Rocky Ford enterprise., 1897-06-03

which had brought a sad, sweet con-
ISOLATION to me, crumbled away to rot
tenness at the sight OF q dead mans
iace; henceforth truth and virtue were
lying symbols. The waters round
ABOUT that rock had hitherto been
clear and bright and in their depths
mad seen mirrored the stainless soul
OF pure woman, bringing to me Wis
ion of heaven in the future. Now the
waters were black and turbid, and
nothing but defilement and treachery
were there.
l pressed my hands upon my eyes
and forehead to prevent myself from
going mad. Before that occurred,
must look once more upon the face of
my enemy.
1t lay before me. gray and sinful
even In death. had seen the face not
more than six times in my life. and
each time 1t had brought blight upon
me; but 1t had never been more pow
erful for evil than now. when the
treachefous eyes lacked light. and the
lying tongue was dumb. AS ! gazed
at 1t. faith, hope. religion, died utterly
away. and left me a reckless, despair
Ing man. What could my wife have
seen in this villain to cause her to be
false to me? The basest and meanest
qualities in human nature never had
a more fitting shell than the carcass
OF this man: and as l spurned 1t with
my foot, ! reflected with bitterness that
l had not even the satisfaction Of re-
venge. For I doubted not that II 1
had met him alive should have killed
him. and experienced no feeling of
gratefulness that had been spared
the crime.
AS disturbed the body, a piece OF
glittering metal on the ground at
tracted me. picked 1t up; 1t was a
sovereign: and my attention was
drawn to the circumstance that the
earth upon which the body lay had
been newly turned over. pushed the
inanimate clay aside, and. scratching
the earth with my nails, came upon
a treasure in gold. l dug 1t up. and
calculated that the weight altogether.
In rough nuggets and sovereigns.
could not be less than thirty pounds.
It was for this my wife had betrayed
me: this was the virtue she saw In
him. My dear old mother was right.
Mabel's heart was as good as gold;
no better: and such poor thing as
love faded in its glitter. As ran my
fingers through the pile. derived a
savage pleasure from the reflection
that the worthless heap was mine. and
indeed great part of It really did be-
long to me. Had not the villain stol-
| en- 1t from me on the gOld-helds? l
removed 1t. and buried in in a secret
spot; and then. moudiiy. and with a
changed heart, l walked to the camp.
where my comrades were. Pearl. see-
ing me approach ran toward ple. with
a glad look in her eyes. and raised her
face for the expected kiss. From the
impulse of habit more than from any
feeling of affection. l stopped. and was
about to embrace her. when the like
ness in her to my false wife SO Jared
upon me that pushed her aside rough
ly. with something like curse upon
my lips. Fair face. like Mabels; fair
hair. like Mabel's; blue eyes, as hers
were. Had the girl been black and
ugly l might have tolerated her, al
though felt ! was no longer capable
of love: but her beauty made me loathe
her. Heaven forgive me for my
thoughts at that time! My heart was
filled with hatred toward all man.
kind.
| strobe toward my companions.
"A man lies dead yonder," said, in
tone SO hard and morose that they
stared at me in wonder and dismay
TON Wren will show you his body.
suppose you will choose to bury him,
though by rights he should be left to
rot where he lies. But there's no such
thing as justice in this world. nor in
the next, II there is one. And look
you, resign my command. You may
look upon me as dead. for shall never
come among you again."
They threw their arms about me,
saying had been faithful friend to
them, and the one upon whom they
most depended: but I beat them off. as
much with savage words as with saw
age blows: and as l fed from them into
the forest, Pearls sobs we're the last
sounds heard.
All that day and night l wandered
alone, brooding over my despair. and
lashing myself into delirinm. a ter
rible wakefulness was upon ne. and I
was imbued with dangerous strength.
| spoke aloud. and threatened all ma
ture, raising my pigmy hands savage
ly against the bright clouds in the day.
against the peaceful stars at hight. |
plucked the flowers and crushed them
vindictively; l broke great branches
from the trees and tore them into
shreds. believing they could feel. and
exulting in the belief.
The sun rose again, and my mad
ness was not spent. I neither ate nor
slept. The stars came out again, and
shed their plying light upon me. But
why prolong the description of those
dread hours? 1t agonizes me now to
think of them. and I humbly hope I
have atoned for them by prayer.
Nature conquered me In time, and
I sank exhausted to the ground. I had
no wish to live: and II was merely the
unconquerable instinct of hunger that
caused me, as I lay in stupor, to
pluck some leaves and place them be-
tween my teeth. That they were bitter
to taste made no impression upon me.
Chewing them, fell into deep sleep.
It was at this period of my life that
| lost count of time. as | have else
- n n i