Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-12-13

our fight, but he had not and had done
1 me the worst hurt he could.
I SIN few days after my return was
arrested again, at the company's in
stance, ON the old charge Of stealing re.
covered Jewels, and little gold pin
with three or four cheap small stones in
il tina, was found in my possession when
was taken up was held to be All in
eliminating a,roof Of my guilt. 1t was
not, for l had won il fairly at cards
from another fireman coming over from
Liverpool. and, so far as know, it had
never been within thousand miles of
the wreck of the San Pedro Alcantara
The company did no better prosecuting
me at home than they had done abroad,
for proof was lacking, and was dis
charged. But the effect of the affair was
damning, SO far as work in my profess
sion was concerned. No wrecking COM
pany would hire diver supposed to be
dishonest I tried for work in other
ways, got several successive situations
and was driven from each in turn by
some unknown person-Aleo, I've no
doubt-sending to my employer news
paper account Of my trial.
81 lost heart and hope, took to drink
ing hard, had only rags to wear and
many day was miserably hungry, yet
through all that bitter time, with
strange unreasoning infatuation for the
fascinating and accursed thing, I man.
aged to keep my opal, and when !
deemed myself secure from observation
1 would take it from its hiding place
among my tatters and gloat over it, and
wonder how much it was worth, and de-
bate with myself whether could make
up my mind to sell it, and, if SO, how I
could, in my condition, dispose of such
a gem without being deemed thief and
having it seized from me without any
compensation. All such questions were
suddenly settled for me.
Zone night I had become so utterly
wretched that deliberately resolved to
jump off the pier and end it all. had
been looking at my opal until the con-
trast between its glory and my debase-
ment seemed to madden me. Within a
block of the river, as passed dark
alley, house seemed to fall suddenly
Oh me, and knew nothing more. When
1 recovered my senses, don't know
how long after, my hair and beard were
matted with blood from cut on my
head, my face was caked with mud
from the street where had fallen, and
my opal was gone. No doubt some
robber had seen me handling it, follow
ed, and after knocking me senseless rob-
bed me.
''The blow left me still dazed after I
had got on my feet, and l staggered
along aimlessly, in the direction my
nose happened to be pointed, until I got
to Broadway. And there encountered
Jenny, with her mother, returning home
from a visit. The agony in my heart at
sight of her, SO beautiful and far above
the thing I had become, leaped to my
lips, and without knowing what I did
cried out her name as lost soul
might shrek to an angel. By sight the
dear girl could not have known me, as
she has told me since, so much had mis-
cry changed me, but my voice went
straight to her heart, and with an an
swering Cry of ooh, you poor Benp'
she sprang to me and held me up, or I
should have fallen. And her mother, a
noble, good woman, who always liked
me, she, too, knew at once whose voice
had called her daughters name and
helped sustain me.
''They took me home and fixed me
up. was i'll for few days, and they
tended me as kindly as if had deserv-
ed it, Alec was away, gone to South
Africa. AS soon as got out I found
work in my old profession, at good
wages, with a kind, true man who was
willing to give me chance again. And
have done we'll ever since, earned good
money, saved it, kept sober, and, best
Of all, married my dear Jenny.
''From the hour the opal left me my
luck changed. But week or SO after it
passed to other hands read in the pa
pers about burly corpse, with it's skull
caved in, being found in the East river,
and in one of the pockets of the vest on
it was splendid opal, mine, I have no
doubt, from the description, but never
went to SEQ or claim it..