The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-08-04

ONE CAN NEVER TELL
BY HAROLD DAv.

BE We agoin' to swear away the
life of your own son-our son, MaryF
The old mans voice Quavered ana
sunk into a whine.
I'm goin' to tell the truth 70
Piled the old woman with q weary
smile. HE threw It away himse1
and killed his brother-my baby. !
| saw him do It, and I'm goin' to ten
the truth and let him be punished.
But Toms your boy too, Mary
your Oldest" persisted the old man.
whats he evef done to show TIT
cried the woman nercely. HE struck
me-yes, struck me with his own
hand; not once, but twenty times.
Aye, and he struck you too. Nat. /
seen him do 1t more'n once. What
comfort has he ever been to US!
What pride have We in him, what
hope for bis future? No, no, Nat, We
might as well give up and call our
lives q failure. He's been bad boy.
and he's . bad man. and he's killed
his own brother, and ! won't do any
thin to save him."
But he was in Ticker when he DID
It," pleaded the old man. You know
Tom was not very bad except when
he was IN heker.' And he wasn't him.
self when he did It. And he feels as
sorry as anybody for it now. Not
the gallows! All! Mary. not the gai'
lows!" and he slipped from his chair
onto his knees and sobbed before her.
where's Peter?" demanded the
woman, drawing back her skirts.
which the ran attempted to cling
pathetically to. where's my Pete.
who never did wrong to anybody.
and who always was bullied and
licked by Tom? won't save him, l
tell you l won't"
The day Of the trial came, and the
prosecuting attorney arose, calm and
confident, as he addressed the jury.
Here was an easy case, and 1T prom
ised to be brief. He would get
quick conviction and the accompany.
ing glory and would hurry along other
cases and show dispatch of business
which would reflect great credit upon
his Office. The conviction was sure,
because the boys mother was to go
on the stand to testify against him.
It had been brutal murder, too
the killing of Peter Harter by his
brother Tom. As nearly as could be
found out be had been stabbed with.
out warning simply because he expos.
tulated with his brother for brutal
language used to the. old mother.
It would be good thing for the
community, moreover, to get rid Of
Tom Harter. He always had been q
bad egg, and menace to peaceable,
law-abiding citizens.
"This case, gentlemen. is fortunate.
ly SO plain that 1t will be necessary
to detain you but few moments. In
fact, l think one witness will deter
mine the entire matter. Let Mary
Harter be sworn"
As the woman took her seat in tho
witness box an almost imperceptible
but heart-breaking moan came from
the white lips of the old man, whose
side she left. It caught her ear, and
she turned her eyes upon him. Al
she looked, his drawn face and terror
stricken eyes faded from her sight In
q sort Of mist through which she saw
the face Of her young lover Of forty
years ago. She saw him beside her
at the altar on that day Of days when
all the future was bright and all the
sky rose-colored
And out Of the mist came the out
hines Of the cradle in which she had
rocked her frst-born-the cradle MAI
had built with his own hands.
Then she heard as In q dream thu
SNUG voice Of the prosecuting attor
ney:
Now. Mrs. Harter. tell the 1ur,
your name and relationship to the
prisoner and the victim of this brutal
murder, and in your own words tell
II you saw the deed committed and
just how 1t happened"
Turning bewildered eyes on the law
yer, the court and the jury, the wo
man gave her name and address
Then gazing straight at her husband
through tear-flled eyes. she said. with
perfect elaboration nd emphasis:
Tom and Pete had some wordi
about some money and Pete got mad
and said: "Ill kill you. you low
good-fornothin' blaggard: that's what
III do. and he struck him with ,
chair Ind drove him back into the cor
ner. Tom was tryin' 10 defend him
SELL and he saw he WAS goin' to 70,
his bead broke, and there was muir
der tn Pete's eyes. and Tom reached
out for the knife that wa On tn,
table and struck ct Pete. And 4
Killed him. And that vas an their
was to It." .... =
During this Testimony the prisonx
And his father had leapsd to thei,
feet the former with amusement ID
picted on his face. the latter viii
tears starting to his eyes, while II,
|. prosecuting attorney at back viii
mouth wide open. so thoroughly pas
aysed that he never protested q tn
old woman. at the end Of her test,