People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-09-08

ouu Ga . ~ 10 ~ vi AIN AAAN wi poN'
You did not lie; no, you did what is
sometimes much worse and a good
deal harder to do-you told the
truth. When-but there is no use in
saying anything else. Goodnight, p"
and Ivison closed the door softly be-
hind him.
The other man stood still until he
heard him pass out into the street.
Then, with groan, he sank into his
chair and buried his head on his arm.
From his earliest bOyhOod he had
been a sensitive, painstaking crea-
ture; careful and conscientious to
such degree that he became a by
word in his own family; of high
strung and intensely nervous organi-
zation; and with a temperament as
changeable as the weather and often
affected by it. He was not hand
some man; he was tall, and thin, and
STOPPING; his eyes, deep and hollow,
were always feverishly bright; his
chin was pointed and his lips thin
giving one the Idea of a cruel streak
in the man which he in nowise pos
sessed.
All his life he had had to fight his
way slowly from one position to an
Other-so slowly that even he became
impatient at times; and when Ivison,
taking pity on him one day as he
bent over the books at his fathers Of
flee, recommended him for an easier
place and larger salary, the poor
fellow was so overcome that he quite
lost his head and nearly tainted
where he sat with establishment. As
nervous and as given to details as a
sick woman, he magnifed every
small thing that came to him, and
jumped at conclusions with a rapidity
that would have put to shame any
member of the opposite sex. But in
a moment of forgetfulness he had
spoken; and in two minutes he had
ruined the life of almost his only
friend.
For while as he lay there after
lvison had gone, he could hardly
understand it all, but gradually
through the distorted lenses of his
scrupulous nature he saw what he
had done and he wondered dimly
how God would punish him. Not for
a moment did he think of blaming
Ivison or asking himself why the
man had not made his life purer, so
that he would have had nothing to
disclose to her father; with char
acteristic unselfshness, he told him
self the fault was entirely his, and
that the sin he had committed was
and hardly knowing
what he was doing, he pulled the
little bible which lay before him
under the light and turned to the
commandments to see if it was there.
But before he found the place, he
came to a passage which seemed to
burn itself into his brain: IAN eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, life
for a life" A life for life! He
started to his feet as if some one had
spoken his name, and turned to hH
desk. There he drew a sheet of
paper to him and wrote:
What told you of Ivison yesterday is
lie from beginning to end. l had a purpose
then in bearing false witness against him, for
love your daughter. and, in a moment Of wild
hope that might win her, l said what did
1t is lie, repeat; the man is as pure as
yourself, and his record as free from
stain That you take him back again at once
IS the prlyer-the commanded the man who
tried to ruin his life Show ais to him, and
remember that these are tho last words of one
who, before you read them, shall be expiating
his crime in the other world"
To this strange note he signed his
name and put it in an envelope.
at will convince him; it must
he said, turning to a small drawer
GHd opening it. "Ivison shall be re-
stored, but /"
He took from the drawer a tiny,
pear, handled revolver, and, going to
the fireplace again, stood looking
thoughtfuIly into the blaze.
81 have lied, he whispered to him
self-"lied about her. "A life for a
life "A life for a lie.n"
Then he pulled the hammer Of the
revolver slowly back and cooked it.
As lvison started home from the
theater that night, he hesitated at
the corner of the street, and then
turned back and walked slowly
toward the other mans rooms. A
curious feeling had come over him
while he sat watching the playa
feeling as if he had done something
terribly wrong and something for
which he could never make repara-
ton. As the performance went on,
the feeling became stronger, until he
found himself restless, and dis
tracted, and wishing he were out of
the place, in the cool night air.
Why he should feel so, he could not
think, and he stopped trying to,
after few minutes Of mental inquiry
When he had got through the crowd
and into the street, the strange sem
sation lett him somewhat; but when
he reached the corner, instead of 60
ing home or to the club, as he had
intended doing, he found himself
hurrying toward the other mans
little bachelor apartments, with no
plausible reason. Perhaps it was
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