The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1913-03-08

l saw he held up his hand, palm out.
and mechanically I held up mine.
Yes" / repeated after him, II can
take my oath In open court" My voice
sounded very loud to me and clear and
not at all like my own
There was a pause, and now they
were no longer looking at me, but at
the man standing alone In the middle
Of the room as II the chain between
his wrists had made him different from
them, as II he wasn't a man at all, but
a stone. Yet / couldn't look at him
like that. He was not at all dreadful
to look at, only so alone and iercely
proud and wretched looking that some
thing ached inside of me just to see his
face.
Then the chief Of police nodded at
the policeman and said. THAT will do"
But before the man could move for
ward the prisoner had walked straight
up to the rail and, standing there
scarcely two feet from me. i'm such a
ow voice that only | could hear. Il
am sorry | frightened you this MORN
Ing" he said. IF | had known you
were passing | should have managed
it differently
This all happened so quickly that I
had hardly seen how dark his Eyes
were before father thrust between US,
and | heard his voice. sounding very
low and saying something about in
fernal impudence and not presuming
to come near me. The policeman
touched the dark mans elbow. He
started. half turned on the man, made
a movement with his hands. but then
he felt the jerk of tile chain. The
blood rushed to his face. With the POI
liceman holding his arm he walked
away across the room. and wondered
what sort of place he was being taken
to. 1t wasn't until the door had closed
upon him that | realized how angry
father was. Mr.. Dlngley was saying
that prisoners ought not to be permit
ted to speak without permission, but
the chief leaned over his desk, smiling
at me, and asked, what did the pris-
oner say to your"
HE a~pologized for frightening me-"
/ answered.
Still smiling, as II he were coaxing a
child. Exactly what words did he use,
Miss Fenwick7"
I could have repeated them exactly,
but I hesitated. for the last words he
had let slip had sounded oddly in my
mind-"If I had known you were there
I should have managed It differently"
He seemed to make himself 20 abb
sofutely responsible for what had hap
n~n HA -h4- khx 49, NJ.
Dingley had twisted my words about
I was afraid-afraid that If I repeated
the ones that this man had spoken
they would somehow get twisted into
a meaning-perhaps not the true one
that would be bad for him. l was so
upset, I said, and so startled by the
mans speaking to me at all I hardly
thought I could repeat them word for
word.
Father put my coat around me and
said, II hope that Is ALL" very coldly.
YES" the chief said, except that
this young lady must understand that
she is not to speak Of what she saw
this morning"
AS we walked home again all the IA
miliar surroundings seemed dreamlike
to me-the plaza, with it's high iron
railing. and the shops facing upon it
and u W green palm farther up
the street fiuttering on the sky. Fa-
Their himself, so silent and walking on
without ever turning his head to look
at me, seemed quite a different person
from the father who had gone with
me the day before merrily to buy my
hYo nnlnf Tho fhArtnhN - kIA
with the dark eyes and the chain be-
tween his wrists filed all my mind.
Who could he be? The sense Of
warmth that had come with his smile
and that very curious sensation | had
had when he had come up close to the
bar and spoken to ME were with me
yet.
We had reached our own door, but
before father could put his key in the
lock the door opened from within. and
there In the hall stood Halle Fergu-
son, her new blue bonnet on one side.
her face crimson with haste and ex-
element.
"Oh, Ellie" she gasped. ''have you
heard? Johnny Montgomery has shot
Martin Rood. and they say it's about
the Spanish woman.
Hallie's facts dashed so coldly and
so suddenly upon the warm fancies
which had been taking possession of
my mind that for the | could
only stupidity gaze at her. Then with
out any reason that | could account for
l burst into tears.
l cried all the while father carried
me upstairs. | cried convulsively
while Abby was getting me to bed.
and, wound up in the heets with my
face hidden in the pillow. | cried in
consolably for a long time. That ach-
ing sensation in my throat would not
wash away with tears. Vaguely I
heard the doctor explaining to father
how my present condition was due Ito