The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-01-18
Observation-Disclosures
6be Story Of TUoI|
-
ives. Jul, :: ::".,,,


vlcted him. On my false testimony
he went, an innocent man, to prison,
! and came with the woman had per-
Jured my soul to win as my wife to
this country.
For years tried to forget 1 could
not. My sin followed me day and
night and poisoned every moment of
my existence. At last I made up my
mind to go back to the old place and
give myself up and make amends for
what l had done. I left my wife and
child here and worked my passage
back to England. I was too late. JUS
tlce had been done 50 far as human
law could do it. The criminals had
been found, and he 1 had wronged
was free. And he had gone to Amer
lea. l knew what for. He was slow
to anger, but when once aroused, his
anger was terrible. 1 knew that he
was seeking me, and I knew that he
would find me. From that time I
never lay down to sleep but my last
thought has been, ut may be to-mor-
row." I never rose in the morning
that I did not say to myself, perhaps
it may be to-day" For years 1 have
lived with the specter of vengeance
at my elbow. What my life has been
since / came among you, you think
you know. What it really has been
no mortal man can guess. At last
what was to be came to pass. He
found me-"
A shudder shook the speaker, and he
was silent an instant Then he con-
tinued:
HE found me. l have read in his
own handwriting how he found me
and all the history Of his ruined life
He has stood at my windpv with my
life in his hands, and at the last mo-
ment-God alone knows why, perhaps
for the sake of the woman he loved
and her child-he has spared my life.
I have seen the print of his feet,
where he must have stood outside in
the bitter cold, looking upon warmth
and comfort. I have found the very
weapon with which he would have
taken my life lying at my door, where
he must have flung it, and 1 have
traced his steps where he must have
fed to hide himself in the darkness,
only to die almost within a stones
throw Of this house. He had sworn
to meet me face to face, and it was
to belize this. The hand Of God was
in it. might have kept silent. The
secret was in my hands alone No
human law could reach me now that
his tongue is silent, but lying there, as
he lay yesterday, dead, in rags, he has
spoken as no living man could speak
He has accused and convicted and
sentenced me as no human law could
have DONE"
He ceased as abruptly as he had be-
gun. He stood there broken, Self-ac-
nd 1,,1v,, ;o4
despair 50 utter, that the sternest of
his listeners were moved to compass
sion, which fought desperately with
the horror his story had inspired. In
voluntarily, uncoDsciously, those near
est him had shrunk away until he
stood alone at the foot of the coffin
from which the dead, half-cpened eyes
seemed to hold him in stony, unre-
lenting stare.
For time there was complete, ter
rible silence. Then tie minister, who
had sat all this time ut the head of the
coffin, his venerable head bowed upon
his hands, rose and went across the
room, his mild face illUlnined with a
look of divine pity. He laid his with
cred hands upon DiXon's folded arms.
and spoke:
! when I kept silence my bones
WaXed old. Day AID night Thy hand
was heavy upon me. Mine iniQuities
are gone over my head as a heavy
burden they are too heavy for me. I
:'m troubled. I am bowed down great
, ly. My sorrow is continually before
me-. l will be sorry for my sin. For
sake me lot, O Lord! Make haste to
=, help ME, q Lord my salvation.''
| All heads were bowed. From the
corner where the women sat together
came the sound Of suppressed sobbing.
The minister went back to his place
and folding his hands above the coffin,
said:
"Let us pray"
! When the prayer was ended the
coffin was closed and, followed by the
entire assemblage, was borne to the
| place prepared for it.
| The day was mild. A dense, soft
! snow was falling, through which the
figures of men and women moved
with phantasmal noiselessness. Dixon
walked foremost by the side of the
clergyman. When all was over he
raised his eyes from the icy clods of
the new made grave. The venerable
man stood silent at it's foot. Other
wise he was alone.
AT. the door or MS cottage the OLD
man too left him, with a strong hand
pressure. He stood for some time be-
fore the door. The air was thick with
the great fakes of snow, the foot
prints beneath the window and across
the frozen field were already hidden
from sight, but he knew that they
were there and always would be.
| At last, very slowly and heavily, he
turned and went into the house. 1t
/ was cold and silent. The door Of the
front room stood open and the chairs
were as the people had left them. He
; went into the room and tried to re-
store things to their customary APP
pearance. With a visible effort he
crossed the middle Of the room where
the coffin had stood, and threw open
the windows. Then he went out,
closing the door carefully. In the pas
sage he listened a moment, but it was
still silent. He knew that the child
had been sent to neighbours and
that he should find his wife in her
own room.
He found her sitting by the window.