River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-04-28


still carrying the sheet which he had
unwittingly retained throughout the
whole terrible race. Silently he re-
placed the fatal linen upon the line.
then went into the house and passed
directly II his room lest the family
should notice his CHASTITY looks and
question HIM a. to the cause.
lie threw himself upon his bed. but
not to sleep. The picture of a white,
terrified face sinking down, down,
down to a grave in the ripping, shining
waNer was ever before him; and slum-
Der fled from his uneasy pillow.
Poor. pale. quiet Charlie! Two hours
ago so full Of life and vigor, and now
living stark and dead under the cold,
cruel waves, And he had been the
cause.
Could they hang him if the whole
truth were discovered? He did not
know. Visions of an ignominious and
awful death upon the scaffold rose be-
fore him. and again he groaneL in
agony.
But he would never tell People
should never know what he had done;
never, never, Somehow he would con-
ceal it, and the truth should never be
disclosed.
Then that pale, lifeless face, drifting
on the shining, shimmering water, and
settling slowly down into its black
depths. would pass before tie eyes of
his imagination. Ches groaned, and
shook as if with an ague fit.
All that long. dark, horrible night he
lay and wept in sleepless agony, tor
mented by his guilty thoughts and ter
rible imaginings. Trembling with
weakness and burning with fever and
excitement, he arose from his couch at
break of day. His parents questioned
him anxiously, alarmed by his looks
and actions. but he would only answer
that he was tired and felt unwell.
Scarcely mouthful of food passed his
lips, and that he crowded down because
the other members Of the family were
watching him, and not because he
wished for it.
Early in the day the tidings came
that Charlie Bird had run away. Mr..
Hall had told him to go up TO the big
rock for bundle the night before and
lie had objected. lie had been COM
PEELED to 90 and had never returned.
The bundle had been found in the road
10y the old graveyard, but of the boy
there was not a single trace. Ches
grOaned at the first mention of Char
lies name. but all were listening
breathlcSsly To the strange intelligence
and no one noticed it.
Mr. Hall would not tgy TO find him,
so the ucighbors said. IF he wanted
10 leave those who had done 50 much
for him. In that ungrateful mann er,
why. let him And 50 the matter
rested.
All day long Ches kept by himself as
much rs possible, eating little and tor
mented by the terrible secret that was
struggling to burst forth and make
itself known to the whole world. But
he must keep it in. SO he passed all
that long. terrible day and another
night of slecpless grief and remorse.
The second morning Ches arose look
ing but the ghost of the merry. light
hearted Icy that he had been only two
days before. Ills eyes We're wild and
bloodshot. his face haggard and CHASTITY
one minute and the next burning with
the hectic flush of fever. lie spoke in
cohercntly, tremblcd when he walked,
and his whole appearance was more
like that o. an insane person than one
in his right mind Ills parents were
-luch alarmed about him. for his condi-
ton grew worse with every hour.
And So the day wore on. Darkness at
last settled dosa upon the landscape.
but Ches was still brooding over the
horror hidden in his breast. A muir
> er, Voices in the air seemed to
. whisper the appalling word in endless
reiteration. and his brain seemed on fire.
About nine o'clock in the evening
Ches crept out of the window of his
room. to which he had retired some
time before. and hurried off through the
darkness \ strange, uncomfortable
impulse to visit the scene of the fatal
accident had taken possession of him,
and was driving him on. He walked
rapidly up the hillside road as far as
the old graveyard. paused there, and
looked fixs dly at the edge of the cliff.
dreading yet sfsiring to go on to the
brink of thS precIpice from which
Charlie Bird had fallen to his doom.
As he stood there. unable To go for
ward or to return, n noise at his right
side startled him and caused him to
turn his head. Horror of horrors,
Sot ten steps away from him. with
face cleaning white and CHASTITY in the
light OF the rising moon, stood the
shadowy figure of Charlie Bird. Ches
uttered single wild piercing cry and
! fell Senseless To the earth.
When he came to himself again he
was lying in bed in darkened room at
home, while his mother was moving
about with a worn and anxious face.
For a moment Ches looked around in
wonder: then the memory of that awful
night came back to him. and he cried
out in a voice so changed and feeble
that he could scarcely believe it was
his own: Great Heavens, \ muir
derer,~
His mother stepped quickly to the
door and spoke to some one outside, and
a figure entered and approached his
bedside. II was Charlie Bird. alive and
with the hue Of health upon his face.
I Ches gave one look and tainted.
As soon as he became strong enough
for he had been at deaths door for
weeks with a brain fever-the whole
story was told 10 him When Charlie
heard Ches' wild cry behind him, he
gave one quick glance over his
shoulder and lseheld the white-robed
apparition in hot pursuit he made a
single wild bound forward. and felt
himself falling down, down somewhere
he knew not where.
Instinctively he made frantic clutch
to save himself. and succeeded in catch
ing hold OF the tough dropping bushes
that grew upon the edge Of the preci-
pice. There he hung, suspended in mid
air Just below the summit Of the cliff.
while the ocean rippled on the shore
more than forty feet beneath him
II was but minutes work to Chamber