The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-03-22

Ny soul still carols like a lark
Since Thou, my God art nigh-for bark.
Thy, voice o;es ,l hear l. Mhsn torrents lpur.
Though sorrow crush and trouble Ozark,
Thy will b done!
%. i. Young, in the Drovers' Journal.
HEAVENS VENGEANCE.
I who write for you this singular tale. !
the entire veraoity of which / can tsstif.
from my own personal knowledge, shal
not tell my real name. nor whore the Incl
dent which I am about to relate took place
It makes NO difference whatever to thu
story, and, although | am only a carpsnte
and jobber in a small way, l was once edu-
Gated for something better. and l hav'
something of my old-tims pride yet re-
naming. Misconduct and misfortune CON-
bined may cause the best of people to take
long stridos downward on the ladder oi
fortune, as both my former partner and
myself found to our sorrow.
John Manlsy was a silent. reserved sort
of a fellow, aud I can hardly tell how il
happened that we went into business
together. / found it necessary for me to
have a partner, and I knew him to be a
good workman and strictly honorable.
Nobody else was available, and SO / took
him.
1t was evident that he. like myself, had
once moved in a very different sphere OF
life; but that msttered not. We were only
carpenters and builders then, and as such
We were obliged to earn our living or starve.
Neither John nor myself had any fam
ily, SO we hired a room in a cheap lodging
house and took our meals at q nsighborlng
lunch counter for a number OF years. He
was always exceedingly reticent about his
past life. and I never knew where ne came
from. or even if Namely were his true
name. However, he attended closely to
business, and it mat.ered little whether he
talked or not. A dumb man could drive
nails or shove q %foreplans jnst as we'll as
the most garrulous cnatserOo1 aIlve-anu
perhaps better.
Gradually q strong bond Of sympathy es-
tablished itself between my gloomy. mis-
anthropic partner and myself; and after 2
long time he became almost confidential
with me. I felt certain that he really liked
me in his singular. moody fashion, but
concerning most particulars Of his past
history he was always dumb.
I soon made up M mind that this Singh
lar man was a monomanlac, Or else was
overwhelmed with remorse for some dark
deed committed in the past. A terrible
EHHf6E E66kn6u 0AuAklAR AI1n AAA
proving upon his very life from day to day.
Perhaps both these suppositions were cor
rect.
Il have a dark and fearful secret in my
past life,' he said to me on more than one
occasion, "and the retribution due me for .
black sin / once committed will yet over
take me, No human eye saw rue, do that
terrible decd, and no human ear was listen
ing; but the eye of God was upon me. and
the hand Of heaven is swift for vengeance.
Sooner or later the avenging blow that is
threatening me will fall, and when it does
II shall expiate with my hearts blood the
terrible crime that has SO long over
Swallowed my life.'
I tried to reason with the man, but it was
all in vain. His hidden secret was evil
IDENTITY weighing him down like the hand Of
doom; and he believed that heaven men
aced him With its direct vengeance, though
/ never was able to discover the exact ma
ture Of the crime which he had committed,
or fancied that he had.
He grew more haggard and wild-eysd
from day to day, though he still attended
to business with all this doggedness Of de-
spair, while he awaited vengeance from on
high.
At last l became convinced that my part
ner must be harmlessly insane, and that
his dark secret existed only in the wild fan
cies of a disordered imagination. =.
1.-The blow will soon fall now, William"
said he to me ene day. the vengeance of
heaven ia at hand. Deeds like mine may
remain concealed from all mankind, but
there is an eye above that mover slumbers,
and retribution is sure and certain in the
end. It may be. and often is, delayed for
years, but it will inevitably come at last"
What do you expect is going to happen,
John?' I asked in return. 'Do you think
your secret will be discovered at last. after
YOU nave successfully hidden it for all
these years, and that punishment is about
to be measured out to you?'
ono" he replied, II have hidden ii too
we'll for that. Ny sinful deed can never
come to light now; but It cries aloud to
heaven for vengence, and though the dulled
ears of all mankind fail to hear it, that of
God is always open and he will answer at
last. / cannot tell you what l am expect
ing or how the blow will fall, but conn in
some way it must and will. and l feel now
that the time is close at hand"
/ saw to my regret that the man was
rapidly breaking down under the terrible
mental strain that he had endured for 40
long. Moody and tacitul II. as he was, [ had
become greatly attached to my strange
partner during the many years we had been
associated together. Both of us were en-
tile!y alone in the world excep5 for nero
business acquailtances, and our mutual
miseries made US almost like brothers..
I tried in vain to win his confidence and
find out all of the dark hallucination under
which his whole lie WAS passed, but /
could not do So. / do not think it was be-
cause he dared not trust me, but it seemed
as if he could nos bear to speak more detin-
1tely of the brooding horror that haunted
him ~perpetually.
l eudeayorsd to reason him out of his
causeless dread of heavens vengeance by
pointing out the many successful and up
parently happy villains all around.
ether wickedness is not like mine,'' he
moaned. ~ can never be happy again.
aud, reason az you like, the blow will fall,
and that speedily. Vengeance is His, and
can you doubt that no will repay crimes
such ag mine with his everest chastise-
nent? No; | did the deed and ! must en-
dure the punishment. When heavens
blow has fallen you will believe and un-
derstand me; and fall it will. know it,
Toward the last Johns malndy Increased
with alarming rapidity, 30 rapidly that |
had to forbid his trying to attend to bust
ness any longer. He was the only friend |
had in the world, and, singular and ,norose
though be was. | could not bear to lose
him; but unless his mind could be diverted
into other hannels | saw that it was inevi-
table.
He obeyed me as a child might have dons,
and putting our business in the hands of u
competent foreman, | took my partner and
fed into the country for rest and recrsa-
ton. We could afford to do so, for our af-
fairs had been fairly prosperous and as we
were both alone IN the world we had saved
considerable money.
1t was a lonely and picturesque farming
1--~ ,I