1 cursed him with my eyes
l could only breathe through my nos
trils, and great veins were swelling and
growing hot in my forehead Drawing
match from his pocket he lighted and
applied it to the fuse; that little tyrant
that gave man an hour to live. to Kill
him at the end of it-that little ire
sponsible terror that, less merciful thar
Providence, told a man the second he
was TO die, if fright and horror spared
him to himself Slowly the flames crept
snake like around the twine.
"In one hour" said the prisoner
brother, you will be in heaven or hell
will watch with you for half an hour
and the other half you will spend alone.
He sat down some minutes in chail
watching the fame Then he arose ant
took piece Of porcelain, with the mur
derer's name thereon, from the table
and shook his head gloomily
II am chemist enough to know it is
arsenic" he said. eyes, those bright
metallic eyes, betrayal of the guilty
Science, thou wouldst kill my brother
thou shalt save him. Let me see il
whose hands thou art the most power
full"
The half hour wore slowly away Oh
heavensl What agony did l sufferl No
for myself, but for my child. The fus,
burned on--on. The half hour is up
The brother of the murderer rises to go
Joy.
"Commit your soul to Gods keeping,
he said. "You hold the evidence of IN,
brothers guilt-nothing can save yol
now"
With that he turned to take his ha
from off the table covered with tn
crimson cloth beneath which hid m,
priceless boy. Something attracted hi
attention. He held out his hands an,
reached forward. thought he had dis
covered my boy. No; he was liftini
something in either hand-the wires 0
the electric battery In another instan
my boy had leaped from under the table
and was turning the crank fast and frui
ously.
The murderers brother was in tn
power of my boy. He could not droI
the wires; he was helpless. How m
boy cried for help! The old college ran
with his voice The prisoners brothe
added his voice to my boys in his agony
In an instant great length burne
away. 1t would just last five minute
and no more
"Father" shouted my boy, 'if no as
sistance comes this villain must die wit
us. I dare not free him. Help! helI
helpl"
Alasi l could not answer him.
Thank God! But some one else did
The fuse is burned up. The rope is o
fire-the nitro glycerinel The doc
opens Tom Richards, on a midnigh
visit to the sick, has heard the cry; h
comprehends all; seizes the can in hi
hand, the weight descends indeed, bu
not ON the death dealing oil, No; dow
it goes through the Office foor-dow1
down, like an evil spirit, to give back
dull metallic echo from the stones of tn
cellar beneath.
! We are saved.
Joe Johnson, the prisoner, was hanged
but his brother remains unpunished b
the law. for he stabbed himself with
knife and thus escaped the hanglnan
rope.-H. H, in Atlanta Constitution.