San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1890-08-07

''It would blow the entire building tn
atoms" said /. resuming the analysis or
Mrs. Johpsons stomach.
"Nog" I heard the policeman remark
In deliberate Yankee tones, "you don't
say sor'
The next moment lay ON my back.
gag IN my mouth, terribly frightened
and sick at heart. Over me stood the
policeman and the flrst thing that funo-
tionary did was-looking me straight In
the face-to take of his nose. He then
rid himself Of his eyebrows, hair and
cap, and became Q determined looking
fellow, with the eyes Of fiend and the
nose OF q Roman.
80 you think" said the metamor-
phosed, In the tones Of . gentleman.
"that nothing can save Joe johnson
from the rope2 Poor fellow! II does
look like itl But my dear professor, Joe
johnson ia fortunate enough to have In
me a devoted friend Us well as brother.
have undertaken to save him, and he
shall be saved. In order to accomplish
this end 1t will be necessary to remove
from the face Of the earth not only the
stomach of his miserable wife yonder,
but also, my dear professor-I am sorry
to be obliged to say 1t, for believe you
were my brothers teacher and friend
yourself as we'll" I saw that he was in
deadly earnest.
"Your death must apparently result
from accidental least so 1t must seem
to the authorities. My brother is in Jail
and they will not suspect him, and they
certainly will not suspect me-"
What terrible deed was in this brain
hatching-was he going to murder mel
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. 1t was
not to be hanging, then. Under the
weight on tho floor he placed can OF
nitro-glycerine; recognized tho yellow
string; it was fuse, and 1t would burn
in sixty minutes. 1t would run across
the marble slab there was no hope OF
igniting any substance that would warn
my friends.
"Do you begin to see through it9"
asked Joe Johnson's brother.
believe cursed him with my eyes.
| 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 q man an hour TO live, to kill
him at the end of it--that little ire
sponsiblc terror that, less mercifrl than
Providence, told man the second he
was to die, if fright and horror spared
him to himself. Slowly the flames crept
snake like around the twine.
I'm one hour" said the prisoners
brother, 'you will be in heaven or hell.
1 will watch with you for half an hour,
and the ether half you will spend alone"
He sat down some minutes in n chair
watching the flame Then he arose and
took piece of porcelain, with the mur-
derers name thereon, from the table,
and shook his head gloomily.
II am chemist enough to know 1t Is
arsenic" he said. "Ycs, those bright,
metallic eyes, a betrayal Of the guiltyi
Science, thou wouldst kill my brother
thou shalt save him. Let mo see In
whose hands thou art the most power
full"
The half hour wore slowly away. Oh,
heavens! What agony did suffer! Not
for myself, but for my child. The fuse
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 my
brothers guilt-nothing can save yor
now"
With that he turned to take his hat
from off the table covered with the
crimson cloth beneath which hid my
priceless boy. Something attracted his
attention. He held out his hands and
reached forward. thought he had dis
covered my boy. No; ho was lifting
something in either hand-the wires OF
the electric battery. In another instant
my boy had leaped from under the table,
and was turning the crank fast and furi-
ously.
The murderer's brother was In the
power of my boy. He could not drop
the wires; he was helpless. How my
boy cried for helpl The old college rang
with his voice. The prisoners brother
added his voice to my boys In his agony.
In Oh instant a great length burned
away. It would just last five minutes
and no more.
"Fatherl" shouted my boy, 'if no as
sistance comes this villain must die with
us. / dare not free him. Helpi helpl
help!"
Alas! could not answer him.
Thank God! But some one else did.
The fuse is burned up. The rope Is on
fire-the nitro glycerinei The door
opens; Tom Richards, on a midnight
visit 10 the sick, has heard the cry; he
comprchends all; seizes the can In his
hand, the weight descends indeed, but
not on the death dealing oil. No; down
II goes through the Office Aoor-down,
down, like an evil spirit, TO give back q
dull metallic echo from the stones Of the
cellar beneath.
We are saved.
Joe johnson, the prisoner, was hanged,
but his brother remains unpunished by
the law, for he stabbed himself with
knife and thus escaped the hanginan's
rope.-H. Il in Atlanta Constitution