Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1905-05-04

J his own hand sent to testif.
; against him, for the bell had beer
+ rung and the engineer coul'
swear that he had lowered no op'
save the dead man and Alber
Rauen into the mine that day. NJ
one had remained in the mine over
night; for he swore he had draw
up every soul who was in it the da.
before. The dead man could moi
have rung the bell, therefore AL
bert Rauen must have rung it
The dead man had been killed by
another hand than his own; the
nature and condition of his wounds
proved that fact conclusively. Al
bert Rauen was the only man be
sides himself in the mine; hence
Albert Rauen must have been the
guilty one. Thus reasoned the
prosecution when Rauen was tried
for his life, and the defense had
rebutted this evidence by show
ing. by evidence of credible wit
nesses, that there was another
means of entrance into the mine
besides the main shaft, and that it
was possible for q man to descend
into the mine by this route with
out the knowledge of the engineer.
That entrance was through the
air shaft, which was at distance
of two miles from the main shaft,
and was descended by stairs. 1t
was never used by the miners, and
was only provided in compliance
with the mine ventilation law as
a way of escape should the main
shaft from any cause become inn
passable, as was the case at Avon
dale, where so many brave miners
persisted like rats in trap.
Although the defense proved
that it was possible for a person
to have thus entered the mine, they
could not prove that such had been
the fact, and therefore it was that
Albert Rauen was found guilty OF
the awful crime of murder. His
bIood-stained coat, and excited.
frightened manner had aided i'll
convicting him. His case was in
deed a sad one, for he had been
but recently married, and a long
and happy life seemed before him
Now we return to his prison
cell.
Albert Rauen held the vial OF
prussic acid to his lips, and again
for an instant paused. That pause
saved him from drinking the poi
son, for he heard footsteps in the
corridor outside his cell, and a
voice which was to him the dearest
in all the world--the voice OF his
wife. In moment he thrust the
vial into his pocket and flew to the
door, which was presently opened,
and his wife came into the cell.
, The imperiled man and the WON
an he loved were for a moment
. cIasped in each others arms in a
fervent embrace, and the tears
streamed down the cheeks of the
fair young girl as she gazed upon
the face of him whom she knew she
| should see no more on earth.
"Albert! Albertw she ex-
claimed. "Oh, my darling, my dar
ling. how can we part? How can
l give you up?"
He kissed her pale face and
strove to seem calm. In the mo-
mentary excitement of her arrival
he had not observed that the vial
of poison had fallen from his
pocket upon the floor, but his wife
saw it and picked it up. She read
the label "Prussic acid" and
then she looked upon her doomed
husband with a sOrrOwful, re
proachful glance. She under
stood it all, and without word
she placed the vial upon the floor,
and crushed it beneath her heel
into thousand fragments.
Glow could You contemplate
such a sin? Oh, Albert, | prayed
all last night that you might be
saved, and some way, when morn
ing came, peaceful calm came to
my heart; and, oh! Albert, it
seemed to me just as though my
prayer was answered"
''NO, dear, nothing can save me
now! Tomorrow is the dayw
When the time came for these
two loving hearts to part, even the
stony-hearted jailer was moved,
! 81 no f,ruuod auyoU fO bida tha