Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-01-31
NO. s..

advantage Of him, If you've read the re-
| port you can see how she deceived him.
/ Even the district attorney admitted that,
bitter as he was against the boy All il
! could only have been in court at the trial!
! II ] had only been in town the day when
the boy discovered the truth, he wouldn't
have shot that villain, for I'd have done il
myself"
Then who would have come 10 me 10
ask for your pardon q inquired the gov
ernor, smiling kindly. Il have read these
letters, but they contain nothing that is
new TO me, and
Nothing new p interrupted the old man,
| violently. That letter shows that Grant
hred IN selt-defence, since the fellow had a
pistol in his hand Isn't that something
new p
''Not TO me, for the district attorney
against whom you seem to have preiu-
dice, Mr. Baxter-had already informed
me of this"
IF you've been listening TO him, sup.
pose there isn't much hope of my getting
what am after" the old man returned,
hotly FOR no man ever spoke more un-
fairly against another than that man did
against my boy"
"You do him injustice" the governor
said, firmly. 'He did his duty at the trial
in pressing for sentence, and he has done
his duty now in laying before me this new
ly discovered evidence He has even gone
farther he has urged me to accede to your
request for your sons pardon
The district attorney /" cried the old
man in surprise
Yes, the governor replied
Then his conscience has pricked him at
last"
and it is chiefly in consequence of his
recommendation that have decided to
pardon your son.
Il don't care ON whose urging it is. so
long as it is done, the old man reioined.
when can the boy come out y he asked,
eagerly
81 will let you bear the pardon to him."
said the governor, and he unfolded one of
the papers which lay on the table by his
side and signed it. "Here it is"
The old man seized the paper with con
vulsive clutch. His knees trembled as his
eyes read the pardon swiftly.
The door of the parlor opened, and the
secretary returned.
The old man grasped his hat. "Do you
know when the next train leaves for Au-
burn ~ he inquired, hastily
There is one at four o'clock, | think "
the secretary answered.
and then, the pardon in his tyitching fin
gers, he left the parlor without another
word. He passed quickly through the cor
ridors Of the hotel, down the stairs, and out
into the street. When he reached the
pavement he stood still for a moment and
barred his head, quite unconscious of the
rain-storm which had broken but minute
before.
A small boy came running to him across
the street, crying, Evening papers-four
O'Clock Gazette ~
Seemingly the old man did not hear him.
Terrible loss of life !n the newsboy
shrilled out. as he moved away. "Riot at
Auburn Attempted escape of the prison
ers ~
Then a clutch of iron was fastened on
the newsboy's arm, and the old man tow
cred above him, asking hoarsely; What's
that you say loss of life in the prison
at Auburn Give me the paper {"
lie seized it. On the first page was IA
despatch from Auburn stating that there
had been rising of the convicts at the
state prison, which the wardens had been
able to repress after it had gained headway.
The prisoners had yielded and gone back
to their cells only after the wardens had
fired on them, wounding half dozen and
killing the ringleader, who had fought des-
perately. He was young man from one
of the lake villages, sentenced to fifteen
years for manslaughter his name was
Grant Baxter.
As the old man read this, the paper
slipped from his fingers, and he fell on the
sidewalk dead, still tightly grasping the
pardon. Brdnder Mdtthelcs in Haiper's
Magazine.