Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-12

In
l saw his appeal
ing face l had seen it in the pathetic reality,
pressed against the window bars, with the red hell
glowing behind him,-a face which seemed to say
to me, If you had not give me the matches, this
would not have happened; you are responsible Tor
my DEATH" l not responsible for it; for L had
meant him no HARM but only good, when L let
him have the matches; but no matter mine was a
trained Presbyterian conscience, and knew but the
duty-to hunt and harry its slave upon all pre-
texts and on all occasions particularly when there
was no sense or reason in it. The tramp-who was
to blame suffered ten minutes; l, who was not to
blame, suffered three months.
The shooting down of poor old Smarr in the main
street [See Adventures of Huckeberry Finn ] at
monday supplied me with some more dreams; and
IN them l always saw again the grotesque closing
picture,-the great family Bible spread open on the
profane old mans breast by thoughtful idiot
and rising and sinking the labored breathngs and
adding the torture of its eaden weight to the dying
of gaping and sympathetic onlookers there was not
one with commonsense enough to perceive that an
anvil would have been in better taste there than the
Bible, less open to sarcastic criticism, and sw1fter
IN its atrocious work. In my Nightmares l gasped
and struggled for breath under the crush of that
vast book for many night.
two three other tragedies and had the i'll luck
to be too nearby ON each occasion. There was the
slave man who was struck down with a chunk OF
Stag for some small offense saw him die. And the
young California emigrant who was stabbed with
bowie knife by drunken comrade: saw the red
life gush from his breast And the case OF the rowdy
of them held the old man down with his knees
his breast while the other tried repeatedly to
kill him with Allen revolver which wouldn't go
off. l happened along just then, of course.
Then there the of the young California
emgrant who got drunk and proposed to raid the
'Welshman's house" all alone dark and threat
ening night used in "Huck Finn, | think)
This house stood halfway up Holidays Hill e. Car
diff" HID and its sole occupants were poor but
quite respectable widow and her young and blame
less daughter The invading ruffian woke the whole
village with his ribad yes and coarse challenges
and obscenties. l went up there with comrade-
John Briggs, think-to look and listen. The figure
of the dimly visible; the women were
their porch, but not visible in the deep shadow of
its roof; but we heard the elder woman's voice.
She had loaded an old musket with sugs, and she
warned the that if he stayed where he
while she counted ten it would cost him his life
She began to count slowly; he began to laugh. He
stopped laughing at six; then through the deep
Stiffness steady voice, followed the rest of the
tale: seven-eight- "a long pause,
holding breath-"ten!" A red spout of flame
gushed out into the night and the dropped.
with his breast riddled to rags.
Then the rain and the thunder burst loose, and
the waiting town swarmed the hill in the glare of
the lightning like invasion of ants. Those people
the rest had had my share and was satisfied.
/ went home to dream-and not disappointed
MY teaching and training enabled me to see deeper
A'A into these tragedies than ignorant person
could have done | knew what they were for. |
tried to disguise it from myself; but down in the
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