Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-05-14

He knelt down beside me, his
mouth so close that ] felt his breath
on my face, aud said, hoarsely:
"You know we'll enough, but / will
tell you all the same. You stole from
me the thing I loved best in the
world-the woman ! longed to make
my wife. You took my Ella from
me, and I am going to take your life
from you in return. You stole Ella,
who was as precious to me as exist
ence itself; it is but just that your
life should pay the penalty OF the
theft"
at was no theft" I said. "She
loved me and she did not love you.
We had equal chances, and l won.
Such things happen every day"
"Aye," he returned, with a look
which made me shudder, "and men
90 mad for love every day, and some
times those men kill their successful
rivals But L will waste no more
with you. Prepare for the end"
I saw that any further argument was
useless. gave myself up for lost and
said to him:
every well, Maxwell. Since you
wish to mrler the man who was once
your friend, do so. But for Heavens
sake let my death be quick and mer-
cifuI."
He laughed again.
"No," he cried, "your death shall
not he quick and merciful. 1t shall
be slow in coming and horrible when
it comes Shall l tell you what am
going to do with You? I am going to
fasten you, bound rs you now are, to
the longest beam in the mill and set
You on the saw. Then I am going be-
low T. get up steam, and you can guess
the rest T calculate that it will take
two hours to fire the boiler so Us to
start the betting, and you will thus
have two hours to lie and think of your
punishment. Come, think I have
won the game after all, Mr.. Jack
Graham"
His words struck terrible anguish
into my soul. 70 die at all, when one
is young and full of life aud love, is
bitter enough, but to die the awful
death which the maniac meant to deal
ont to me was too horrible to contem-
plate. / could only lie there motion
less aud pray with all my strength
that some miracle might be wrought,
u I'd that even Mt the eleventh hour my
fe might be spared. For although
clung to existence l was not afraid to
die, but the thought of Ella was pre-.
eminent in my brain; Ella, whom
loved more than life itself, and who
would be heart-broken when she
learned of my awful end.
Maxwell stood gazing at me for some
moments in gloomy silence. Then
picking me up as easily as one might
lift cnild. he carried me to the shop
which contained the big saw, called by
tho mea "Big jack" in consequence
of its great size, and bound me, with
deft tiugars, to the beam, some six
yards long, which lay on the slab ready
to he sawn asunder.
He then attached to the beam the
pulley by which the wood would be
drawn automatically toward the saw
directly the machinery was set in
motion, and, with IA short, cruel laugh,
lief. me to myself and to my thoughts.
They were horrible enough. Now
that death seemed to me al absolute
certainty, I was not much perturbed
in my mind about myself, but l thought
of my wife, and the memory of her
sweet face, which never more would
look into mine, filled me with keen
anguish.
cried out several times for help,
but I knew only too well that the Cry
was useless. The shop in which was
lying was midway between the boiler
house aud the street, and some SOC
yards from either. as the factory was
a big one. I might have been at the
North Pole, so completely isolated was
I then from al! human help.
commended my soul to God as
lay there bound and helpless. / asked
Him il His infinite mercy to protect
my wife when I had passed from earth,
and to comfort her in her great sor
row. Then I asked forgiveness fol-
the sins I had committed, and when
the prayer was ended, felt o certain
resignation which was deeply com
forting.
The maniac had indeed devised {
horrible vengeance when he had hit
upon the idea of binding me to the
saw and leaving me while he fred the
boiler, for during that time I was ablt
to lie and contemplate my end, ant
in spite of the resignation of which
have spoken, my feelings were bit
ter enough. I think in those awfu
moments l must have aged by many
years. Even at this remote time, the
horror Of that day comes back to M
and fills me with terror, bringing tn.
sW eat to my brow.
Sometimes I awake in the nigh
from n ghaslly dream, in which fancy
myself once again bound on that saw
all T thank God with all my hear
anl with trembling lips that, after all
it is only a dream.
After little space Maxwell cam'
back.
81 have built the fire down below,
, he said. hoarsely, "and you can cal
cllate, from your own knowledge o
such things, how long death will be il
coming. And now shall switch OF
the belt to the saw
t With absolute camness, as though h
, were going through the merest detail
/, of Workshop routine, he stopped AM
, switched the belt on to the shaft o
, the saw. Every now and again h
, unnll tnka n lonn nlnnna Mt mo ~