The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-04-24
Saltwater, Mimi, Thursday, April 24, 1890.

u.s." But on all occasions just as victory
was within grasp and his nerves brought
into respectful submission, the gnaw, gnaw.
gnaw of his pllOwed companion would
awaken everything ungOdly within him, and
assuming hurried sitting posture he would
pound the harmless pillow, hurl one of his
tight fitting number mines striking the
floor within about four feet of his retreat
ing foe. and break forth into language not
in accordance with the holy command of
the Lord given long ages ago to Moses on
Mount Sinai, written on two tables of stone
Thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain;" language that
would make his guardian angel weep;
shock, if she but heard him, the religious
sensibilites of his young lady in the super
lative degree, and caused Uncle Billy as he
passed on his nOiseless vamps to sigh and
murmur, and murmur as he sighed, mo
hope, no hope" Upon the last visit of the
mouse it's destruction was decided upon;
and the time set apart for the execution
was the very next instant it would cross the
holy portals of 454. But how to accomplish
it was question that required more time
and thought than the mere prOnOuncing of
the death sentence entailed. CrOnin might
be lured to death by fictitious accOuch-
ment at the Carlson cottage; the blood
stained steps of the Infamous Carey might
have been successfully tracked and his
death avenge the wrongs of the many inno-
cent victims of his villainous life. David
might have by the prOwess of his arm and
the QuckneSs of his eye, ded by the jaw
bone of an ass laid low the once famous
Golah. or LpssepS lull himself to honOred
slumberS DER his successful engineering of
the Suez canal; but to entrap the mouse to
its death was work that needed far more
mental skill than any of the comparatively
insignificant featS of mind and power |
mentioned. Being Of scientific turn of
mind(he is an active member of the &C. l..
S. C.') he took his water jar at half tide
and removing the lid placed a thin layer of
paper in its place and secured the circum-
ference by silken thread. He then cut
an opening in the center of the paper leav-
ing little part attached as part of the
whole and near by he placed a tempting
strip of meat. The mouse, to reach the
meat, would have to pass over the invisible
pathway which meant its ruin. The work
being finished, the engineer gaZed upon it
and said it was good, at the same time CIV
ing vent to loud laugh in the midst of
which he was heard to excaim: Dan,
you're dandy. Its a professor in the
Royal Colleges OF 'Jaynuses' you should
have been-ha, hap
Having learned respect for the law during
his sojourn here, particularly chapter 225
of the Minnesota law, he selected the time
between midnight and sunrise for the exc
cution of his vile plot; not indeed that he
was averse to the general public knowing
the full particulars all went well-but
because he feared that any bungling of his
might reach the ears of the keen scented
editor (whOSe habit of sticking his nose into
everybody'S business is. from an official
standpoint, not very agreeable at tmes)
and. becoming public property, necessarily
lower the standpoint of well-regulated So
ciety. The wtching hour of night arrived;
the jar was placed in position, the lamp
extinguished. and the distinguished mem
ber of the Irish aristocracy, clad in his
small clothes, sat erect upon his pallet of
straw awaiting the arrival of his foe. The
unsuspecting little quadruped soon arrived
and having taken lightning like scramble
around the habitatiOn of its enemy, it es-
pied the temptation on the top of the jar.
1t took but an instant to reach it; but some
thing of the surroundings accidently forbade
it from pursuing the whole course, and it
descended. In little while it returned and
again mounted the jar. All, if it but resisted
the temptation at first! as any sensible
mouse would have done-what load of
after trials and anXieties it would have
spared itself; but instead it preferred to
play with it. and argue with itself upon the
supposed attractions, supporting itself with
that false no danger Of me- falling policy by
which in the past so many have been de-
ceived and so many have fallen. Again it
descended and again it returned; but this
time it came once too often. Mounting the
jar for the third time it continued it's travels
toward the meat. but the road to the goal
of its ambition which appeared so attract
i've and solid. fell beneath it's tiny weight
ere it had journeyed half the way, and it
fell head foremost into the water beneath.