San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-07-10

ing an escaped lunatic, he was
mercy harboring the delusion that
he, Redford, was insane. Ever
since the assault was made the
student demanded to know
what it all meant, threaten.
ing dire vengeance in the
courts, or pleading that there
must be a mistake somewhere,
but. the excited Farmer Frye al
ways cut him short. "None o. your
b'lstrous yellin' here, you wilent
idiot you" Arriving at the court
house, the farmer told his story to
the sheriff. People gathered around
the wagon and looked into the
face of the bewildered captive. A
dozen people said that they had
seen violently insane people and
that this unfortunate fellow had
the wild insane stare of a maniac
in his eyes. All this while Farmer
FRYE told how he had seen the
victim wiring his hands and grab
at the vacant air, continually assur-
ing the officer that the man was
"a wilent idiot" The farmers re-
marks were not confined 20 the
sheriff. Even the inquisitive little
street gamin who asked, sinister,
what's the matter with that fell
Ter ?" would get the loud and po.
lite answer. "sonny, he's wilent
idiot"
If there ever was a time in the
life of BEDFORD Jones when he was
on the verge of what we commonly
call insanity-for the most ration
al of human beings are only rela-
lively sane-it was during those
few minutes in front of the court
house. He heard the taunts, saw
the mob of respectable citizens
feed their morbid curiosity by
looking into his face and loudly
blurt out their opinions and SYM
pathy over the seeming hopeless
ness of his case. He thought OF
his home, his mother, his sister
and some sweet, sympathetic girl
| friend. Then he bit his lips till
they bled, and pressed down his
eyelids to stay the CALLING tears
that his goaded, baited soul in ut
ter hopelessness and despair was
about to shed, On his way to the
/ Jail the captive recovered himself
and when taken into the jailor's
room to be searched, Redford
Jones was calm enough to think
out a plan of action. He took the
TAILOR and deputy sheriff aside,
and for the first time gave his side
of the story. A manual on elocu.
ton was sent for. BEDFORD showed
the exercises which he was prac-
ticing, went through them be-
fore the farmer, who
admitted, Eyes, 3 them's the
very things he did" The sheriff
was next summoned and the case
laid before him. Everybody agreed
that the. prisoner was evidently
perfectly sane and that the captor
misunderstood the situation entire
ly.
Farmer Frye reluctantly with
drew the affidavit of lunacy, for he
could not possibly comprehend how
any course OF education could re-
quire any such evidently idjiotic"
antics out in the chaparral as his
prisoner had been guilty Of.
"But them" he finally admitted,
schools may be some different
now as when / was a boy"
The Jail door opened and BEDFORD
Jones again walked the streets a
free man, and then the cursed and
CALLING humiliation of the whole
affair dawned upon him ten-fold
more terrible than ever, and as he
walked the streets OF San Antonio
with his head dropped in racking,
undeserved shame, there would not
have been a man in all the town
so great miser as not to give up
his dearest coin than harbor the
feelings of BEDFORD Jones on this
particular occasion.
LOITERER.