The morning call., 1890-07-17
A MARRIAGE OF
VENGEANCE.

TCkAST week I was at the Office Of dis
x charged prisoners aid society, when,
LzS among other applicants, was one whom l
- Will call John Lock. He was still young
man, his age being not more than thiTty-thTee
and be lad been convicted Of the serious offense
of attempting 10 poison his wife and condemned
10 ten years penal seryitude. He was certified
as well educated" and iu prison lie had earned
all that was possible in the way Of gOod-cOnduct
money. He was willing 10 undertake any kind
of work by which he might get an honest living,
and lie was told 10 call again on the following
Saturday. Gu that day ! CHANGED TO look in at
the Office again, and shortly afterward John
LOCK appeared. He was much altered, and
looked as though lie had been much frightened.
Recognizing the Secretary at his desk, lie hastily
remarked: IL beg your pardon, sir. ! can't
take a job in London. l wish 10 be sent away, if
you please" "IO be sent where?" Anywhere"
answered John Lock, desperately, $50 that 1t is
far enough-far away as the money due 10 me
will pay passage to. 1 don't want any other
clothes, sir; these l have on will do. l only
want TO get away" ITO get away from whom?n
" From my wife, sir. she might have been dead
for all l know 10 the contrary. but she came 10
NE IN tie street sudden ghost not two hours
since, ana she has opened my eyes. wouldn't
have believed that woman could have so much
OF The devil In her. The fact is remarked The
Secretary, you have EN- looking ioT your wife
and have found her. and you wish her TO live
with you again, and she refuses" Live with
her again - the man exclaimed with horror.
"N hat! after all she has revealed 10 me? Good
Lord, no ] shall Kill her II l remain where she
can put herself IN my way. She IS mad, | be-
lIeve, though she does not look or speaN like ii.
She wishes me 10 XIII her. She sweaIS that she
viii haunt and harass NE until do II, so that
shall end my life Oh the gallOws. And so 1t Will
be, feel suGe and certain Of 1t, II am not able
10 put the sea wide between US, 50 that We eau
not come together again. For The good LORDS
sake, geutlemen!' and lie clasped his hands to-
gether and spoke as beseechInEly as a man
begging Tor his ne don't refuse me what
am asking" There were no more prisoners TO
be attended TO at the office that morning, ard
believe more to crafty me than that he himself
fen particularly curious In the matter, Mr. Sec
Rotary remarked, You Will have first TO make
out that yours Is a case for uneXceptlOnal treat
nient. To what do you attribute your wife's bit
Ter TeSentiuluesS"' ~ thlnk she must be mad,
gentlemen" returned John Lock. Then, after a
few moments OF pOndering whether lie should
speak out, and, II so, 10 what ext Mt, he promptly
resolved TO tell The whole story. 81 cannot &C.
count for II In any other way but II you VIII
kindly have Uatience 10 listen 10 Inc you viii be
able 10 Judge for yourselves.
Will be as brief as can, but must go back
20 lie Tine Wien we We're both single, and when
Shiny wife, mean-was sweatheartiDg with
fellow eleIk Oi mine III the same ONCE, young
fellow named TaplOw, and we were much OF an
age. Caroline Speed was my Wtie's maiden
name, and we were all three members OF the -
Mechanics Institute and HAT IS how we made
acquaintance. / was In love With Garry from
the first time | saw her. l am not Of a very bold
OlspOSIiiOns ana KEPT my itelllRS 10 myself LOT
long time, and until l thought that might
speak; and when did she laughed III dlsdaih-
full sort OF way, and said that she must refer me
10 Seth Taplow my fellOw-cerk. i never for a
moment dreamed thai there was any HUG between
them, but when 1 asked IaplOw he Informed me
Otherwise. They had been geepiDg company In
quiet way, he told me, for six months or more,
snu II was settled that they should get married
as soon as lie had saved money 10 make decent
home Tor her. de was getting only $50 year,
and my salary was 9l20, aud feeling, perhaps
little spiteful Of what lie had told me, remarked:
. hope you are In 10 hurry, Seth. How long do
you think II VIII take you TO save enough TO
buy decent home, when at the outside you
can't put uD more than ten shilhngs a week?'
'Well,' SAID he, have let you into one secret.
