River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1905-11-02

iron poker which lay, alas! SO con.
veniently near, and strobe across the
room cursing her with the concen-
trated bitterness of his mad rage.
Let my mamma be" cried Robert.
frenzied with the scene, "let her be-
I say, or / will save heri"
But the man laughed at the child
and his feeble plea as the demoniacal
CLEAN glowed in his eyes like the
fires from hell's embers, while, with
appraised hands. he made ready to
bring down the iron poker upon the
furrowed brow of his faithful wife.
In his work-hardened hands little
Robert Gross grasped up his fathers
pistol, which lay close by on shelf,
and, pointing it toward the drunken
man, cried out a warning. "Stop!"
he called, his baby voice quiyering
with terror and all the wild love for
the mother who had sucked him at
her breast, saved him so often from
his fathers brutality, and taught him
the only lesson of love he had ever
known: "Stop!" he cried again, his
voice vibrant with the strength of the
protector; stop, or / will shoot!"
Shot His Father.
Again the fathers laugh rang out,
scornfully, CONTEMPORARY, and he
shot a glance of hatred at the child
who so determinedly approached him
with commands. He made still an
other step toward his wife, who
shra1k farther back i'm the shadows,
her appraised arms shielding her
blanched features, and made an eff
fort to bring down the deadly weapon
upon her defenseless head.
Just as his arm descended shot
rang out The baby son had come to
straight enough-even in the mad ter
ror Of that fearful moment-and had
shot straight enough to save his moth
er's life The father fell forward, the
iron poker falling from his now use
less hand as his great figure sprawled
over the white floor and his life blood
stained the boards.
Tenderly the mother and son lifted
him to the rude bed which stood in
the corner, and laid him high upon the
rough mattress. Then the neighbOrs
f1ocked in, for the nearest residents
of the adjoining farms had heard the
shot, and the news, like all evil tic
ings, soon spread.
The Fathers Confession.
Then, amid the solemn silence OF
the night, the father made his confess
sion. He related in detail the fearful
struggle which had been waged alone
there on the bleak mountain side, with
only the terror-stricken woman, the
brave little son and the drunken man,
who had meant murder, but whose plans
were so frustrated by the daring recl1-
lessness of the child.
my son was right" he gasped. HE
should have killed mel" And with one
feeble intake of his short-coming
breath, lie died.
Yet in spite Of this death-bed state
ment, which was made by man who
realized the enormity of his crimes
ere he passed away, and lived only
long enough to make a final effort to
save his son, little Robert Gross,
mere baby, is learning the bitter les
sons of life, while his tender heart is
breaking unCer the weight of his pun
ishment and the grief which has lived
with him since the tragedy. The poor
boy, who knew only the fierce love
of the mountain child. for a loving,
if rough, mother, and the cruel tyr
amy of drunken father, languiSheS
among hardened criminals in the Lee
county Jail, because there has been
no one in all this section who has
been sufficiently interested to make
an effort to give his bond, which at
most is not over $1,000. So he awaits
the laws slow course to bring him
back to his mountain home, where a
lonely and heart-brOken woman,