Passaic City record., 1893-09-09

in. He warn't, and | waited and hol-
Tered until I got all out of sorts with
him. A crazy idea struck me, and L
JUS thought I'd shoot toward the cab
in for fun and mebbe that would fetch
him. Godknows I didn't want to do any
harm. I wus JUS great big foolish
boy and I got tired of waitin' and l
thought I'd shoot for fun, and mebbe
that would fetch him. 2
I looked at the man and he was as
one in agony. His face was drawn,
and pallor was there which added to
the prison tan and made it CHASTITY.
His voice, puerile from the dlsuse OF
twenty years, had sunk into hoarse
whisper. He was staring at the great
stone wall in front of him with dull,
vacant eyes. He seemed oblivious to
everything and kept repeating, II
didn't mean any harm. I only thought
I'd shoot for fun, and mebbe that
would fetch him.
I have looked into murderers' faces
on the verge of eternity while the
death warrant was being read, in or
der that I might tell the public next
morning whether the lip quiyered or
the eye grew dim, butas I gazed upon
this picture of weakness and misery
on the wheelbarrow in front of me it
made me sick. The victim of an act
done in ssfun''- this was fun!
The man presently came to himself
and went on:
Gas I shot, Jase came into the door,
and, when the smoke cleared away, l
saw him lyin just outside in the snow,
face downward. I member pickin
him up and carryin' him inside, and
then startin' out to Pauldin' for help.
After that I don't remember nothin
until found was lyin' on the ground
and crowd of men standin' round
me. I heard one of 'em say: He
must have tripped up on that grape
vine and hit his head on the root of
the tree. It pears as if Washburn
and Scott must have had racket
over that girl most ikely-and Wash
burn killed Scott I found out after
ward that huntin' party had stopped
at the cabin and found Jase lyin' on
the floor dead, with my bullet through
his heart. They looked for me and
finally saw my tracks in the snow and
followed them. They found me
couple of miles away in the woods,
lyin' at the foot of tree where fell.
''Some believed my story and some
didn't. Them as didn't b'lieve it said
'twarn't likely if what said was true
that I would "a tried to run away.
All know is meant to set out for
Pauldin', but it pears as if I'd gone
wrong some way.
s.The Jedge, as he said, wanted to
low me fightin' chance and give me
the privilege of enterin' a plea of
manslaughter. I said it was all along
of my bullheadedness that I am here
now, and SO it was. Ny lawyer want
ed me to plead guilty of the charge
the Jedge offered me. I asked him
what it meant. He said it meant that
| killed Jase in racket, and then give
me long lingo about malice afore-
thought, or something like that, but
I didn't understand it. I only knew
they wanted me to say I murdered
Jase in racket. I warn't goin' to
say / done a thing when I didn't. I
fared up aud wouldn't listen to no.
body.
81 couldn't see things right. Well,
the trial didn't take long. Everything
WcAt VI OooWdyo lOI mt. tOlu lily
story and pleaded guilty to nothin'
except that I didn't mean anything.
I just shot to scare him. I didn't care
much what they done with me for
that. The other side showed how Jase
had been found dead in the cabin,
how was found lying in the snow
miles from Pauldin', as if I hadn't
been going for help. Then they got
witnesses who swore as how Jase
and me were jealous bout Mandy.
how I'd asked her to go to gathering
with me, and she'd gone with Jase.
cit warn't SO, I knowed it, but it
wouldn't do no good for me to say it
warn't. Mandy and me understood
one another, though there warn't
much betwixt us then. I s'pose she
might have told me what she knowed
about it on the stand, but I wasn't