Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-01-14

bAAA COhANA gOu AiAtBihO % hD' eShpOA
coming up about that time to settle lit
tie business or an old bill with the old
man? He never paid his debts till he
had to- Look / can see a neighbor GO
ing in the barn just as George left. He
presents bis bill, and Burns refuses to
pay. They have hot words. Don't you
hear them BLACKBOARD each other? You
won't pay, says the other, standing be.
fore him. We'll, I'll make you Then
the old man sneered at him. And with
that--what does his foot strike? 1t is
the Ratchet George Williams dropped
Burns, now, he never notices it, but
jeers again. Don't you see it all? l can.
"'You won't, eh?' cries the neighbor,
grasping his debtor by the throat. May
be he didn't mean murder, but that
don't make any odds. It's all the same
now The two men close. You won't
then" says the neighbor.
"How do l know that George didn't
kill old man Burns? Because 1 did it
myself.
In the sober silence that followed the
| judges last words a shuttle was heard
at the door, and tall, lean man walk
ed in bearing an armful of logs. 1t was
the old man familiarly known as Bill,
the keeper Of their hosts camp quiet,
white haired, harmless fellow. Some
thought him little touched" but ev-
cry one respected him. He was Just
gentle, unassuming man with an air Of
latent strength and suffering about him
that gave him a dignity of his own.
Something IN fhn cir no
| judge looked at his servant attracted
the attention Of the rest.
Godfrey Uncle! So that's the man
that killed Burns. The young collegian
jumped up as the old man left the room.
81 always thought there was something
queer about him. The hydraulic en-
gineer shook his head sagely at this i'm
pulsive conclusion. But the captain said
in an intense way:
eco on, judge"
Judge Chambers could not help show
| ing in his face the qualification that ra-
| contour feels when he has successfully
| evolved climax.
He proceeded with no undue haste:
"Of course the new jury that was i'm
paneled acquitted the said George
! 1t took six men to hold the blacksmith
that night before he was put in a strait
| jacket and lodged in a padded cell. His
confession cleared up the Burns mystery
| and the grand jury brought in a true
| bill against him, to be served when he
| should recover his sanity, if ev0T.
"In six months William Worthely
was a model patient, quiet and trust
| worthy, and his case was to be consid-
cred in the next spring term. While he
was pronounced sane enough about mat
tiers of the present moment he had for
| gotten absolutely everything about his
| life preceding his confession. Even the
| very elements of his trade had been lost
TO his mind and hands. He could now
no more shoe a horse than he could
write novel. He had even forgotten
his name, his neighbors and the village
| he lived in. He was new man, just as
if he had been born again in that asylum
into new world. You can't let a muir
derer loose upon the community, and
| you can't hang man who doesn't re-
! member his crime, even if he has con-
fessed. 1t is a question if any man
ought to be punished on his own con-
fession uncorroborated by evidence. But
that is another matter for another time.
The problem was what to do with
| Worthely.
MATTERS drifted, just as the snow
did that heavy winter. Some wanted
| him tried, others wanted him shut up
in the asylum for life and a few want
ed him out. At that time a railroad ac-
cidcnt occurred near Hartford. A bridge
gave way and freight train went
through. A tramp was brought to the
hospital terribly hurt. When he was
told that he could not possibly live
more than a day or So he sent for a
Methodist minister and made confess
sion. Among other things he said he
| killed man in barn in Broadteld on
an evening of the preceding June. He
had crept into a pile of hay to sleep for
the night The farmer came out and
had a discussion in the barn with some
body who had come in with him. This
man had a Ratchet in his hand, which
he had stuck into the head of "A stall.
Their conversation was entirely friend
ly, and they shook hands i'll parting,
the man forgetting his Ratchet. Some
how or other the farmer happened to
stick pitchfork into the heap by acct
dent and the tramp jumped from his
concealment. The farmer ordered him
out and threatened him. The tramp was
a taller, larger man and laughed his
host to scorn. Thereupon the farmer
reached for the Ratchet. This was
snatched from his hand and buried in
his brain. The tramp, who had entered
the town at dusk unobserved, sneaked
out and left the same way
"What ON earth did Worthely con-
fess, then, for?" interrupted the collie
gian eagerly.
at often happens that man con-
fesses a crime in delirium. But if he
hadn't confessed, 4" continued the judge
slowly, "the wrong man would have
been hung"
And if the blacksmith hadn't con-
tinued insane he would have been
hung" said the hydraulic engineer.
but what did Burns say Williams
for?" insisted the student. "That was
enough to condemn the Englishman. "
HE probably tried to say that Will
liams was innocent and died in the at
tempt, Dying statements are very I'M
certain keys with which to lock a man