The Opelousas courier., 1898-07-16

His laugh, low and demoniacal, toll
me that 1 might expect little mercy
When his 'fendish mirth was exhaust
ed, he said with a sneer:
"You will know my meaning an
what I intend to do with you 500,
enough. Long before the afternoon i
out you will have@-7Tto live."
"What injury have I DO, . you?"
pleaded, though I feared 1iat m.
words would avail little; "wh.t in
jury have I done You that you shoul'
seek my life?"
He knelt down beside me, hi
mouth so close that 1 felt his breatI
on my face, and said, hoarsely:
"You know VAL enough, but I viii
tell you all the same. You stole from
me the thingeI loved best in tn
world-the oma I longed to maxi
my wife. You took my Ella from
me, and I am going to take your lif'
from you in return. You stole Ella
who was as precious to me as exist
ence itself; it is but just that you
life should pay the penalty of the
theft"
cit was no theft,"I said. "She
loved me and she did not love you
We had equal chances, and I won
Such things happen every day."
"Aye," he returned, with a look
which made me shudder, "and mel
go mad for love every day, and some
times those men kill their successful
rivals. But I will waste no more
with you. Prepare for the end"
I saw that any further argument was
useless. I gave myself up for lost and
said to him:
every we'll, Maxwell. Since you
wish to mrder the man who was once
your friend, do so. But for Heavens
sake, let my death be quick and mer-
ciful."
He laughed again.
"No," he cried, 'tyour death shall
not be quick and merciful. It shall
be slow in coming and horrible when
it comes. Shall I tell you what I am
going to do with you? I am going to
fasten you, bound as you now are, to
the longest beam in the mill and set
you OF the saw. Then I am going be-
low to get up steam, and you can guess
the rest. I calculate that it will take
two hours to fire the boiler so as to
start the betting, and you will thus
have two hours to lie and think OF your
punishment. Come, I think I have
won the game after all, Mr.. Jack
Graham"
His words struck O terrible anguish
my soul. To die at all, when one
is young and full Of life and love, is
bitter enough, but to die the awful
death which the maniac meant to deal
out to me was too horrible to contem-
plate. I could only lie there motion
less and pray with all my strength
some miracle might be wrought,
and that even at the eleventh hour my
life might be spared. For although I
to existence I was not afraid to
die, but the thought of Ella was pre-
eminent in my brain; Ella, whom I
loved more than life itself, and who
be heart-broken when she
learned of my awful end.
Maxwell stood gazing at me for some
moments in gloomy silence. Then
me up as easily as n might
lift a child. he carried me to the shop
which contained the big saw, called by
,he men "Big jack" in consequence
# it's great size, and bound me, with
left fingers, to the beam, some six
,ards long, which lay on the slab ready
o be sawn asunder.
He then attached to the beam the
by which the wood would be
automatically toward the saw
the machinery was set in
and, with a short, cruel laugh,
eft me to myself and to my thoughts.
They were horrible enough. Now
hat death seemed to me an absolute
ertainty, I was not much perturbed
n my mind about myself, but I thought
f my wife, and the memory of her
weet face, which never more would
ook into mine, filled me with keen
nguish.
I cried out several times for help,
ut I knew only too we'll that the cry
'as useless. The shop in which I was
wing was midway between the boiler
ouse and the street, and some 600
ards from either, as. the factory was
big one. I might have been at the
[orth Pole, SO completely isolated was
then from all human help.
I commended my soul to God as I
y there bound and helpless. I asked
lin in His infinite mercy to protect
y wife when I had passed from earth,
nd to comfort her in her great sor-
wv. Then I asked forgiveness for
le sins I had committed, and when
le prayer was ended, I felt a certain
which was deeply COM
The maniac had indeed devised a
orrible vengeance when he had hit
pom the idea of binding me to the
w and leaving me while he fred the
oiler, for during that time I was able
lie and contemplate my end, and
spite of the resignation of which
have spoken, my feelings were bit
r enough. I think in those awful
oments I must have aged by many
Ears. Even at this remote time, the
orror Of that day comes back to me
ID fills me with terror, bringing the
eat to my brow.
Sometimes I awake in the night
a CHASTITY dream, in which fancy
yself once again bound on that saw;
id I thank God with ali my heart
Id with trembling lips that, after oil,
is only a dream.
After a little space Maxwell came
aek