Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1903-09-17

"Well, then," I replied, Il may as
well be frank. The fact Is. entertain
very little hope Of your husbands re-
covery."
"Ye hear that, Bill? Doctor says
yer to pass in yer checks, so just yer
git ready and do it!'
was amazed at her cold-blooded
tone.
Il know'd 1t, lass! 1 know'd IT."
Bill replied. Doctor l turned to
/ the bed. "Sit down. Martha, bring
the doctor chair" and the old wom-
an placed one close to the bed for me.
When 1 had seated myself-for l
thought 1t best to humOr him-he look
ed round the room and said:
Now. I'm a-gon' to make confess
sion. Don't any Of yer git interruptln',
cause l can't speak so WELL" He
paused, and then went on:
Breath seems terrible short" Then,
! turning his head to me, he remarked:
Yer remember that ere accident to
Jem Barker nigh on a twelvemonth
sin'?"
l nodded, for l recollected 1t per-
fectly. One Of the drivers In the tun-
mel just outside the town had slipped
and fallen on rail In the dark. A
load Of earth had passed over his
body, breaking his back, and death
had resulted almost instantly. He was
found shortly afterward, and the coro-
ner's jury returned verdict Of "acci-
dental DEATH"
We'll" the injured man pursued,
that ere accident wor no accident!
1t wor no accident! 1t wOr sumat else.
l had better tell We that Jem Barker
and l wor mates; he wOr called 'Guz-
zler,' cause he could swallow so much
drink-like soap suds. down a sough,
as the sayin' Is. l wOr called 'Darkie,
'cause-well, We can see why If We look
at me physog. l could do fairish
drop O. liquor at times, but the wust
Of it wor that we both wor fond O the
same gell-that's Liz DER yonder";
and he nodded in the direction Of his
wife, who was seated on box which
stood beneath a window. Her eyes
were fixed on the speaker.
"Liz! he suddenly exclaimed and
with somewhat more energy than he
had displayed in the narrative, for his
breath had failed him several times
then, "Liz, Liz! don't look at me like
that! 1 Gamma bear 1t! l Gamma" and
he broke off into long groan.
His wife dropped her eyes, but still
~ l..
ed in her lap. The injured man strug-
gled for breath, and then went on:
II know'd Liz wor fond O. Jem,
cause he wor fair and handsome, but
loved her the bestest. Ay, though
we be navvies, doctor, we can love-
only some people thinks as how we
| just pair off like! But they're wrong
Well, to be gettin' on WI my story.
Liz ere had no eyes for me when Jem
wor about, and l got Jealous. All the
old friendship tween me and Jem wor
gone on my side and l began to hate
| i'm. The crisis came one night when
meets Liz acOmin' back from the tun-
mel, which wor then bein' bored. l
wor on day duty, and Jem wor workin'
at nights, cause then we worked day
and night in shifts. She had ia en- him
down some supper, and l could see
how things wor goin'. So / up and
tells her Of me love, and axes her to
marry me. Liz treated me better an
thowt she would have; she just says,
Bill, don't dislike We. but like Jem
better, and I've promised i'm l wor
furious-thee'st remember 1t, dessay,
Liz-.but she jurst turns on 'er heel
and walks off, sayin' as when the
drink wor in the wit wor out! l had
had drink, thee know'st. l went down
to the tunnel and meets Jem a-cOmin'
out WI truck O. muck-we call earth
muck, thee knowst. l dinna let him
see that l wor angry, so l just jokes
WI him like. AS l wor goin' through
the tunnel a thowt struck me; If wor
just to come up behind Jem, and gle
I'm a push in front of the truck, it
would perhaps lame i'm, and then per-
haps Liz would ma be bothered WI a
lame chap. l left the tunnel and went
ONE. but dinna sleep that ere night.
Next day l took Jem's place driving.
and 'twere then l worked out my
plans. Thee know'st there be tlmbers,
called side trees, on each side to sup
port the roof O the tunnel till the
brickies take the work In hand, and
thowt as how, If l wor to hide in one
Of them just in the darkest place, and
when Jem comes Oh just put out my
and and gle him push, 1t would do
| all l wanted. l shanna forget that ere
day! The idea growed ON me, and
when left work, made up my mind
to do It. So l walks down about nine
o'clock the same night, and just as l
reached the open cutting l heered Jem
wish Liz goodnight. l wor fair mad
WI Jealousy. l had murder In my art.
Keepin' out O. sight O Liz, l creeps
down just in time to see Jem take the
horses back into the tunnel to bring a
load o muck up. l creeps down in
the darkest part, and past the shed
where Bob Dalton wor pumpin' air
into the tunnel, wi'out bein' seen.
know'd every inch O. the place, and
'ad made up my mind where to hide.