The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-22
BY FRANK H. SWEET.
ENDS OF JUSTICE.

nat an ofhcer of the law could be wholly an instrument of execution was exemplificd by Skeriff Turner. During twenty years of rounding up criminals O. all sorts he had never once allowed personal feeling to interfere with duty. With him an order was not to be tampercd with even in the mode of executing, and if he was susceptible oi such unoficial Weaknesses as sym pathy or indecision. they never appear ed on the surface. Moreover, he was a keen reader of faces and had mem- ory that was far-reaching and relent- less.
 So it came about that the man who had Sheriff Turner on lis trail had cause to fear. and if -nrre were oppor- the labyrinth of city buildings or fast nesses of the deep forests, he took ad- vantage Of it to the uttermost, and then counted himself q lucky man if he escaped.
 The sheriff was in a river town, working up an important case. when the leyee gave way and allowed the over-crowded waters of the Mississippi to leap forth in wild relentless flood. It did not matter that he was almost upon his quarry. or that few minutes would have ended a long three months chase. The flood was not a respecter of law. or of shrewdness and determi- nation; and he was forced back and the black waters rushed in between him and bore away his success as easily as they had torn the mighty levee from it's foundations and scat tered it over the fertile fields of the sugar plantations.
 But more disastrous than flooded fields or thwarted law were the objects which the mad flood bore upon it's sur face. or drew down from time to time Into its turbulent depths. The frag- ment of negro cabin, with perhaps half dozen frightened faces peering from its unsubmerged angles. would whirl ana eddy with the conflicting currents until some obstructing rock or tree would give it violent jar, when one or all of the faces would dis appear. Floating bits of wreckage of all kin6s had tEeir unwilling passen- gers; cats. with big eyes and bumped backs. domestic fowls craning their necks to keep above the swaying wat CTS. and even occasional farm animals, whose frantic struggles had gained them this temporary point of vantage Sometimes violent upheaval of the water would throw an object toward tHC l1CC WHICH WOulu Cdusjt Ollt IO turn away with a shudder even the tossing bit of roof or whirling timber could offer no succor to that inanimat te hand-ciinched thing now.
 Sheriff Turner saw one of these ob- iac-s for brief second as 1t was borne past him on the flood. and the sight drove away all consciousness of self. He was a strong man in other ways tfan his profession. and what was transpiring before his eyes made him hurl himself far out into the mad rush of waters and wreckage.
 As he struggled back again toward land with his first prize from the flood he was conscious of another man bat ting near him. on the same errand. Several times during the afternoon he noticed him taking women and chill dren from rafts and tossing debris. pluneing into seething whirlpools after exhausted unfortunates who had been torn from their hold, and clambering up banks or upon secure masses of wreckage to leave his burdens in places of, safety. staggering with wear mess. but strong enough to plunge in again to the rescue of some one weaker than himself Sheriff Turner only mo- ticed him as their work brought them together. He was too busy himself for watching But as the afternoon wore away. disclosing the man again and again, always fisking his life, all ways steady, mechanical, self-con- trolled. he began to wonder and ad- mire as one brave man will wonder at and admire another.
 And with ihis admiration there pres- ently began to mingle a curious sense of recognition He only caught no- mentary glimpses of the strong. b,ard- f,I ra an nu fhn mo frArl hA atEAr with some one he had rescued, or plunged back again to continue his work. but these glimpses were enough. He never forgot 9 face, and this man lad crossed his memory somewhere. He could not remember how or when. or. whether for good pr bad: but it did not matter. It would all come to him when he found leisure to turn his mind back upon the past.
 And it did. That night as he was lying on a cot in small building on the very edge of the flood. he sprang suddenly to his feet with a low ex- clamation of relief He had lain down exhausted. but not to sleep. Now he was strong. with eyes flashing but steely, and with lips shat and stern. He was no longer the heroic man whose life was free offering for nth- CTS. but a Nemesis of the law. mechan- ical. implacabie. just. It had come to him. as he had believed tt would. and though the strong bearded face had crossed his memory half decade be- fore. and then only as one incident of a busy day. the scene returned to him now as clear cut and vivid as though he had just come from the court room. There was the white haired judge upon the bench. and the arguing lawyers. and the prisoner. calm. col lec:o6. pleading guilty in a voice as clear and triumphant as though &C., knowledging a deed of duty or valor. The beard had been black and glossy then. and the figure slighter; but the man was the same he was as sure of