Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-02

and there were arms around me. After
ward sat down. A very old judges voice
said something rather kindly, / thought. I
knew it was the very old Judge, because he
was called the stan.of Cuban law. In a
minute Carlos and Castro would come.
or was 1t O'Brfen who would come?
No, OBrfen was dead: stabbed with a
knife in his neck; the blood was still sticky
between my first and second fingers. 1
could feel it. 1 ought to have been allowed
to wash my hands before / was tried; or
was 1T before | spoke to the admiral? One
would not speak to a man with hands like
that.
A loud, high-pitched voice called from up
in the air, II will give any of you gentle
men of the robe down there fifty pounds to
conduct the remainder of the case for him.
l am the prisoners father
The barrister, whose face was like the
devils under his wig, held in his hands the
Stowell; my father was talking to him
from the bench. He nodded to my father,
and began grotesque, nasal drawl:
M luds, l will conduct the case for the
prisoner, II your lordshps will bear with
me little. He obviously can't call his own
witnesses. If he has been trea tied as he
says, it has been one of the most aboml-
nable 49,
Old Lord Stowell said Chit chit, Mr.
Walker; you know you must not make a
speech for the prisoner. Call your witness.
1t is all that is needed
l wondered what he meant by that The
barrister was calling a man of the name of
Williams. l seemed to know the name
seemed to know the man. too.
owen Williams, master of the ship Lion.
Coffee and dye-wood. = Just
come in under the jury-rg. Had been dis
masted and afterward becalmed Heard of
this trial from the pilot in Gravesend. Had
taken poSt-chaiSeS -
l only heard snatches of his answers.
On the 10Th of August last 1 was close
in with the Cuban coast The mate
fnr lny,
Afterward a heavy fog. They
boarded us in many boats. ) =" lie
was giving all the old evidence over again,
fastening another stone around my neck
But suddenly he said, This gentleman
came alongside in a leaky dngey. A dead
shot He saved all our lives"
His bullet-head, the stare of his round
blue eyes seemed to draw me out of n
delirium. l called out:
Williams. for Gods sake, Williams,
where is Seraphina? Did she come with
your There was an immense roaring in
my head, and the ushers were shouting
SILENCE! Silence!" / called out again.
Williams smiling idiotically; then he
shook his head and put his finger TO his
mouth to warn me to keep silence. 1 only
noted the snake of the head Seraphina
had not come. The Havana people must
have taken her. 1t was all over with me.
The roaring noise made me think that
was on a beach by the sea, with he SNUG
glers. perhaps, at night down IN kent
like the silence of a grave. Then some
one began to speak in mea s,rnl porter
tous Spanish, that seemed a memory Of the
past
''!. the ambassador of his Catholic ma
jAsty. being here upon my honor and on
my Ga TIL demand the re-Surrendcr of this
gentleman whose courage equals ms IN
nocence. Documents which have lust
reached my hands establish clearly the
mistake of which he is the victim. The
functionary who is called Alcayde of toe
carcel at Havana confused the men. he
true Nikola ell Escoces murdered the Judge
whose place it was to Identify l demand
that the prisoner be set at liberty. ~
A long time after a harsh voice said:
Your excelency, we retire, of course,
from the prosecution
A different one directed
Gentlemen of the jury, you will return
a verdict of Not guilty. ="
Down below they were cheering uproar-
iously because my life was saved. But 1t
was that | had to ia my saved life. 1
sat there, my head bowed into my hands.
The old judge was speaking to me in a tone
of lofty compa ssion
You have suffered much. as it seems.
but suffering is the lot of us men. Rejoice
now that your character is cleared; that
here in TINS public place you have received
the verdict of your countrymen that re-
stores you to the liberties of our country
and the affection of your kindred. l re-
joice with you who am a very old man, at
the end of my life Z" = ="
1t was rather tremendous, his deep voice,
his weighted words Suffering is the lot of
us men! The formidable legal ar
ray, the great powers of a nation, had
stood up to teach me that and they had
taught me that-suffering is the lot of us
men. az
1t takes long enough to realize that some
one is dead at a distance. l had done that
But how long, how long it needs to know
that the life of your heart has come back
from the dead. For years afterward
could not bear to have her out of my sight
Of our first meeting in London all l re-
member is a speechlessness that was the
awed hesitation of overtried souls. The
whole world, the whole of life, with her re-
turn. had changed all around me; it en-
veloped me. 1t EMBODIED me so lightly as
not to be felt. SO suddenly as not to be
believed in.
For suffering is the lot of man. but not
inevitable failure or worthless despair
which is without end-suffering the mark
of manhood, which bears within it's pain
hope of felicity like jewel set in iron.
Her first words were:
You broke our compact Yen went
away from me whilst l was sleeping'
Only the deepness of her reproach revealed
the depth of her love. and the suffering
she, too, had endured to reach union
that was to be without end-and to for
give.
And, looking back, we see Romance-that
subtle thing that is mirage-that is life. 1t
is the goodness of the years we have lived
through of the old time when we did this
or that. when we dwelt here or there.
Looking back, it seems wonderful enough
thing that l who am this and she who
is that commencing so far away life
that, after such sufferngs borne together
and apart, ended so TRANQUILITY there in a
world SO subtle-that she and / should
have passed through so much, good chance
and evil chance sad hours and joyful all
lived down and swept away into the little
heap of dust that is life. That, too. is
Romance.
The End