The record-union., 1895-03-30

0olus iuoIo Is sOIl6 III ysl0Ty H6T6, dHu
am sure that il was your intention that
L should know it. Unburden your
mind to me as friend. Whatever it is,
1t Will be safe with me. but / tell you
that If you want to beggar your family
Will have nothing TO do with it,"
'Llenroc," said Horton, in sad and
grave tone, and without raising his eyes,
there is a mystery, a fearful crime, and
1t shall be told to you this day, no mat
| ter in what light it may place me, or
whatever you may think OF me! That
! done. and Charles Horton will be dead
| to the world lie will have no occasion
to have the friendship of anyone. Reach
me that brandy, Llenroc, and pour it out
for me, for you see my nerves are so
shattered. Sit with your back to me-
that will do; but, please, another glass
thanks"
He then spoke as follows: SIT is now
| eight years, as you know, since married
my first wife. She, you also know, was
| child by former marriage of old Cal
lender, the lawyer, and the large fortune
of my tather-inlaw, which in the end
came by my first wife to me, belonged To
him, or rather to his three sons, in right
OF his second wife, who was also dead at
the time of my first marriage. / could
not believe or hope that this fortune
would ever reach me, knowing full we'll
that, falling my wife's three half t-brothers,
1t came fully into her fathers power.
\ ct there was no reasonable expectation
| that those three hearty boys would die
and make way for my first wife, Mary.
| l want you 10 believe Inc that | did not
marry Mary for money, and the thought
OF succession, which aIterward presented
itself, had not entered my mind.
Il will tell you the first occasion upon
which 1t daWned upon me. You remem-
| Der, in 1882. when the cholera-or, as it
was called, the pIague-visited portion
OF the Northern States, and more espe-
cially Philadelphia, with such violence
and fatality; when a large portion of the
population, and, in fact, all that could
get away. deserted the city; when fathers
and mothers deserted their children,
! wives their husbands, husbands their
wives, servants their masters, merchants
| their stores, and, in fact, a total disrup-
! ton of all business ensued. Upon the
first premonitory symptom of the dis
ease, except III comparatively few cases,
the stricken ones were practically de-
serted. All were crazy with fright.
When the bread shops. the groceries and
butcher shops were closed; when street
after street, block after block, were in
closed by ropes stretched across the
streets; when watchmen were stationed
to allow no one to come out of the in
tected district, and no one allowed to
enter except member of a family living
there; and the physicians and the dead
cart, whose drivers Kept up the monoto-
nous cry, from hour 10 hour: Bring out
your dead Bring out your dead y Nege-
table men and hucksters generally re-
fused to come into the city; the surround
ing towns would not harbor the fugitives
for love nor money; provisions and fuel
| became so scarce that il was almost i'm
possible to obtain any by the wealthy that
remained.
1T can be imagined how difficult it
was for the less wealthy classes to obtain
that which the wealthy could not. TIE
terror of death by the dread disease came
upon the inhabitants of the stricken city
with such Intensity that at this day it is
almost impossible to believe it. Yet
at this present day we see, when the
dreaded smallpox attacks a community,
there are but few that will remain and
take care of the afflicted. But intensity
ali this a thousand fold and then you
may perhaps imagine in part what Phil
adeIphIa underwent during the progress
| or the plague. The physicians were worn
out by fatigue, those that remained for
! nearly two-thirds of them deserted at the
beginning of the outburstf. Many per-
sons that were taken sick, by fright and
! ordinary causes, died for want of medical
attendance, nOurishment, comforts, etc.
! during the prevalence of the disease; the
inhabitants were dying Oft and falling
! like the trees shedding their leaves in
/ wlntry weather; the procuring of cotfins
! became impOssi Die; trenches were dug in
the Potter's Field; the bodies were thrown
! into the dead-carts and transported to the
| trenches with scarcely a mourner or
| follower. The cOrpses were thrown in
! their only snrouds being some of the bed
/ clothes within which they had died
! thrown IN, one upon another, until the
| trenches were filled. Then uuicklime
and dirt filled The balance of the space
| Trench after trench was filled, and thou
sands were thus started upon that Jour-
! ney 10 the land whence no one has seen
it proper to return and tell US about it.
But enough OF that. My father-in-
! laws three sons were seized with the
/ dreaded disease all at the same time, and
! all were in the most imminent danger,
! one evening when the disease had as
sumed its dlrest form, and when my wife
! seemed greatly distressed at receiving a
message that it was doubtful if any one
OF the three would survive until
morning, then the thought entered
they ali die! All, should they
all die, who would be benefited
by it? Repress it as l would, still the
question would recur, who would be
I benefited thereby" There was but
simple answer, Your wife! She would
be the sole heiress y
III took such possession of my mind
that l could not sleep during the night
from planning how | should dispose of
so much money, building castles in the
air and giving way TO ambitious thoughts
OF power, all the time forgetting that an
other life stood between US and the large
fortune of my father-in-Iaw.
Next morning Intelligence was re-
| ceived that the disease had abated and
| that the chances were favorable for the
! youths recovery. My wife received the
| news with JOY and thankfulness. Did i :?
y 0, the shock was too great for me. |
! had built too many castles in the air dur
/ ing the night to see them SO rudely
| thrown down. How wealthy yesterday I!
| how poor to-day! The instincts of the
ueTu entered my soul, and l only too
much regretted that they had not all died,
| for then but one person would have stood
! between my wife and fortune.
~ on, Llenroc, have never experienced
I such feeling i pray God that you never
/ may, and believe ME, | had never such a
| thought unit! the moment just described
/ II l had been attending the lads as their
nurse when they were taken i'll, and the
/ opportunity were given me OF letting
! them die by neglectIng to give them their
medicine Tor nY6 minutes, | would have
/ been prompt 10 the second. But it is said
! that the devil always stands by ones side
| TO lnstlll into his mind some of his
! tenn ptations.
"Oh, God! Lleuroc! what troubled
me then l can never forget! | was
! a murderer in thought, il not in
/ deed! The helIish thoughts then instilIed
into my mind had this result later. AS
/ boy you must have been familiar with
this section Of the Delaware River. Asa
young man / know now passionatelv
| tond Of boating you were, and you must
| have Known every tide and eddy near
| here. The boys were eXtravagantly fond
of boating and fishing, and of course
often engaged in the. sports. AT times |