The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1897-05-13

marriage; uOWuTiSut SWIHulliiS S-du1
forgery"
.1Gracious God and what becam,
of him at last2'
'.Be patient and you shall know
everything Nobody now alive coul(
tell you what | have known for twentJ
or thirty years, and that l have reason
to believe no other being ever knew
for he had no secrets from me, [ as
sure you, even at the time when hi;
hand was against every man, ant
every mans hand against him."
"But allow me to ask, was that the
first you knew of bis drinking2"
"Yes,and it was not only the first
knew of it but in fact, it was the frs,
of his drinking. It seems they had
wines and liquors in the cellar of 6
house, which had taken fire. These
were carried out, and left upon the
side, where the people got hold of the
choicest-poor Howard among the
rest, being challenged to it by his
companions-and drank freely"
''After this, had his father known OF
him what 1 know of you, my dear boy
| believe he might be alive now, and
blessing to the world. But he was
beset on every side by the enemies OF
temperance, who led him TO the bill
lard room, and the ten pin alley, and
then challenged him to drink with
them, if he was not afraid of the old
man, whose temperance principles,
and labors in the cause, were we'll un
derstood. This continued, and there
was nobody to apprise your father,
until at the end of two or three years,
he found his poor boy beyond the
reach of expostnlation and entreaty.
1t came upon him without notice OF
preparation, and would have been a
death blow, but for Gods mercy And
now, what was to be done? Should
he be given over to the great Adver-
sary? Or should every human effort
be tried to check bin in his headlong
career? Should he send to her grave
broken hearted mother, and wreck
the hopes of two dear sisters forever
Should he be allowed to destroy his
little brother, you, Willie, by staying
at home; or should he be got rid of,
IN some way. and sent off to a distant
part of the world, where he might re-
cover his seIfrespect. and build up a
character for himselfe He had fine
talents, everybody said; he was we'll
educated wrote most beautiful hand
was good lawyer, and was acquaint
ed with many languages; was an ad
mlrable accountant and civil engineer
in short, with a fair field and no ia
vor, he had everything to hope for.
Bat, ala0, the evil spirit had taken
possession Of him so that, every few
months, he world be ont of situation,
drifting about here and there he
knew not whither-helpIess and hope
less; until. at last, be got involved in
a quarrel about worthless woman,-
bear with me. Willie: it is for your
good that j tell you these things, as
you will acknowledge before l get
through shot his adversary through
the heart, and then tried forgery, and
went Oh from bad to worse until, at
last, he came to the catastrophe"
The young man rose mp and went
to the window, and pushing aside the
heavy curtain, gasping for breath,
called out:
Air! air! Open the window, for
Gods sakew
After long and trying silence, in
terrupted by frequent outbursts of
feeling on the part of Willie, Mr. Gore
continued:
Being driven to desperation and
believing his father had cast him off,
and that even his mother and sisters
no longer cared to hear from him, he
began to associate with gamblers and
house breakers. though | will do him
the justice to say that he never had
any hand in their thieving or pillag
ing, apart, perhaps, at the card table.
"From bad to worse he went on, for
twelve month or SO. never writing
home and never receiving any of the
letters which were constantly written
to him by his father and mother and
sisters, in the hope, although they
knew not where he was, that some of
the whole might find its way to him.
"At last, having been stripped of all
his money, clothes, and watch, he de
termined to make what they call a
raise by robbing wealthy man, who
lived in the same block where he
boarded, and was known to keep large
sums for days together in a box which
yonr brother had seen upon his table,
when they sat smoking together not
long before.
Having made all his arrangements
and knowing where the keys were
kept, for he had seen them put away
more than once, he armed himself
with pistol and bowie knife
Gracious Godw exclaimed the
young man, covering his face with his
hands, and turned his face away from
the window. But go on, sir. l can
bear anything now"
Mr.. Gore continued:
And entering the chamber, at mid
night, which Mr.. Gillespie occupied
for that was the name of the gentle
man he was to rob"
AT midnight, sir?"
He found him asleep-'
Thank God, But, sir.-sir, if b,
had not oeeh asleep. or if he haC
walked before the robbery was finish
ed. what then?'
God only knows. l shudder t,
think of the possibilities, for he woul,
never have been taken alive; and, as
have said before, he was armed to tn
teeth and, being man of great hodi
| ly strength and quick as lightning il
his movements, he would have beer
sure to give bloody account of al
that stood in his way"
"Go on, sir-go on. l beseech you!
said poor Wlllie,-throwing up th
window as he spoke, and gasping 70
breath
Mr.. Gore proceeded:
He entered, it seems. without dis
turbing the sleeper; got possession G
the keys; opened the box where th
bank notes lay; and was just turnin
to look at the bed when. throuph th