The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1910-08-27


;4eel - scotching rays, hear the: htss-
Ing Of tho waves. All the mans
. strength for good, for Ill, went into
the story. The isle became az the pit
Of Acheron. : 4 : ~. ~
when the man woke" he had said,
che cursed the sea for bringing him, al
he thought. nothing. One desire tor
mented him. It became 1ntolerable.
Day after day he went down to the
ocean. but the surf only leaped In de
rision. For the thousandth time he
cursed it, the isle to which he was
bound. Weeks passed, until, almost
mad through the monotony Of the long
hours, one day he inadvertently pick
ed up book. The brute convict could
just read. Where, how he ever learn
ed, forget He began to pick out the
words. After that
Through the long months, the long
years, the man had fought for knowl-
edge as he had always fought for any
thing-with all his strength, passion,
energy.
''1ncredible! BY Jover' She heard
Sir Charles voice, awed and admiring.
II am glad to have had your conf
dence and-and-tell me, how did you
happen to light on the law for}special
study and preparationr,
you forget that about half your su.
perb library was law books, Sir
Charles. A most comprehensive col.
lect1on!'
1.-THE law-the ramihcations it Gre
ates tor the many, the attendant re-
etraints for the individual-I confess
interested mo. You can imagine Z per.
sonal reason or-an abstract one.
From the lonely perspective Of q tiny
coral isle, a system or systems-co codes
Of conduct or morals built up for the
warming millions, 30 to speak-could
not but possess fascination for one to
whom those millions had become only
as the faraway shadows Of dream"
"As boyy' John Steele repeated the
words almost mechanically. my par
ents died when I was a child. They
came Of good stock-New England"
He uttered the last part Of the SEN
tence acknowledgement, II was
bound out, was beaten. fought, ran
away. In lumber camps, the drunken
rintraff cursed tho new scrub boy, on
the Mississippi the sailors and steve
dores kicked him because the mate
kicked them. Everywhere It was the
same. The boy learned only one thing
to fight. Fight or be beaten!
I'm a worldly sense prospered
after I was rescued-in New Zealand,
in; Tasmania. Fate, as II to atone for
having delayed her favors, now lavish
ed them freely. Work became easy.
A mine or two that I. was lucky
enough to locate yielded and continues
, to yield unexpected returns.'
"And then, having fairly, through
your own efforts. won place in the
world. having conquered fortune, why
did you return to England knowing
the risk that some one Of these fea-
lows like Gillett, the police agent,
might ;. =.
"why," said John Steele. because
wished to sift,4 to get to the very
bottom Of, this crime for which I was
convicted. For all real wrongdoing,
resisting officers of the law, ofEenses
against ohlcialdom, l had paid the
) penalty in FULL, / believe. But this
other matter-that was different. It
weighed on me through those years
on the island and afterward. 4 jury
had convicted me wrongfully. But
I had to prove it, to satisfy myself. to
find out beyond any shadow Of q
doubt, and
~'He did" For the first time Captain
Forsythe spoke. 'steele has In his
possession full proofs Of his innocence,
and have seen them. They go to
show that he suffered through the cow.
ardice Of miserable cad, a titled
scoundrel who struck his hand from
the gunwale Of the boat when the
Lord Nelson went down. Yes, you
told that story in your fevered ram
blings, Steele"
"Forsythe''-the others voice srane
out warningly-"didn't tell you the
part he played was to be forgotten un'
less'-
CALL right; have your way" grudg
ingly.
"A titled scoundrel! There was only
one person of rank on the Lord Nelson
besides myself, and Forsythe"-the
old nobleman's voice called out sharp
ly-"you have said too much or too lit
tle."
John Steele made a gesture. IT have
given my word not to-
but I haven't!" said Captain For
! sythe. '"The confession I procured
and what l subsequently learned LED
me directly to- Here Is the tale, Sh
Charles"
1t was over at last. They were gone
Sir Charles and Captain Forsythe
Their hand clasps still fingered in his
For few moments now John Steele
remained motionless, listening to theil
departing footsteps, then turned ant
gazed around him.
Never had his rooms appeared NOR.