The Bessemer indicator., 1893-03-11

out into the old West pasture in
search Of the Golfer, but alas. l was
doomed to disappointment. l could
not remember in what portion OF it
the rock was situated, nor even how
it looked.
There were acres OF land that all
appeared just alike, and were all
thickly strewn with huge boulders;
and in the years that had elapsed
thick scrub pines had grown up and
covered the ground so completely
that in places it was almost impossi-
BILE to find ones way through them.
The stone sought was still more ef-
fectually concealed by the great, rank
ferns that filed every crevice be-
tween the roots of the trees, and
buried the earth in thick layer of
green and feathery fronds. Sock as !
would the stone was not to be found,
and to this day have never been
ablc to locate it,"
"All your Imagination, Ella re
joined her husband, "You must have
felt square corner of the rock, that
was all. No one would have been so
foolish as to conceal treasurc-cas-
ket in such an unheard-of place.
Ella Lincoln only shook her head,
She was far from being convinced.
but she would not argue the matter
further, and the pressure of many
cares soon drove it entirely from the
minds of both.
The weeks rolled by and one more
month would witness the foreclosure
of the mortgage and transform the
once happy Lincoln family into so
many paupers. Only five days and
S., 1000 worth of insurance policies
must be forfeited for the luck of
single payment.
"Oh. if could but die now, before
it is too latc"' groaned the unhappy
man. The price of my life would
place Ella and the baby in possession
of comparative wealth. As for me, |
am only useless burden and shall be
for long time to come. Oh. if |
could only die now,n And then ii
dark, dishonorable thought crcpt into
the desperate brain of the despairing
man.
off could only die?' can"
But how? Sclf-dcstructicn would
also forfeit the policies, and so the
sacrifice of his life would be all in
vain. Could not the manner in which
he came to his death be eifectually
concealed?
Slowly the dark plan grew and
took shape in his mind. An acci-
dental death would draw the insur-
ance just the same. Could it not be
made to seem an accident
II am going out cunning, Ella"
said he to his young wife the next
day. II can manage to get around
considerably now, and if | can only
shoot something we will be sure of at
least one more good dinner before we
are turned out to perish in the high
way"
Again and again did Fremont Lin
coin kiss the sweet face of the uncon-
scious little one that lay in the cradle,
and his parting embrace to his wife
was given with all the impassioned
energy of despair. She little knew
that it was destined to be their last
parting upon earth.
Slowly and painfully the feeble and
cmaciated man drew himself over the
fence, and disappeared from the low
ing gaze of his wife among the thick
growth of pines in old West pasture.
Neither heart nor foot faltcrcd. and
yet his dark purpose of sclf-dcstruc-
tion was firm and unchanged. FIRE.
mont Lincoln was going to his death,
and he knew it.
at is for Ella and the baby" he
muttered, as he pressed forward rs
rapidly as his feeble strength would
permit.
Plunging deeper and deeper yet
into the tangled thicket, he at last
came out into a little clear space en-
tirely enclosed by the dark and gloomy
evergreeus that crowded around.
There he paused and took Il last, long,
lingering look around; for there, in
side that little circle OF softly mur-
muring pines, his young life WAS
about to end.
Then he cooked tho fowling piece
he carried, and rested the butt 81 it
on the ground, preparatory to dis
charging it with his foot; when sud-
denly an angry whirring caused him
quickncss possible in his cnfeebled
condition. He well knew the fatal
warning of an angered rattlcsnakc,
and even in that extremity instinct
made him leap to n place of compara-
tive safety.
There it lay, close-coiled among the
ferns on which the butt of the gun had
rested, with thick, sluggish body but
swiftly vibrating tail, the deadly dis
gusting. treacherous length OF five
foot rattler. Its neck was erected, its
jaws distended, its fatal fangs thrust
upward from their sockets, and with
flashing. glaring eyes it swayed and
swung its ugly fiat head as it sounded
its battle-note and waited for an at
tack.
Fremont stood motionless for some
minutes watching the snake in terri
fed silence, his intended suicide mo-
mentarily driven from his mind.
Then the reptile, finding that the in
truder was not disposed to molest
him, slowly dragged his sluggish,
slimy length into a hole under Il neigh
boring stone. Then, and not till
then, did the memory of his grim pur-
pose return to Fremont with ten-fold
force. But another thought came
with it.
Could he be suro that no question
would arise rs to how it happened, in
case he were found dead from gun
shot wound in tho old pasture? If
suspicion should once be aroused the |
insurance-money would inevitably be
withheld, and his dying purpose
thwarted. Better that the snake had !
bitten him; for then no doubt as to it |
being an accidental death would ever |