The morning call., 1893-08-27
CLARkSON'S PERIL.
A Romance of the Transvael

picked ND few yards from where the
oooy had been discovered. Several wit
nesses testified to his having rushed in to
oeautyS Bar late on the evening of the
murder, looking wild. haggard and excited,
Ike man who had committed, or pro-
posed committing, some crime.
1he landlady swoTe to his having re-
turned TO the house at $3.50 in the morn
lug looking very white and strange. as if
he had recently gone through some very
exciting scene. More than one person
knew that CIarkson had owed the ric b.
INSCRIPTIONS merchant grudge. Closer
and closer the chain was tightening about
his neck, and as proof upon proof of his
guilt was adduced peculiar and omlnous
silence settled upon the crowd of listeners
and spectators After a time Tom had
ceased TO listen 10 the evidence, ceased
even TO feel that the gaze of so many
eager and curious eyes was upon
sadly to his old home. his mother,
his sister and the old DAYS long
ago-IGng ago. when his heart was young
and the love of gold had not tempted him
to leave the abode OF his youth. Then he
thought of Minnie Was she here listening
while they swore away his life? This
thought brought him with bitter pang
back to the agoniZing present, and again
he heard the questions and answers, each
one OF which now seemed to close the
doors of hope more firmly upon him. Again
he felt that hundreds of eyes were gazing
at him. Was she there too? Yes, he
could feel that she was near. although he
perfectly eXplicable.
The proceedings were partly in the
official language of the country, but many
Of the jury were we'll cOnversant with
English, and every opportunity was per-
mtted the accused to rebut the damaging
mi ocl-o i
to say, and ClaTkson repeated his story,
simply and truthfully. as before. He had
nothing to conceal, though the truth could
help him little. He knew well the evil
dence was against him, eircumstantial
though it might be, was too strong. Judge,
jury and listeners all appeared quite con-
WINGED of his guilt. Very calmly and
story of his futile efforts to obtain en-
ployment, his hopeless misery, his
reckless resolve to spend his last
shilling and purchase that which
should render him nblivious of his
suffering for time. He told how he
had gone into the bar. and how the music
had created calmer and better thoughts,
ana saved him; how he had gone forth into
the streets again and, worn out by hunger
and fatigue, had lain down and slept until
morning. The notes and the watch must,
he said, have been put into bis pockets
while he lay on the stoop. He was inno-
cent, he asserted, and In the presence of
Coo he could only repeat it,
The court and the crowd were skepti-
cal, and few of the latter appeared to SYM
pathlZe with the accused in the slightest.
The jury retired and a painful silence
fell upon the court. In few minutes the
jurymen returned. and their verdict could
l sense be felt before il was given.
Very slowly and deliberately it came:
NV find the prisoner guilty.
No one seemed surprised, and certainly
not the pale young prisoner himself.
Not surprised, but oh, how bitterly fell
upon his ears and heart the words that
consigned him To q doom of sudden and
shameful DEATH
In a low, calm tone the Judge pro-
nOunced the awful sentence. and the pris-
Oner was about to be led away, when it
was seen that some one WAS struggling
through the crowd toward him. 1t proved
to DO a young girl, with Withholding eyes
and face the picture of despair. 1t was
Minnie COloeck, and in a moment she was
beside her lover. The policemen offered no
obstacle; indeed, they appeared to fall
back involUntarily. She looked so pale, so
fair and so unearthly TINT she might have
been a spirit from the other world con-
fronting them. Clarkson gaZed upon her.
but his white lips remained unmoVed and
he uttered not word.
Tom" said the girl, in a voice so low
that he only heard it, you will yet be
saved. They cannot take vour life; you
shall not die for another's sin. Heaven
will not permit such cruel Injustice"
Minnie spoke as all inexperienced people
speak on such matters. women especially.
ClarkSon did not speak. He knew that
with the first word he uttered all his self
command would desert him. He took her
little cold hands in his and held them for
moment, as we hold hands that we never
IL, =. - 4
with one look into her Borrowing eyes-a
look that seemed to bid her an earthly
farewel-he was led away.
Among the passengers who left johann
nesburg by the early coach for Pretoria.
on the dav following that on which Thomas
Clarkson's death sentence had been pro-
nOunced, was a girl who, thickIy yelled.
sat in corner of the coach with bent
head, clasped hands and melancholy mein.
1t was Minnie Coibeck. She had made a
desperate, firm, though wild resolve TO go
TO the capital, see President Kruger and
plead for the life of Thomas Clarkson.
Only a woman would have carried out
such a resolution.
The coach travelled at the utmost speed
of its eight spirited horses, but TO her
heated and impatient fancy it seemed to
or awl along the smooth and dnsty road. 1t
w as still early in the day when it dashed
into the streets of Pretoria.
Hall an nouf later Minnie StOOQ AT The
gates Of the Presidency. an unpretentious
ordinary-l0oking residence in a quiet part
of the principal street Her heart beat. her
hands trembled and her whole bodily
framework shook so violently that she
could scarcely trust her voice to ask for an
interview with his Honor. That morning
the executive was sitting at the Presidency,
as IT occasionally does, and Minnie had TO
wait long time before the President
could give ter an audience. Every min
ute seemed an hour to the anxious girl
She had been conducted to small room,
which seemed so Oppressively silent that
she could almost hear the beating OF her
own heart. Presently there was a firm,
heavy step heard and the President, pipe
in hand, homely and kindly in appear
ance, entered the apartment Minnie does
not know TO this day how she told her
tale. what words she spake, or what argu-
ment she employed. She remembers that
when she had finished speaking she looked
earnestly and lntently at the couutenance
OF the President. His face was stern and
sad but there was a kindly look in his
eyes and some sympathy in his voice as
he said-his Honor can speak good Eng
lisb when he likes:
ut cannot be, my child. The Jury have
found the young man guilty. and the
Judge has sentenced him to death It's
not Tor me or my executive 10 Interfere