The advocate., 1894-05-09
COPYRIGHT
The Dead Line.
[COPYRIGHT.1
By GIDEON LAME, ID. D.
CHAPTER Xxx.

A DISTURBING DISCOVERY-A WORh-
INGMAN MAY BE A HUMAN BEING!
"Though authority be stubborn bear,
Yet he is oft led by the nose with gold"
--SHAKEsPEARE.
''Cursed be the social wants that sin against
the strength Of youth
Cursed be the social lies that warp US from the
living truth
"Cursed be the sickly forms that err from
honest natures rule
Cursed be the gold that gilds the straightend
- -TENNYsoN.
John had prepared a surprise for the
members of the Church of the Millen-
mum. He and Mrs. DelOrme had per-
suaded Mason to consent to come to
Graham quietly, appear Unexpectedly
at the hall Sunday afternoon, and
preach. But how destiny mocks menl
On that Saturday evening, at the very
time when, at one extremity OF the city,
Mrs. Delorme was driving home from
the railway station with Mason in her
carriage, and while they were discus
sing Johns plans and she was telling
how delighted he would be at the
preachers coming, cOmrade hands were
bearing to a Workingman's humble
home at the opposite extremity of the
city John COtterell's bleeding body.
AT the very moment when aunt and
nephew were exchanging at the rail
way station their first happy greetings,
pOliceman's bullet tore its murder0us
way through the blacksmith's body
close to his noble heart, and he fell.
RVpt khn hole - Ahn rryNr1I vrykN nh nI
its home at Mrs. Delorme's end Of the
town knew no more of the other half
where the useful folk dwelt than of the
inhabitants Of any other foreign coun-
try. Polite society does not deem it
we'll bred to mention disagreeable
themes; besides, although he had heard
of it, the shooting ofJohn Cotterell had
made but very trifling impression
upon Mr.. Graham's mind-a very agree
able impression, it is true, for the incl
dent had ended the strike and all the
"hands" except John and Ruble had
returned to work by the company's
kind permission, some of them claim
ing that they had been virtually
forced by Cotterel to engage in the
strike after they had done all they
could to oppose him; still, the occur
renee was not in itself sufficiently i'm
portant to make any deep impression
on the general managers mind. OF
what consequence was the shooting,
even were it the killing of one common
clod Of a shop hand, if thereby the
company had got rid of troublesome
strike? The matter troubled Major
Delorme still less. He saw in it moth
ing but one more much needed lesson
to these troublesome people as to the ne
CesSity ofaVoiding collisions with sacred
''law and order;" he thought nothing
at all about the man who was shot or
as to what might become of him. Does
any reader feel disposed to ask claw
and order" what it has to say about the
conduct of the policeman who had at
tackled John COtterell without shadow
of legal right, and had then shot him
for exercising an American citizens
right of self-defenseP Why, as to that
that was different. The officer was
protecting property rights, in compari-
son with which mere laborer's right
to his liberty or his life is not to be
considered. The policeman may have
been "a little hasty," it is true, but
some discretion must be allowed in
such cases, and to condemn his con-
duct in this respect would have tend
ency to make other policemen "timid"
when called upon to commit murder in
behalf of the sacred rights of property,
and thus cause hesitation when the
timely butchering of a common la
borer would effectually put an end to
pestiferous strike. So, not only from
motives of politeness, but because of
the trifling character of the incident
itself, nothing was said that evening in
Major Delorme's gay parlors concern
ing the trivial occurrence in conSe-
nifnnnn of which the annal of death was