Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-10-03
THE SWORDSMAN'S HELP.

kill himself outright, as soon as lac
realizes that his self-inflicted injuries
are mortal, he becomes possessed by a
despairing wish that his rash deed
were undone, and piteously longs tC
Tive.
feel that l understand what an
talking about, iur i was once within
an ace Of taking my own life.
When the silver fever began l was
unmarried and bent upon picking III
a fortune somewnc.c around the
globe. l had had i!l-luck so far, and
the speculations in which l hrd used
not only my own money. but Some
thousands belonging to my widowed
mother had turned out badly. Iiav.
ing jnst enough cash left to pay tho
expenses of the journey and bay Il
horse. l went out to Nevada and
Joined party of the boys bound fol
the miEcs. We started over the
mountains, but / soon became might y
glum. After some days l was obligel
to call halt. My cd enemy, asthma.
got grip on me, and one night when
we reached a struggling town on tie
trail, said: Boys, you'll have To
go on without me; I'm all broke up.''
The next morning they reluctantly
started of, charging me to catch Up
with them the following day at a
point where they intended prospect.
ing for ore.
was too i'll to do so, and it was :,
week before l set out again, more
low-Spiritcd than ever When |
reached the place thc:' WIS no trace
of them. They had evidently Lctn
disappointed in Their expectations
and gone on. no doubt concluding
that their silent COmraGc had aban-
doned the enterprise.
At dusk, however, l came upon d.
camp. Around the fire were u grcnp
Of men, who with rough. cordiality
welcomed me to their erening meal
The supper was washed down with
plenty of strong drink. and under its
influence the blue devils which had
beset me departed. l grew genial.
and when later little game of poker
was proposed l readily assentcd. for
! prldcd myself upon my skill in that
line.
Wei. sir. l played as If the tienu
was urging me on. The luck was
dead against me, but l became reck-
less l stakcd every dollar l owned
and saw all raked in by the sharpers.
l put up my horse and watch, and
lost them.
Convinced that I had nothing moro
o. value, tie gang stopped playing.
aui eft me to sleep off the effects OF
tie wrctched liquor. When l awokc,
the sun had been up several hours
My head ached tremendously, and
seemed swollen to twice its normal
size. / had a confused notion that
something had gone wrong, but what
was it? Gradually the events of the
night before came back to me.
started up. Where were my jolly
companions?
Gone! The camp was deserted.
My horse had vanished, likewise my
money. The dreadful truth con.
fronted me. The Williams had left
me alone in the wilderness, penniIess
and without the means Of overtak
ing my friends.
NdSU oSil VII lhS Siouhu
buried my face in my hand, and gave
vent to my despair. Long after the
first paroxysm of rage ana despon-
dency had spent itself, I lay there.
Finally feeling the need Of food,
got up and foraged about. Amid the
debris near the place where the fire
had been, l found some crusts of
bread and a canteen half full OF
water. In my necessity, was thank
tul for even this peggarly fare.
AS it would be foolhardy to con-
tinue the journey afoot, l decided to
return by the way 1 had come. At
nightfall I reached the town I had
left the afternoon before. 1t was all
astir. A travelling show was to give
a performance that evening. By
chance there remained in the depths
of one of my pockets Mexican gold
piece which had carried for years
for a hansel. This paid for my sup
per and lodging at the log-house
tavern. The landlord insisted upon
payment in advance, although l had
expended a round sum upon all the
extras at his command during my re-
cent sojourn there. He listened
callouSly to the story OF my mis-
fortunes and made me understand that
he could not accommodate me after
the next morning.
''Such is the way Of the world! At
least the next twelve hours are pro-
vided for!" 1 soliloquized bitterly.
"And tomorrow? Well, tomorrow
will shoot myself"
l reached this determination quite
calmly. I cursed myself for not hav-
ing done so amid the wilds, instead
of struggling back to the semi-civil'
ization of the miserable town. You
say my troubles had begun to affect
my brain. Very probably; no man
CAM be in his right mind who seri'
0usly meditates suicide.
/ could not stay in my cherries
room alone with my gloomy thoughts.
I went out and found myself follow
ing the motley throng that made its
way to the show. 1t was moonlight
and for some time l hung around the
tent watching the people as they
came up to the entrance.
Suddenly I thought, "WhY not so
in?" l had half a dollars change
from tho Mexican piece. 1t was all I
possessed in the world, but 1 reflected
with a kind Of savage triumph I
should not need money tomorrow and
why not seek distraction during tho
Intervening hours.
l paid the admission fee Of two bits
and passed in. 1t was early and I
selected a place not far from the cur
tain from behind which the perform
ers were to enter the ring.
Presently the curtain was pushed