The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-14
The DeGperance of Priscilla 9ves
BY HELEN F. SANDERS.

Copyright, 1901, by Daily Story Pub. Co
Winter had flung his gauntlet on Dead
Mans Gulch. The snow lay in a thick,
hard crust on the ground, and every pine
looked severely clerical in it's surplice of
ice.
The primeval grandeur of the steep,
narrow gulch was disf1gured by only a
few scattered log cabins, and before
one which was situated more centrally
and was somewhat larger than the
others, a crowd of rough miners was
gathered. A few women and even
Struggling half dozen children, hud-
died close to the men, and all watched
a common point, silently, grimly.
There was something unpleasantly
animal in their loud, quick breathing,
something Unframed and savage in their
restless, shutting feet, something omin-
Gus, relentless in their hard fixed gaze;
in their set jaws, in their swelling veins.
In them nature was resolved into its
primitive elements, as it was in the rug
ged gorge in which they lived
The door of the distant cabin opened,
and three figures stood out sharp and
black against the snow. Synchronously
an Involuntary movement stirred the
watchers. Their keen eyes followed the
three approaching across the barren
plane of white.
The central figure was a woman and
in her arms she held a bundle-her
child. AS she drew near, her face
showed white and haggard above the
dark, tight-drawn shawl that covered her
shoulders, but her step was doggedly firm
and her head defiantly unbending.
A man stepped forward from the crowd
the three halted, and there was second
of expressive silence. Then the spokes-
man said:
Priscilla Ives, are you ready to look
upon the face OF the man you murdered,
and then stand for trial before your
judges?
II am
Her voice was high and unfaltering
Turning to the two guards he Sa1d
Lead the prisoner in
There was general movement toward
the door, and as Priscilla and her guard
entered, she met the same fixed gaze that
had followed her across the snow to her
place Of judgment.
Her set lips grew more contracted, and
her wide eyes dilated as she saw on the
bare floor before her a rough pine coffin.
1t was beside this that the guards led
her and left her alone, fronting the semi
circle of stolid faces.
Again the. spokesman, Joshua Elm,
raw boned, loose jointed man. came for
ward and addressed her.
you are here to be tried for the muir
der of Matthew Field he said, slowly,
with hard ring in his voice.
He paused and leveled his narrow
gray eyes on her impassive face.
TIE stiffness was profound.
Are you guilty, Priscilla Ives?"
81 am
A shrek shocked the silence into re-
verberating sound. There was a strug
gle, tussle, as a woman in the crowd
strove to dash toward the prisoner. 1t
was the murdered mans wife. Compass
sion shone on the hard faces, strong
arms restrained her. and looks Of hatred
were concentrated on Priscilla Ives.
The interruption was short, and Joshua
Elm proceeded with the business in hand.
I'VE, the law-abiding citizens of this
gulch, met here to try you for the muir
der, but your confession is enough. All
that remains for US to do is to decide
what punishment to inf1ict on your guilty
head
you know" he said, addressing the
crowd, the circumstances of the kill
ing of Matthew Field. How he, our
beloved brother, was shot down by this
woman. who lured him into her disrep-
utable home. AS she stands before you
she holds in her arms badge of her
infamy, it's father unknown"
You lie.
The prisoner was beside him, her face
strained close to his, and 1t was the face
of a mad she-wolf, not of a harmless
girl The force of her personality mas
tered the man and the throng before her,
and unwiilingly they heard her rapid,
impassioned words, swayed but not con-
linced, or perhaps convinced. but not