Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1910-10-26

on.a 4. ~. .,,,,
S 80 >'' 'e.
D.. I AA.n>..H
III AM broken man. When killed
my wife. my interest IN lie ceased.
! do not reproach myself now LOT
ending my wife's suherings IN the way
did took the hardest part, for the
memory of her passing away Is always
with me. Now that am barring my
soul to the world, may perhaps nno
peace. have tried everything eise'
and have yet to find 1t.
Fanny was my child-wlfe. sne was
the daughter OF my pest 1riend' ana :
mad watcned her ana loved her irom
ner cradle days, ana "hen niarliea
ner l combined the ioVe Ior chiio
Win tne love 1or wire.
AT the time Oh our Tragedy we were
ABOUT lzo mics from oaieary' eno
neares. lnnaDltea place. ana were ap-
proachlns tne widest sectioh VI our
Journey. we mad been ridlng tor 1our
hours WITHOUT oreak' pecause want
cd 10 compiete our trip as SON as
possible. rahhy was le" ieee anes ''
Oh me- ana tne pacK'"uie prousn. up
the rear.
We were both browsing IN tne saadie'
more or less overcome with fatigue
and the intense heat from winch the
heavy woods AFFORDED us little prctec-
ton, when suddenly was aroused py
cry and, looking up, saw f'anny's
mule rearing on his mind legs.
thought that he had ben stung py a
hornet, and hurried toward him. Be
fore had advanced yard, the brute
toppled over the edge OF the preclplce
which yaWned, and disappeared.
came upon the dead mule first. A
few feet away found the shapeless
form of my wife-every bone in her
body broken. Her head and face were
not badly injured. She had fallen
1000 feet. I pressed my canteen to
her lips, and the brandy and water 1t
contained brought her back to con"
seriousness.
"Jim," she moaned, 'if you love me,
end my agony!"
l put my head in my hands and
groaned. knew that 1t would take
me ten days to bring help from Cal.
gary, and believed that poor Fanny
could not survive az many hours.
heard the bowling of the wolves. and
the horrible truth that If left her to
summon help the beasts would make
short work of her came to me so clear.
ly that l at once banished the idea.
stood by and watched the woman
loved better than anything else in the
world suffering the tortures OF the
damned with not single chance of
recovery.
Every now and again, Fanny would
lapse into unconsciousness, and dur
ing these periods would walk up and
down, wondering what course to pur
sue. Should kill my wife? felt
that to accede to her request would
be murder In the eyes of men. But
that did not worry me. was willing
to commit murder to end her terrible
sufferings. But was there the faint
est chance of saving her? That was
the great point upon which the whole
| thing hinged.
Again she opened her eyes. You
are coward, JIM" she said, "or you
would kill me. You know haven't
a chance to live and may suffer this
torture for many hours"
But, Fanny" groaned, Il can't
kill you. Some one may come along
and we could get you to help"
TITS ten days to Calgary. What
chance have for living that ten
days?" she asked. IT can't live, any
way. am all broken inside of me-
You are coward"
For five hours this went on. Alter.
nately there were spells of conscious.
ness in which my wife moaned and
shrieked with pain and reviled me aa
a coward, and then came unconscious.
ness, during which saw that pain
still persisted.
At the sixth hour could endure 1t
no longer. kissed her good-by. l
took my pistol and pressed the mug
gle Of 1t against her head. She closed
her eyes and said .'fire," but 1 had not
strength enough to press the trigger
and my arm dropped to my side.
ooh, you coward, you coward" she
cried.
walked away that might think 1t
out all over again. The same prob.
lens presented themselves to me, and
could see only the one answer. Death
alone could end my wife's tortures.