Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-05-21
THE HAND OF
GOD
Copyright. lgl4. py the Mcclure
Newspaper syndicate
By NJ QUAD

AFTER Delns pissed from one pefsOu 10
another / was al last sent to u pau
pers home. AT the age of ten ran
away from tue Institution. hoping TO
better my condition. but instead OF that
| fell into the hands OF this and that
farmer. and IN every instance l was
overwOrked and ground down. The
name generally gwen me wis Pau
per" and was clothed In the cheapest
and poorest garments and fed with the
dogs. IL | D0re II patiently ! was an
object for further abuse; II | rebelled
| was kicked out to find another place.
| used to wonder aud speculate rs 10
why | was treated IN this
why there WIS never u kin word for
me. why men. women and children de
sired to hnmiliate ME and add 10 my
burdens. wasn't uniformed. and /
wasn't sulky or impudent- Had any
human being interested himself In me
l should ave come up TO give the
world an h0uest fight In an honest
way. ! was sixteen years old as near
as | can make 1t when / was last kick
ed out. / mud worked for that farmer
a year. and he had clothed the like a
scarecrow and fed me like II dog. Sim
ply because broke tne handle OF a
hoe by accident was beaten until 4
fell unconscious. In the small hours
OF the night. groa ning 1T every step,
but fearful OF my life. ! took 10 the
bfnh 10 ~ eanH a f.t ~ "A w uno a lff
which carried me anany miles before
light was determined TO try the
city this time. My rags. my ignorance
and my general appearance mad always
frightened me away from the towns
and kept me among the agricniturists.
| bad scarcely descended from the cart
when | encountered an old man. VINO
looked me over and then accosted me.
He seemed TO have a kind face, and he
spoke pleasantly, and 1t was 0
agreed that should go With him.
AS | was a pauper and II runa way,
too. could expect 40 more b a
clothes and board In exchange for my
services. The man was named SaDin.
He kept a secondhand furniture shop.
and as he was all alone In the world
he lived In II miserable way IN a o
over the shop. In a day or two he got
me to sign Il paper binding myself to
him until Of age. and the INK was hard
~ dry ON the TX" mark before 1 found
a change 10 him. He was BY nature
cruel. stingys and selfish. de worked
me without stint, and during the two
years was with him / was always
hungry and tired.
One night when | had been with MIR.
Sabin about two years and just after
he had beaten me for some tritie and
laughed over his work a strange
thought came to me. FOR the first time
In my life a feeling OF revenge crept
into my heart, ana II made me snake
and tremble. | mad stood insults and
abuses beyond number ana never
thirsted for repa rat ton. 10 ii quarter
of an hour there was more change In
me than the last ten years had
wrought | called up all my wrongs.
My heart filled with bitterness against
the whole world. l wanted TO strike
men dead for what they bad made me
suffer. The old man found u change
in me the next morning. | had spent
the whole night thinking, and when he
called me bis dog and threw me a
morsel of food | stood up and cursed
him. When he laid his hands on me
threw him TO the floor. He was
dumfounded. u he shut his teeth
together and looked at me with half
shut eyes and said that he would have
my life. We were both sullen and ST.
lent that day. but | reasoned 1t out
that his plan was to come downstairs
that night as / slept and bind me fast
and then torture me to his hearts con-
tent Yes. ! reasoned 1t out that this
would be his way. and while | was
wondering how | could battle him Sa-
tan came to my aid.
Go and kill mimi" whispered the
tempter. Go and Kill him and take
all his money and fee far away. he
deserves killing for the way he has
treated you. and all the money you can
find should be yours by rightT
The more | thought it over the less
murder and robbery seemed a crime.
and by and by | had neither fear nor
pity in my heart At midnight, with
an iron bar in my hand, l crept up
stairs and softly pushed the old mans
door open. He had just got out OF bed.
He had a candle in one hand and a
rope in the other. and there was a dew
fish smile on his face as ne thought
how he would trap and get revenge on
me. My face must nave told him that
l was there to do murder. for his jaw
dropped. and | saw terror in his eyes.
| had raised the bar and was about to
spring forward. neither OF as having
uttered a word. when there was a
crashing and a splintering. and a great
heap Of junk which was stored in the
room above him came down.
It was morning before any one found
us He was dead-broken. battered.
bruised and crushed out of all SEM
blance-whiie I vas little better on.
No man suspected that ! was there to
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