Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-08-05
A Hand In the Dark.
TOriginal.1

sisters l would have got on well
enough. l was young and strong and
perfectly willing to work. But they
must live. Mother was too old to dc
anything for herself, and, as to MY sis
tiers, it was before the admission to
the various fields which are now open
to women. l secured an agency for
the sale OF sewing machines. One day
l went home and found the family all
being turned out of the little cottage to
which we had been reduced for non
payment of rent. had sold that day
machine for which l had collected
the money. paid the rent with it.
There are cases where the penalty
for dishonesty seems very harsh. That
l had appropriated the sewing ma
chine funds soon became known to my
employers. was given twenty-four
hours to make good the deficiency or
submit to arrest There was no way
in the world to save myself OF a
naturally sensitive disposition, to go
behind bars was more than could en-
dure. | resolved on suicide
owned a revolver which had pur-
chased in the halcyon days. l had a
few cents necessary to buy cartridges
Following a plan usual to suicides for
the purpose of lessening as much as
possible the shock to those who love
them, went to hotel, registered and
asked for a room. The hour was for
o'clock in the evening, but it was
in December and as dark as midnight.
The clerk assigned me to room, and
l was shown to it by bell boy 1t
was in a wing of the hotel at the end
of a dimly lighted hall. My conductor
found the door unlocked and opened it. !
entered and shut the door behind me-
was In absolute darkness, which was
what l preferred-that is, if a man
about to die has any preferences.
My knee rubbed against a chair.
took hold Of it and sat down with my
face to it's back, and dropped my head
on my hands. My mind of course was
on my misfortunes. Had l not been
suffering from a partial temporary in
sanity might have seen the folly of
my course 1t would have been better
for me to disappear. Then l might
still be Of use to my mother and sis
tiers. This did not occur to me. My
mind had become saturated with one
subject-arrest, handouts, prison bars
am believer in the power of purely
temporary physical conditions to force
one into crime. and such condition
suffered from.
Presently Strengthened up, put my
hand to a hip pocket and took out my
revolver. There was 10 necessity for
light. l could Go what.l intended
through the sense of touch Indeed,
did not care, as some suicides have
done, to shoot myself standing before
a mirror. l dreaded to see the hor:
rible expression that was on my face
I slowly raised the revolver. my finger
on the trigger, intending to place the
muzzle against my temple. Just as
felt the cold steel a hand grasped my
wrist
Doubtless nothing could have oc-
CURED better calculated to bring me
to my senses. The spell in which my
mind had been caught was suddenly
broken. Surprise was the first sensa-
ton, curiosity the second Neither had
anything to do with the monomania
that had possessed me. l had sud-
denly been transferred into a free
thinking man. l noticed first that the
hand about my wrist was small and
soft. 1t must be a woman's. But
what was woman doing in that room,
and how did she know that l had
raised pistol to my head? She might
have heard ME come in and sit down,
but it would have required light to de-
test noiseless motion. Not for mo-
ment did fancy that some one from
the dead had come to save me- The
hand was warm, human. and l felt
human currents passing from it's
owner to me. What has required a
whole paragraph to tell flashed
through me in an instant
"Who are your" I asked.
Zone whom God has doubtless sent
to save you from crime" came the
reply in low musical voice.
Il will strike light
"Please don't. am under the care
of an oculist. He has placed me in
darkness preparatory to an operation.
have been here all day without ray
of light entering my eyes, for, in addi-
ton to the room being darkened, my
eyes have been bandaged. Hearing
some one enter, lifted the bandage.
Having been so long in perfect dark
ness, my sight is very strong. have
seen you, though dimly, from the first
and can see you now. Hadn't better
ring for some one to take you away?"
mo; will go alone. There Is no fear
that will act as intended. You have
relieved the mental strain under which
suffered"
gave her a brief account of the
causes that had led up to my intended
suicide. She exacted promise from
= to go to her father and tell him the
Oily. including my adventure with
l2r, giving me ring as token I
left her and kept my promise. l was
given check to pay my Indebtedness,
with another for temporary require
ments. On going out discovered at
the Office that had been taken to the
wrong room.
When l saw the lady who had saved
me saw an attractive girl of twenty.
We became close friends Indeed. she
and all her family were extremely kind
to my mother and sisters. Her father
gave me desk in his counting room,