The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1890-05-14
A MESSAGE IN STONE.
BY JOIN B. CARLY.


In very plain house, in an obscure
village in Georgia, lived Robert Hurley
and his wife Ann, natives of the village
of B. They had started life hand
in hand, some fifteen years before, with
good health and nothing more. God had
blessed their union with three children,
two boys and girl, aged respectively
fourteen, eleven and four. The boys at
tended neighboring school, at which
Joseph, the elder, being Of studious
turn of mind, among other things, had
CLEANED some little knowledge of phonog-
raphy.
At the time in which our story opens
the mother was grievously i'll. She soon
died, and Hurley broke down, took to
drink, and became indifferent to the well
/ fare Of his children Gradually he alb
sented himself from home, night after
night, passing his evenings at the public
hC use, or wherever he found the compa-
ny more pleasant than at home. Matters
went on thus for several months. At
length Hurley began to spruce up" a
bit, and before long the children had q
step-mother who was Of different dis
position from their own mother House
hold matters that formerly were barely
toIerable, now became decidedly un-
pleasant. The step-mother was woi.san
of an ungovernable temper. She seemed
from the first to have an intense dislike
to her husbands children, and took every
occasion to manifest it.
Under this treatment the children be-
came restive complaints 10 the father
brought no interference from him and
increased the wife's anger. Joe, being
the eldest, seemed TO come in for larger
share Of unreasonable abuse. Like be-
gets like, and the once quiet lad answer
ed the step-mother with disrespect and
anger.
Once after the boys had gone to school,
Mrs. Hurley, noting the absence of the
little girl, called her impatiently. There
was no immediate response, and the
woman softly crept up the garret stairs
and finding the child, siezed stout billet
of wood, and was about to inflict on her
conoign punishment. Just then the
elder boy, returning from school, entered
the house. At the sight of his little
sister, pale and trembling, and the pas
sion distorted face of the woman, he un-
fortunately gave way to anger. All the
real and fancied insults and i'll treatment
he bad suffered came to his mind, aud
his blood boiled.
"Let my sister alonel" he cried, in
frenzy. @Let that child go, or"
His dreadful threat was followed by
look of hatred from the step-mother, as
she raised the stick to strike the child.
He rushed to the rescue, his only inten-
ton being to protect the girl. While he
was striving to take the cudgel from the
enraged woman, disgraceful hand to
hand struggle ensned. Mrs. Hurley trip
ped on some obstacle, and, in falling
heavily to the floor, struck her head
against the stove. At that instant ped
Ter, who had been a silent witness of the
occurrence, seeing the unpleasant termi-
nation of affairs, rapidly left the scene.
The woman lay gasping and unconscious,
with the blood slowly oozing from
dreadful cash in the head. The retained
the weapon from which she had released
her grasp, and for briefinstant he stood
over the bleeding woman in this guilty
attitude. He was alone. Early in the
struggle the little girl had run out, crying
Joe killr Her cries and the noise of
the struggle brought the neighbors into
the room. They observed the lad in the
compromising attitude referred to.
Scarcely knowing what he said, Joe
uttered wild cry Of "0l what have
done?" and, STOPPING down, attempted
to raise the woman's head on his lap. To
his intense horror, she was dead, and her
limbs were rapidly becoming cold and
stifT.
The neighbors gathered about, uttering
wild cries Of alright. But, shocked as
they were, no tongue or pen can describe
the speechless, ghastly terror of the boy.
He was deprived of uiterance and reason
almost by the awfnl occurrence. He
jabbered incoherently, while the by
ISLANDERS, who had heard his threat and
the noise of the struggle, looked at him
askance and shook their heads. The
coroner was notified, and with him en-
tered the father, toEhom the bystanders
attempted to explain the awful occur
renee. The boy stood leaning against
the wall trembling with fright, and ap-
parently guilty. He attempted no ex-
PLANTATION, but looked from one to the
other in helpless, beseeching way. The
noise of the scuftle, the position Of the
parties when seen, his excited appear
ance, the contour of the wound, and the
shape of the cudeel, the iIl-will supposed
TO have existed between the step-mother
and Joe, coupled with his loud and angry
threats, were all circumstances against
any theory but the worst. The shocked
father, frenzied to distraction, caused the
arrest Of his first-born, as the xillful doer
Of murder.
The village constable was called in and
before night the unfortunate lad, more
dead than alive, lay in the lookup ON the