The farmers' union., 1894-08-16

he always carried box OF It in his
rocket It was his box tnat l dropped
in the car and that was found after
ward where | threw it. When l tod
him. over and over. that [ hated
him-that | de-pised him-that |
wouldn't desert Albert 10 go away with
him then he brought out the box
frt m his pocket. and vowed he would
| take enough of it to kill himself. He
| did swallow big dose that would
have poisoned anybody else to death,
but knew how accustomed he was II
| the drug, and l felt sure it wasn't suf.
ficient to harm him. But l snatched
the box away from him."
do you believe that he meant to
commit suicide?"
! Il did :tcn. \ woman is ready to
credit any recklessness to a man whose
love she repulses. ANYHOW, l kept
J the box away from him. and / suppose
l pitied him. But loathed him. and
told him he must instantly go away, as
out, l said, I'll promise not to tell
that you have been here That
wasn't altogether out of pity for him,
but because any reminder Of my con-
nection wit him always made Albert
unhappy, and 50 would have been
! glad to keep his visit secret. Well,
[ expecte Albert home to supper, and,
| looking cut of the window. saw him
! coming. He would Re two or three
minutes before he could get to the
house. but there was no way for MIR.
Mercer to escape without his seeing
him. [ was haf distracted, and
think Mr.. Mercer was frightened at
the idea of being caught with me. 1
thought Of the buttery as a place to
hide him in. There wasn't any time to
lose. 1t occurred to me that, as the
deep hole was a bad place to sta! in,
and as he might Re c. c.mpelled to re-
main there some time, he might be
tempted to reveal himself. There was
laudanum in my cupboard. l had used
it for tOOthache. Some whisky was
there, too, and | poured cut glas, II
it, dropping in a safe dose OF the lau-
warm said, 'and / will hide you in
the cellar until after supper As soon
after that as possible will let you out.
| meant the laudanum to put him
asleep down there, so there wouldn't
be any danger of his making a noise
l wLnted to save my husband from
any unfounded jealousy or sorrow
on my account. Mr.. Mercer did
i L
holc-but he was alive-not dead and
it was no more tnan done before Albert
entered the room. We had our sup
per. and went to bed early. AS soon as
Albert was sOund asleep slipced away
from him, opened the ira, door, and
called to Mr.. Mercer. He did not an
swer. | made " my mind he was
slee ing. Before daylight l called
again to him. but didn't get any re-
sponse. The inside fastening of the
doors and windows showed that he had
not climbed up and gone away in the
night. | was little alarmed. but
could not d. anything to find out the
truth-which was, l am sure, that he
had died of the arsenic. Something
in his condition had made dose fatal
that he could have stood any other
time. Well. Albeit and | ate our
breakfast and made ready to leave the
hOus.. Still there was no sound from
the we'll. was glad to get away with
out seeing Mr.. Mercer again. But
didn't wish him to die dOAn there. $
left the rope for him to climb out by.
and the food for him to eat-just as
has been testified to- That is the
truth, your honor" She seemed to see
incredulity in his face. and she SOL
emnly repeated: That is the truth,
so help me. God"
The court adjourned until the mex,
day. and MOa was taken back to her
cell, with nobody except Albert Dawer
and | believing her account of the
death of Henry Mer, er.
Bitterly did regret the part | had
taken against her, and dlstractedly :
did try to devise some means of cor
roborating her testimony. Clearly
mt <h.,
the Snow Hole would serve the pur-
pose An effort, no matter how hope
less. must be made TO recover them
That evening Albert Dawers and
made the trip by rail from the county
town to HOOsac. and at midnight We
were at the mouth of the cave. We
had rope and lantern 1t Nigh,
rea like an exploitation of myself If
should dcscrib, my descent. Suffice i,
that it was made without accident
The sturdy Albert held the rope. one
end of which was firmly fastened
around my waist, and. with the lighted
lantern in my hand. [ slipped cautious
ly down Il steep incline of ice for dis
tance of fully 100 feet Then I came
to a level place. floored by clear, clea;
ice. and embedded deeply therein
dimly saw the bunch OF papers. The,
were carefully dug out before trust
worthy witnesses. early naxt morning
Thy proved Mercers habitual use o
arsenic. they supported Meas testi
m nv in the other particulars, ant
.. they brought about her acquitta'.
SO, if the legend Of the Witch Prin
cess had led Moa Barrios into sor
rowful experience and into a revenge
full attempt to duplicate its tragedy, i
had also saved her from the hangman
and left her to finish her life III re
pentant peace and happiness.
. THE END
Sure Cure.
Charles F. Gore, New Hampshire