The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1908-02-24

| 1Adhy q ~ passing ny IL 0O0 .
acre" looks over the fence. sees this
inscription and wonders what it means.
There are but two who know, Susie
In eaven and 1 on earth-I, who keep
the grave green and rain the flowers
growing over it; 1. the dea she touch
ed and to whom she impaired life.
When l asked Of the others of our
family that l might place a headstone
over Susie's grave they assented, know
ing the influence she had had over me.
When they saw the inscription l had
placed on it they wondered. No one
asked me what it meant, leaving it for
me to tell. But 1 never old
AS a boy 1 was wild and untamable
from the day when Susie. two years
my senior, took mt by the hand and
led me to school. 1 had brothers Inc
other sisters, but none Of them would
mother trust me with save Susie-Su-
sic, all g~entleness and amiability. When
l was in a fit of passion and the others
only goaded me by their disappearing
words Susie would put her arms about
me; l would burst into tears and prom
Use her never to De bad again. Had 1
been left solely to her influence 1 might
have passed the dangerous age in safe
ty. But this could not be. My father
was a stern man and believed that to
humor me would ruin me. He little
knew hat to punish me would ruin
me. His influence upon me was di-
rectly contrary to that Of Susie. When
l was fourteen he thrashed me unmer-
cifully. and l ran away.
This was the last l saw Of my fam
dence several times from one town to
another, while all towns were my resi-
dence. There was in me a certain rest
lessnes that prevented my working
at any n thing for long. 1 was made
for adventure. If when I ran away
from home l had been DID enough l
would have enlisted for a soldier, and
in that field 1 might have found some
thing c~ongenial. But by the time l
had come to b enlistment age 1 was
not fitted for anything honest, and
when l was twenty l was a burglar.
For a year l piled my vocation with.
u being caught. / shall never be
caught now. for I shall never commit
another burglary.
The end of my hazardous and dishon-
est work came in this wise: One night
1 entered a house standing by itself, so
that | was in no danger from neigh
bors. l noticed ON the doorknob some
white flowers. What they meant 1 did
not know. l had never seen anything
but Grape used to mark the presence of
the dead. 1t was summer, when flow
ers are abundant, and 1 supposed these
had been thrown over the doorknob as
the most convenient place to hang
them. Having gained an entrance, l
went through the hall to the kitchen,
then into the dining room, where l
looked into the sideboard, hoping to
find the silver. Not finding any, l went
into the parlor.
There was a light, turned low, in the
hall on the ground floor, and 1 worked
by this alone, carrying my dark Ian
tern under my shirt. Turning out the
hall light, I crept upstairs, to find an
other light in the hall above. This, aft
err determining the position Of b doors,
l turned out also, then entered a rear
bedroom. Finding nothing of value
there, l passed through In open door
to an adjoining ROOM, in which there
was not a ray of light. Walking very
slowly, with my hands before me for
protection, l came in the center of the
room against what l thought to be q
table. Feeling my way around it, /
discovered hat it was too narrow for
a table, being only about two feet wide,
though it was more han five feet long.
Besides, it was much deeper than the
body of any ordinary table eve with a
drawer in it, and underneath there
were but two supports, one at each
end. Puzzle to know what it was. l
drew my dark lantern.
/ started back in horror. The light
fell on an oval space filled with glass,
underneath which was the ashen face
Of a corpse. But my horror was turn
ed to that which was ten thousand times
more than horror at recognizing the
features of my sister Susie.
How i got out of the house without
waking the family 1 do not know. l
only remember that l found myself IN
the street, or, rather. the road, on the
verge of insanity. Nor do I remember
how l passed the time between my
exit and the mex afternoon, when i
suddenly awoke as from a trance and
found myself in front Of the house 1
had intended to rob. A hearse was
standing before the door.
Entering the house. I met one of my
brothers in the hall, and with him
went to my mother. My coming was q
ray of light in the darkness of death
Father. mother. brothers. sisters, gath
cred round me as II 1 a come back
Rronn tho doad From the day of NV