Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1896-12-24


Ing farmer, " no WAS socially under clnud,
on the char. of having cnmtnitt,.l some
small mi-4- ''r amor, became "a visitor at
her house i-~n 'ouc evening she had
shown pref,~tsec far him over Jim Clay
ton. and Cl.,v;oa. uottrinsi it. had uHhiteh-
ed his horse from tie fence hcforet he even
ing WAS over md rid len away. The coin
cident had not escaped her that she had
provoked one mans anger by adding to
another mars bliss. Still. of such things u
girl may not testify, and the next morning
she felt a heavy sn3ck when the cry Of
murder ram, through the valley and the
guilt was laid at Ro'lert Dodd door
The victim vas u stranger, who WAS sup
posed "a have been passing over the noun
tains to the western states. Evidently an
alteration Of SOME sort had taken place,
and tho result had been fatal. No.hing
further was definitely known. but it had
been proved that Robert Dodd had been
the only man who had passed down tho
valley that night, and as society had al
ready rejected hin his name was pretty
roughly handled 10y the loosely defined cir
cles, where tine fnrrrof Judgment makes up
for the weak ness of the law in dealing with
crimes which are difficult of detection and
uncertain Of punishment. y word was
pronounced against him rs powerful rs the
levitical curse. He was indicted tried
and condemned, but afterward, through
the intercesSion of the governor, was COM
muted to life sentence in prison.
He had not complained nor asked "a hear
Ing in his own defense, for he we'll knew
no benefit could he derived thereby, but
from the first Miranda had disputed the
accusation and had fought his cause with
a stubborn persistence. Many grievous
hour and anxious night had she spent with
out fruition t. her hopes. Still, she had con
tinued t. work and strive and plot until
finally after ten weary years success had
crowned her efforts. Time had leSsened
the viudictvenc~s Of evil tongues, and the
people, fc,irin.: they had oversteiped the
limits of Justice, wished to ease their con
sciences; So had signed IL petition for Rob
ert's pardon.
As she toycd with the thought that he
would be homo that morning Christmas
seemed to have "a new significance from
what it had had in the past. The tall
peaks and cliffs around, which had been
snow covered during the night, stood in
broken outlines against the grayish haze,
while "a star, as though ii were the star OF
Bethlehem, seemed In float far away and
dissolve into u ruddy glow which slowly
formed the sphere of rising sun. hen the
icicles hanging from trees and bushes glis-
tened, like thousands Of jewels stadding
the scene, like some great crown offered for
the salvation of mankind. Christmas!
She could almost SEQ the Christ Child ~
ing in his manager, where no was found
that morning centuries ago. 1t had never
been so clear to her before or the bened
cence Of the season so full of beauty
What IL day of all days for Roberts re-
turn!
Seeing some one in the distance, she
waited with an cHgerness akin to restless
ness Then as he came nearer she recog-
nized Jim Clayton.
"Good mornin. A merry Christmas,
he said
He was "A lean. lank individual, and
nature seemed to begrudge him the few
pounds of flesh he had, for they hung on
him in wrinkles, as though they had shrlv-
eled before they had grown. He came and
leaned against the doorpost, whiting
stick
YOU'RE expectin Robert today, amt
you?"
Miranda glanced at him with something
Of scorn in her expression.
eyes, I'm expectin Robert, she an
swered. "And you know very well, jim
Clayton, if it had not been for you he
would never have been condemned for
something he didn't do. y
Clayton laughed. His small eyes rested
on her hungrily.
"wen, - he said presently, 'it's taught
him a lesson anyway and it's taught you
one too. Yeu won't be so triiiin with
mems affections hereafter as you've been
with mine.
AZ never trfled with yours.
"You didn't, eli: Then, when are you
goin to marry me: