Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-03-13
t They meant that he should have fair
r chance for his life If anything did hap

pen.
But Sem was taken quietly, an6
without difficulty or interference, to the
prisoners place He had nothing more
serious to face than hard looks, cold
Istern-unsympathe Perhaps because
at is the unexpected which always
happens;" perhaps because those who
talk most bravely are usually towards
at heart.
But Sem did have cold welcome
a very cold welcome. There were men In
the court room whom he had befriend-
ed, who now looked at him with hate oi
ldistrust-or did not look at him at all
There were men and women who hao
known him for long years who had lei
a few days of doubt and need outweigh
all of his past which they knew. There
was little of kindness or encouragement
for him anywhere, in any face, as he
entered the room.
/ Naturally enough, he looked for GER
tain faces; naturally enough, in his ter
rible extremity, it was individual
thought and feeling which he desired
to read in the countenances before him;
NATURALLY enough, for the great crowd
as whole, he cared nothing.
The first person upon whom his eyes
rested was his wife. Elsie Barron Sem
was pale, very pale and looking even
whittier than she really was because OF
the deep mourning which she wore
She looked straight into Senns eyes as
he came up the aisle between the
crowded seats, but she gave him no
smile, no nod, no look Of recognition.
II think her naughty indifference
hurt him. l am not sure that smile,
or any other token of interest, would
not have hurt him more. Sem: said
nothing, not even to himself; let us not
try to interpret his thoughts as he
looked squarely into the eyes of the
woman who was joined to him by bonds
which could not be broken until $50
long as We both shall live" should be
thing of the past.
1t was a relief when his wife let her
veil fall between him and her beauti-
full, pale face.
| Walter Aldrich was the next one Sc
lected by the restless eyes Of Sem from
among the many in the crowd. He rose
as the prisoner nearly reached the
place to which he was being conduct
ed, and said a few quiet words Of d.
| h. r1o
as pale as Mrs. Senn's had been; he
looked at Gilbert Sem, but he spoke
no word and did not appear to see him.
Sem was given a seat. Aldrich took a
seat near him, but he turned away his
head.
Sem looked anxiously over the as
sembled throng. There were faces
which he missed. He could scarcely
realize that he should look vainly, for
evermore, for the face Of good old Don
aid Barron. Does he know? Can he
see? Is there a smile on his face, up in
heaven, for me-even for me? he
whispered to himself. But faith could
not reach high enough, imagination
was not strong enough, to. compass
task such as his agonized question had
set before his mind and soul-his
brain and heart. He only thought of
the grave and Of death and Of decay,
when he thought Of Donald Barron; he
shivered in the overheated court room,
as he thought how cold and heavy were
the clods which rested that morning
on the pulseless heart of the man
whose face he so much missed.
Gilbert Sem looked for Miss Lurline
Bannottie. There was no lady near Mrs.
Sem, though he had expected to see
the two there together. He had never
seen Lurline Bannottie's face; he had
never heard her described; he did not
know whether she was light or dark;
he scarcely knew-though he was con-
scious that he ought to-whether she
was short or tall, stout or slender
But Gilbert Sem had a belief that he
would know her, know her under any
circumstances and wherever he might
see her-this unknown woman who had
written him so strange a letter of
warning. and who must be a peculiar
sort of friend to her in whose home she
lived Sem looked eagerly, anxiously,
feverishly; there were many women
present-young and old, pretty and
plain, women who were merely curious
women who were merely Indifferent
women filled with that cruel thirst for
blood which is a remnant Of the days
when our ancestors were a disreputable
horde of prehistoric savages. But
among them all Sem did not find the
face which quite filled his ideal Of Lur-
| line Bannottie.
He found the face Of ]. B. Prier, the
eyes looking as though they were gaz-
ing deeper than the surface and read
ing his soul, and >he-he alone of all
there-he, whose accusation he had to
face and whose skill was to be made
to prove him red-handed if skill could
do it-he had a smile for him.
Another look for Miss Bannottie, who
could possibly smile at him also.
A vain search!
Miss Lurline Bannottie was sick that
day. Not very sick. Not sick enough
to need a physician. Only a headache
"a nervous headache-or something of
that sort. Only something which kept
her away from the court room, some-
thing which kept her from the side of
her dear friend Elsie Sem, something
which demanded the utmost quiet and
freedom from excitement. Not serious.
Oh, no. Not serious if she could be left
to herself, and to undisturbed repose.
A sudden shock. subpoena as a wit
ness in the case Of the State VS.. Gill
bert Senn for instance might have en-
dangered her lfe!
So Sem came to his trial without
knowing whether her welcome would
have been a Smile-Or a stare.
He came to his trial with only one
kind look-and that from the man who
had sworn vengeance upon the mur-
i