Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1905-05-04
FOUND DEAD
In THE SHAFT
By WAITER FENToN.

earnest prayers shall be offered uI
for your souls welfare said good
Father Weigh, theagedpriest, as ne
pressed the hand of q young man
who occupied The condemned cell
in WalwOrth jail.
The prisoner muttered an lndls-
tinct farewell, and then the heavy
door closed upon the retreating
form of his spiritual adviser and
the doomed man was alone. He
remained for a moment standing
close by the closed door, and then,
with a weary sigh, he crossed the
narrow cell, and sat down upon
the side of his couch.
ooh, Godl7 he cried, in voice Of
despair and anguish, must this
terrible crime be committed
must l die upon the gallows for a
crime of which am innocent? Oh,
is there no escape, no way in which
my innocence may be proved? My
Godl my God shall go mad! My
wife-my young wife-oh, just
Heaven! what will become of her?
To die, to look no more upon the
face of her whom | love, who but
two short weeks ago became my
bride! Nevermore to see this fair
earth-nevermore, nevermore"
The prisoner buried his face in
his hands, and again repeated the
words "neyermOre, nevermOre,
with a wailing. moaning mOdula-
gtion that was inexpressibly sad.
For some time he remained thus,
but finally he arose, and began to
pace the limits of his prison with
rapid, nervous strides. His head
was bowed, and his eyes fixed upon
the floor. Presently he paused as
Though he had come to some deter
lmination, or had resolved upon
some act, and again seating him
self upon the side of his cot he
drew from its cOncealment in the
side of the bedding vial. Hold
ing it up he gazed upon the label
land read aloud;
u 9Prussic acidr Is it not best
that / should meet death here
alone in my prison cell, rather than
face my public ignOminiOus doom?
A drop of this cOlOrless liquid will
end my troubles here, but what
comes after life closes? Oh, that
/ could but look beyond the veil;
that / could but know the fate OF
the soul of him who by his own act
sends his spirit into the presence
of his Maker. | hesitate, for J
cannot solve the sublime mystery
of death, and / cannot face the un
known terrors of that future to
mOrtals never revealed. To-mOr-
row am doomed to die. When the
sunlight of another day shall gild
the east, life ends for me. ON, can
not gather courage to anticipate
the few brief hours that are left
me?"
Thus the condemned man unused,
and he still held in his hand the
vial of deadly poison. He was
striving to determine upon an aw-
full act, and his features worked
nervously, while his eyes were
fixed upon the vial with fascinat-
ed gaze. What must be the con
dition Of mind of him who takes his
own life? What chaotic gloom,
what abnormal Reorganization of
the mental faculties must take
place ere man becomes a self-mur-
ederer-a suicide.
Poor Albert Rauen must at this
time have been irresponsible for
his acts; for we cannot think that
a sane maneyer becomes a suicide.
That all mankind dread death is as
true as the Old Latin proyerb,
@mors omnibus cOmmunis"-death
is common to all-and insanity
alone oyercomes this natural fear.
Suddenly the young man sprang
to his feet, and glanced wildly
about his cell, as though he feared
that he was watched, and when
satisfied that no one observed his
act, he drew the stopper from the
vial.
"IwiIl do itw he muttered. eyes,
yes, l will swallow the poison
will spare my wife and friends the
disgrace of my being hanged! God
forgive me if 1 sin and have mercy
on my soulw
He raised the vial to his lips. In
another instant he will drain the