Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1910-01-13


my voice-I am not murderer"
Terrified at his violence. Mantel
pushed him farther back into the door
waly; but he sprang out again as II
his very life depended upon the sight
of the great white face.
BE quiet!" Mantel cried. selling his
arm with an iron grip.
Look at this hand, Mantel! I have
not looked at It myself for more than
three years without seeing spots of
blood on It! And now 1t looks as white
as snow to met"
You are In danger of being over
heard, and If you are not careful, In q
moment more we shall be in the hands
of the police!"
mo matter If 1 am," cried David,
almost beside himself. and rapturously
embracing his friend. Nothing could
give me more pleasure than a trial for
my crime, for my victim would be my
witness! He is not dead He Is out
there in the street. Mantel, you don't
know what happiness It'll You don't
know how sweet it is to be alive A
mountain has been taken from my
shoulders. l no longer have any Sc
/
of my life. now"
Not now; but later on. when we are
alone"
David had now grown more quiet,
and they stood patiently waiting for
the time to come when the old beggar
should leave his post and retire to his
home, If home he had. At last he re-
ceived his signal for departure. A
shadow fell from the roof of the tall
building opposite, upon the pupil of an
eye, which perhaps felt the darkness ii
could not see. The building was his
dial. Like millions of his fellow crea-
lures, he measured life by advancing
shadows
He arose and in his mien and move
ments there was a certain majesty
Placing his hat upon his storm beaten
head, he folded the camp chair under
his arm, took the leading string in his
hand and followed the little dog, who
began picking his way with fine care
through the surging crowd.
Behind him at a little distance walk
ed the two gamblers, pursuing him
like double shadow. A bloodhound
could not have been more eager than
David was He trembled If an omni-
bus cut off his view for a single in
slant, and shuddered If the beggar
turned a corner.
Unconscious Of all this, the dog and
his master wended their way home
ward. They crawled slowly and quiet
ly across a street over which thunder
ed an endless procession of vehicles;
they moved like snails through the
surf of the ocean of life. Arriving at
length at the door of wretched tene-
ment house, the blind man and his dog
entered
AS he noted the squalor of the place,
David murmured to himself, Poor old
mani How low he has falleni"
Several minutes passed in silence,
while he stood rejecting on the doc
tors misery, his own new happiness
and the opportunities and duties which |
the adventure had opened and i'm
posed At last he said to his friend, |
DO you know where we are? 1 was
so absorbed that 1 didn't notice our |
route at ALL"
Yes" Mantel answered 'I have
marked every turn of the way"
Gould you find the place again2"
without the slightest difficulty"
BE sure, for if you wish to help me,
as 1 think you do, you will have to
come often. l have made my plans in
the few moments in which have been
standing here, and am determined to
devote my life, If need be- to this poor
creature whom 1 have so wronged
must get him out of this filthy hole in
to some cheerful place. l will atone
for the past If 1 can Atone! What a
word that Is! With what stunning
force it's meaning dawns upon mel
How many times have heard and ut
tered it without comprehension. But
somehow / now see in 1t a revelation
Of the sweetest possibility Of life Obi
| am a changed man; will make
atonement! Come, let us go. am
anxious to begin. But no, : must pro-
ceed with caution. How do l know
that this is his permanent home? He
may be only lodging for the night, and
when you come tomorrow, he may be
gonei Go in, Mantel, and make sure
that we shall find him here to-mor-
row. Go, and while you find out all
YOU can about him, Will begin to
search for such a place as want to
|
present; but when we meet tonight
we shall have much to talk about
will tell you the whole OF this long and
bitter story. I am so happy, Mantel
You can't understand I have some
thing to live for now. I will work, oh,
you do not know how 1 will work to
make this atonement. What a word 1t
sl It is music to my ears. Atone
nent!"
And so In the lexicon of human ex-
he had at last discovered the
meaning Of one Of the great words OF
our language. After all, experience is
he only exhaustive dictionary. and the
definitions It contains are the only
1nes which really burn themselves in
20 the mind or fully interpret the sig
1ificances of life.
CHAPTER XVII
The next few weeks were passed in
devoted efforts to make the blind man