Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-01-30
EFELON'SSTORY

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condemned TO die" hs muttersd,
sand that tomorrow
and - he spoke he paced his coll with
quick, feverish tread. His eyes were
fastened on the cold iron door. Sud-
denly he raised them.
ibid you say why?" he cried, with q
6rceness that made us start. ibid
you ask why 1t was | killed her, and
she my wife?r
You would have known by his eyes
that there vas q dark shadow either
OF crime or approaching death upon
him. Again he paced the hard iron
beneath him.
".And she my wife! Yes, curse her,
she q my wife! All, how l hated her
With what pleasure / crushed the life
out Of her body and heard her last
gurgling moan!"
lie turned suddenly and faced us.
His eyes were fry red. But that we
knew he was sane we might have sup
posed him to be a maniac.
do you not know" he went on spas
medically, "you do not know what hat.
red is until you have hated the wit g
whom you once thought you had loved.
Among the demons below there is
nothing that can equal it. To live In
her repulsive presence, to calmly en-.
dure her little acts of tenderness by
which she Unprecedented soul--tc
drive the tempest from your brow, and
to feel the loathed touch of her arms
about you-all this will turn your
heart into a black and burning hell.
SLOWLY it grew upon me, and the
poison was already deep into my soul
when l first felt the revulsion Of feel
ing. Ond day the touch of her hand
was unpleasant to my brow. It had
always soothed before. That was the
first outward sign of the dark night
that was coming. l could not explain
til do not believe there lives q man
who can. She had done nothing ia
cause 1t. She was as true and faithful
as over wife was, and I loved her.
was sure Of that.
sBut It had come. and / felt It's ICY
fingers chill my blood. / struggled to
throw it Of, but In vain. Day by day
she grew more loathsome, more repul.
sive to me, until at last / disposed her
very presence. She must have seer
the dark moods that came over me-
and she tried to dispell them with
kisses that burned and scared and
with whispers Of love that fell upon
my ears like the hiss Of serpents.
ut was an awful thing to hate this
woman Is / did, and she my wife. Her
every movement was repulsive, every
word that she spoke was disCord to my
being, every touch Of her hand sent q
flaming hell to my heart.
"Soon / began to plan dark things,
half unknowing what 1t was at first,
and the very thought frightened me
when it came into my brain. It was
not long before ] grew accustomed to
1t, and calmly and deliberately, yet
with gloating pleasure. / would form
plots against the life of this woman /
hated, this wife OF my bosom.
ut grew to be an absorbing mania,
I dreamed Of nothing else, found pleas
ure in no other thought, and ali the
while the dark and murderous passion
was famed to deadiler purpose by her
every loving word and movement.
Carefully and cunnlngly / laid my
her while she slept, in the early part
Of the night. Then / would give hel
trunk the appearance Of having been
rified. / would 60 out into the town
get q friend to 60 home with me, and
when walked into the oom would
make the gastly discovery and shout
for my friend to come in. Together
we would investigate and find that she
had been dead only q short while. ]
would call in an officer, accuse one OF
the servants, and then let the law do
the rest.
ut was about 10 o'clock at night,
and ! knew by her deep and regular
breathing that she slept soundly. The
light was urning dimly, and even in
her sleep / hated her with q hatred
that belongsto the soulso of the damned
/ did not have to muster up courage to
do the deed. Igloated at the prospect
and had to restrain myself until the
time came.
II pressed my fingers 6ercoly and
frAntically against her throat. Icould
hardly keep from shouting when 1 did
She struggled violently, but I held her
with Q demons grip. With one Of hel
hands she caught mi by the wrist with
such force that had to pull ~viplentlJ
to get 1t away. But soon It was over.
and she had ceased breathing. Even
death did not end my hatred. I long.
ed for her to be hid from mysight.
1.-The other parts Of my plot were
jcarried through without q break. The
servant was arrested before morning
and then / was jubilant and happy.
though / took good care to conceal it
EARLY the next day several officers
were there looking into the murder
l knew of course that they conld not
suspect me, and I was Ia tho room with
them as they we're seeking some clue
to. the crime. One Of them looked at
me : little ~curiously once or twice. and
1t made me just q tribe nervous, but
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