The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-04-16

hcltlllNc. ne ldlt - AAD"A al
about this part Of the world: it has
been published in the county papers,
and the city dailies have spo-
ken of me as instrumental in
bringing to justice a murderer, for
which I received a thousand dollars as
reward. write these lines that
may fully state the facts upon which
these reports are based, and to end
the unpleasant notoriety have gain
ed. I have my share Of pride, but /
am not one Of those ministers who
seek TO be famous outside Of their call
ing. No one who knows me can deny
that modesty Is my chief Characters
tic; In fact, my best friends have told
me that this trait has often stood in
the way Of my just advancement.
The events / shah relate here com
prise the only remarkable episode In
my life, and / viii coniine myself to
plain account Of the most peculiar case
OF James Ratcliffe.
I lad just finished my supper one
evening, and was helping the children
with their lessons, when the maid an
nounced that man wished to see me
in the parlor ! drew on my coat and
went to him. He stood up as | came
into the room, and saw that he SEEM
ed to be a wellto-do workman. He
had a short, brown beard, light blue
eyes, and a dignifed and reserved ap-
pearance, although he was evidently
not used to moving in what we call
good society. / took him to be about
thirty-five years Of age. His voice
was deeply resonant and his utterance
slow. He rarely took his eyes from my
face during our interview.
you are the Reverend Mercer7" he
asked.
"Yes, sir" answered will you
not be seated2"
DO you believe in Jesus Christi"
he inquired abruptly.
Certainly do"
"Do you think that his example OF
self-sacrifce should be literally fol-
lowed? Is it ever right in these days
to give one life to save another?"
Under proper circumstances, l
think II is." o
Well, have been to your church,
sir, and heard you preach. l think
you are a good man. want to tell
you the story Of my life. have a re-
quest to make Of you; and before I can
do II, ! must confide in you a sacred
trust. That trust is my life's secret"
begged him to think twice before
he did this, as / had no desire TO
mingle unnecessarily in another's pri-
vate affairs or receive a secret that
might be burdensome to me.
Some one must take this burden,
he replied. 1T is not for you, as Gods
man, to refuse to take what has been
Weighing me down for years"
With this he began at once to re-
late his story.
Il never had a father or mother,
that I can remember" he said "The
earliest thing can recollect is being
with a lot Of other children in a big
house somewhere, with a great yard
around it. / suppose 1t was an orphan
asylum, or foundling's home, or some
such place. I was sent into the
country, in Nebraska, while still
young. to family Of good people. I
worked on the farm and went to
school some. When / was about
twenty years old the farmer died; his
widow sold the place. and moved
away. She made no provision for me,
because, think, she had some rela-
tives that never liked my being with
the old folks and were afraid that
they would give me some Of their
property. So they got the old lady
away and was sent adrift.
Then I lived the life Of farm
hand. I won't go into all of the de-
tails. They are unnecessary. 4 viii
hurry and get to the matter that
stands out like a blotch on my mem
ory. It has no connection with the
rest Of my life. It seems like the devil
had just reached In and dabbed a big
splash Of red paint on my history.
ain't bad. never was. Not that
am religious have been converted
at several meetings, but being a hired
hsnd, and just drifting around from
pillar to post, I never was no good 10
any church, and finally I quit joining
them
Il won't 60 over It all, sir, but just
say Il was at a party one evening that
It happened I got drunk. / don't
like liquor; Il turns my stomach. But
I drank then. don't know why-ex-
cept II was just to be smart and not
take dare from the boys Going
home. we all got into a row. I never
knew how Il came about, but I killed
one or the men. No, I didn't either, It
was the red devil inside Of me that
done It. or I wouldn't have kept on
beating him I was crazy. When my
mad at had run itself out the drunk
was all gone, too, and stood there
over his body as sober as I expect to
be when I stand before God A'mlghty's
throne and He asks me about It. There
vas two or three fe1lcrs along and