St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-02-17
a CONVERTED
ANARCHIST
IOriginal.J

TO good FAMILY ana nad Doen Wen eu-
| ucated At college | imbibed revolu-
I tionary, not to say communistlc, doc
| trines which Influenced me, but not Sc
| riously until on coming out of the uni
versity lost my father and the assist
ance he had given me; then, facing the
| world with no means, I was drawn to
embrace anarchism There was no ex-
| cuse for me. l was young, and the
world was before me. [ was one of
| the impra ctical, theorizing kind who
| prefer trying to revolutionize natural
laws rather than work. Added to this,
| I had the faculty of inspiring others.
1 joined a band of anarchists and be-
came a leader among them.
s'My mother had a brother of whom I
had never heard. He was considered
the black sheep Of the family and was
never spoken of to me, the only child
of his only sister. He had run away,
as boy and had broken his mothers
heart by never writing line. Up to
the time I became an anarchist he had
never been heard from. Judge of my
surprise one day to learn through so
licitors that this uncle had died in
South America and left a fortune of
$S50,OOO to me.
'sHow quickly my theories of the
worlds wrongs vanished! I did not
dare to break my connection with an
archists, but gradually ceased to attend
meetings. One day I was Mortified at
receiving an order to assassinate one
of the crowned heads of Europe. L
knew well that should refuse [ would
be myself assassinated. One advan-
tage I would have in disobeying the
order-I was rich and could isolate my
self from any one who might attempt
to kill me- I turned my fortune into
gold and disappeared. A few weeks
later turned up in one of the south
ern states. My hair, which had been
a light brown, was black. My beard,
which had been but a few tufts, was
now luxuriant. My name was changed.
Indeed, as little of my old self re-
manned as 1 could help. I bought
small plantation and pretended to raise
cotton. In it's center was my house,
and no one could reach me without
passing number of my employees,
whose duty it was to keep off an en-
envy.
81 lived for several years without
hearing from my old associates, but
this only assured me that at the out
set had eluded them. I knew that
had been condemned and some one had
been appointed to kill me. The only
question was, Would my executioner
tire of the work or be withdrawn for
lack of funds or other causes?
zone day noticed that new candy
store had been opened in the village.
went inside and looked over the stock.
It was very meager, and bought moth
ing. A young woman who stood be-
hind the counter looked disappointed
and asked me to give an order for any
thing liked and she would execute it.
I am fond of chocolate and told her to
make me some chocolate creams. She
promised to have them ready the next
day and send them to me. Instead of
sending she brought them. When she
was announced I told my guards to
admit her. She was very attractive
looking person, and 1 did not desire
to keep her away. She asked me to
try her chocolates and tell her wherein
they did not please me. ate a few of
them and pronounced them excellent.
That seemed to satisfy her, and she
left at once, though would have been
glad to have her remain longer
'In a week I went by the candy shop,
stopped and gave her an order for some
more chocolates. She told me that she
knew of a new kind that she was sure
had never eaten. I gave her an or
der for some of them, telling her that
l would not put her to the trouble of
sending them, but would call for them.
/ did so, but they were not ready. /
called again, but still they had not been
made. The woman told me that GER
tain ingredients were required, for
which she had been obliged to send to
the city. She would bring them when
they were ready.
Meanwhile 1 never relaxed my vigi-
lance in keeping any suspicious per-
son from my house, and both there and
when 1 went out was secretly armed
ito the teeth
Zone day the candy woman was an
| nounced, and I ordered her to be ad-
| mitted. She handed me the box of
| chocolates, and while L tried them she
| amused herself with an Italian grey
| hound l had always with me. The dog
| was lying ON a rug at the other end of
| the room, and she went over to him
| and patted Kim. On opening the box
I found the chocolates in layers of
| four large, fat squares. ate two and
| found them delicious. The third I
| threw to the dog, who caught it in his
teeth and swallowed it. I noticed that
| the woman turned pale. I was about
| to eat the fourth when I saw the dog
| looking at it longingly. I tossed it to
| him. AS | did SO the woman gave a
shrek The dog caught it, as before.
| There was an explosion, and his head
| was spattered over the room.
s'The secret was out. The woman had
been commissioned to murder mel She
was knocked senseless by the explosion.
[ was unhurt."
| An arrangement was made between
| the ex-anarchist and the woman. She
| yVr0fn that SI1n ha6 killed how