The Washington times., 1911-01-02

L
they not apply? What had he to ex-
plate? If God was cogniZant or every
human act. he would stand before
His tribunal and declare his limo.
cence.
Forty days after sentencs was pass
ed upon him he was informed that
the court of appeals had affirmed the
sentence Of the trial court There
was nothing left now but the remote
President. One day Barton abruptly
asked the> chaplain:
Father, IL you were in the Presi-
dents place, would your conscience
permit you to sign my pardon? Ans
wer me truly as honestly as g. man
can answer. i must know"
The chaplain looked him full in the
| not sign" y
Curioysly enough. the priests ans
wer almost soothed him. Doubt was
dure. He dared not prepare himself
for death, fearing that Ill fortune
might befall him. By imagining him
self already dead, he hoped to escape
the terror of awakening.
Still, as the fatal day drew near,
his sleep was troubled with night
mares. Night after night he would
staDt and sit up in his bed at the
slightest noise, place his ear against
the wall and try to guess what was
Al khS SlISCl. " ACh do5
light came and he was quite sure
that this was not the day, he slept a
few fitful hours.
Toward the end of the forty-third
night he thought he heard a distant
rumbling, sound of hammering ana
the tread of many feet His teeth
chattered. He did not dare to listen.
His eyes were riveted on the door OF
his cell, expecting the awful moment
when IT would open for the last time.
He gazed stupidity at the men who
entered. One Of them asked:
do you wish to hear mass?"
He assented mechanically. During
crevice between two stones and won
dered II the knife would be as thick as
the crevice was wide. He was aston
ished to find that he was still alive.
II was time to dress now. He had
world. He hardly trembled when his
hands were tied behind his back. A
cigarette was offered him; likewise a
glass of brandy. He declined both.
Suddenly his horizon; for nearly Ave
marvelously. chill blast struck his
shoulders; an awful silence assailed
his ears; a silence so deep, so form
idable, that be could hear his heart
beat like a bell. His dream had come
true. Above the priest he saw the
guillotine.
Behind the house a pearly simmer.
tinged with red, suffused the sky. His
eyes drank in the sight for the last
time. He stepped forward, assisted
by the guards. The priest murmured:
May God have mercy on YOU"
The warden Of the prison asked I:
Have you any last statement to
maker
Collecting all his strength. he cried:
He glanced wildly from side TO side.
Suddenly, in spite OF the guards. in spite
of his shackles, he leaped back. and
gave a suerhuman shrek:
| There, There! There"
/ He braced himself with all his might
| to resist the efforts which were made to
hold him. He scpeamed again and
| again:
There! There"
His appeal was so furious and 80
heartrending that the guards themselves
| hesitated. The priest had followed his
gaze, and from the crowd clamor
| welled up.
A gendarme, standing at attention,
fell backward. Two men and a woman
tried to lose themselves in the mob
which had broken through the Gordon OF
| policemen drawn about the open square.
Arrest them! The murderers! There!
! There!"
The two men! The girl! Arrest them!
/ Arrest themr"
! Twenty hands seized them. One OF
the men drew a knife. The girl
screamed. The priest ran to Barton.
! took him in his arms, and beseeched the
| warden:
I'm heavens name. do not touch this
! man.!
Barton stood still. Great tears stream,
ed down his wan face. The chief oi
police said to the warden: r.-
! Il refuse to hold myself responsible
onNthino that hpnnan The
! execution cannot take place now.
crowd. There will be riot"
| The warden gave the order to take the
condemned man back.
How strange Is the mind of the crowd
A few minutes before the mob had
yelled in derision as Barton was led
! forth to die. Now 1t was ready to de-
| fend him.
What had happened was this: In the
first row of the multitude Barton had
recognized the two men and the woman
whom he had seen on the night of the
| crime. Their features were so indeli-
| bly, stamped on his memory that he
could never forget them. He had seen
the red hair of the woman, the twisted
mouth of the little man and the SCARED
| face OF the taller man. A sinister curl
osity had prompted them to see the
execution OF the man who was to pay
the penalty for their deed.
"neU lIlSy we're liC lulCc dt
| first denied everything. Barton had re-
covered himself so far that he could
akive exact information. He described
| the mans wound, the conversation OF
/ the three under the gas lamp and the
| course which they took. The men and
! the woman were examined separately
| The tall man contradicted the story
of the other two in some details. The
| woman finally broke down and confess
| ed, and the men followed. 1t was the
old story of one conspirator laying the
blame on the others.
Nearly all of the stolen plate was
| found in their rooms, as well as the
knife which had cut old Fogers throat
Barton's incredible tale was confirmed
in every detail.
At the end of fortnight he was lib
When, for the first time he walked
alone and free in the street, no longer
an outcast, a hunted man, he was be-
wildered. Never had life seemed SO
rapfurously joyous to him. He wept.
| As he gazed up and saw the wind
tossed tree-tops of a green garden and
| the blue sky across which heavy, white,
fieecy clouds drifted lazily, he knew that
| life would hold no greater Joy for him
than the mere contemplation of Gods
He smiled happily, for 1t had been re-
vealed TO him, as to no other man, that
the perilous conquest of fortune and
| fame cannot be compared with the sheer
| 10y of simply living clean life in a
| beautiful world. .
(The End.)