Jack, ana Will tell You another, but you must
promise to keep 1t dark, for 1t would be The sack
at a moments notice II il came to the governors
ears. l have been doing a bit Of betting on horse
races and Iye been lucky at it. But you mustn't
suppose that am such fool as to believe in 1t
as u means Of increasing ones income. | have
won a few pounds already and l mean 10 give
them chance TO win little more at all events.
But never no more" after we are married, l
promise you that Well, gentlemen" continued
Jack LOCK, moistenlng his dry lips with his
tonGue-tip, and with anything but nice look In
his eyes, "kuoWlng me only as what | appear as
on your books, you may not believe what / am
going 10 say. admit that | felt tue disapp0lnt-
ment cruelty, and none the less, you may depend,
because it was one whom | might call my bosom
friend who had occasi0ned ii. But l felt more
on account OF The second secret Seth had cOn-
fded 10 me. said nothing about II 10 him at
tile time, but that same night l wrote him a
letter begging and imploring him 10 abauaon
gambling which would be sure, sooner or later,
to end in his ruin. Nor did think 1t my duty
To keep the hOrse-betting secret quite so close
] had promised to- ! went frank and disnter-
eSted to Miss Speed and told her about 1t. |
showed her the letter Seth had sent me IN reply
TO mine, and in which he said II too late for
me 10 preach for that week anyhow, as he had
put IS on a horse for the St. Leger, and hoped 10
win $50 by II. / pointed out 10 her the risk she
was running in marrying such man. She al
ways was quick tempered. l was cowardly.
mem and The rest OF H. and she would tel Seth
that had betrayed him. That was too much FOR
my patience, and told her that the information
had given her was in friendliness and conf
dence, and that II size tried 10 make il.blOOd be-
tween me ana Seth, worse than she imagined
might come OF II. So she Kept still tongue.
But worse came OF 1t for all that Seth's luck at
betting took bad turn, as he himself told me-
and besost more Than he had won, and he was
strongly tempted to a crime l feel sure he would
not otherwise have committed or even thought
OF. Three SO notes. the property Of the firm,
were missing from my desk. II was, OF course
very serious thing for me, and l had
70 do all could 10 clear myself from
suspicion l suspected no one, least
Of all Seth, but when 1 was closely questioned by
the principal as 10 what knew of the habits of
my fellow-eleik, was compelled to tell the
ruth, ana mentioned what knew about Taylor
betting on horse races and bis having lost money
lately. He was questioned, ana the result was
that police officer called in. and a search
being made The stolen notes were discovered IN
Seth Taylor's clear-case aud he was tried for
the robbery and sent 10 prison tor eighteen
ulOnluS was very near getting uiScuaIBeu LOT
not making The firm aware that Seth was en-
gagged IN gambling, but fortunately, the letter In
which had begged him 10 break off the Danger
Gus habit was iound and that OF course, was in
my favor. Seth, OF course, declared he was in
nocent, and went so tar as TO declare that some
pooy WHO had a private spite against him had
placed the nOles Where they were discovered,
ana carry speed, who volunteered as witness,
related IN court what TRANSFERRED at Ill private
interview bad with her and how | had threat
ened, tnat II she made known 10 Seth what had
told her, worse would happen TO him. But The
Judge said II was INDUSTRIOUS 10 endeayor 10 nut
false complexion on a perfectly innocent re-
mark made by an Intimate friend Of the prisoner
and one who, shown by the letter already
mentioned, had proved himself TO be good ad
wiser. But IL didn't matter much about Taylor's
sentence being such a severe one. He fielted
himself TO death In prison, aud only lived five
months after bis conviction
Il had not seen Garry Speed once during the
whole OF that hVe months. / had no luminosity
against her, but did not care 10 meet her az ain
after the base insiDuatiou she had niade against
me al the trial But, 10 my surprise. shortly
aiter Seth Taylor's death, she wrote 10 me. IL
was all over now she said; but her miad Gould
get no rest until she hSd begged my forgiveness
for what she had dohe, since the longer she
nected on it the more she WAS convinced that
she dad misiudged me. There was lot more In
Her letter to The same effect, aud with Which /
need not trouble you. You Will easily under
stand that was very much surprised and pleased
~ well. / made II my business 10 see her and