Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-06-16

Il!l IIIl IIIl
x.

But God isn't going to judge you for
judged by men, before God gets a
chance to forgive you Goo isn't going
to hold this against you, 80 why should
you give your fellow man a chance to
do you harm? You're not guilty of muir
der, but-well, j guess you're beginning
to understand. I'm thinking for you
and for Mary. my boy, and I'm think
ing hard. You can trust me. / will do
what is right and just. for i n
these Tanned brutes of men do when
they get on a jury. or when they set
out to hound "A fellow creature to his
grave. / am your judge. Eric. You are
the only witness i shall examine, and
l will acquit you of all blame on your
own word. You may not sleep we'll to-
night, but tomorrow you will realize
that you did what could not be helped
and that the God you speak of took
munity that does not keep it's bridges
In repair. Now, tell me slowly, care
fully, Just what brought on the fight"
Eric told the story from beginning
to end, from the instant he saw Chef
wynd on the bridge to his disappear
ance over the edge.
Il couldn't stan it any longer when
he said that about my sister. l just
had to fight. 1t was a fair fight. too
as fair as l know how. II watched
for my nance to get in that blow you
taught me. well. that's ALL"
He deserved the licking" said Adj
am. a grim smile on his lips. And l
won't say he didn't deserve the u
ishment God gave him. too. He was
a rascal. Erica nasty rascal. / can
tell you who that letter was from. 1t
was from a m in New York, Il
woman ON whom he was spending thou
sands of dollars hat didn't belong to
him."
Didn't belong to him."
Yes. l suppose o believed all that
private instruction rot, too, the same
as his father and mother did. Well, I've
got a few rare facts to lay before the
B~lngdcns."
There was such utter vindictiveness
In his of speech that Eric
oOk at him In wonder.
"Oh, l don't profess love for your
Horace and I used to play together
when we were little chaps. Oswald
Bright was another of my playmates.
I was a poor sailorman's son; they
were of the elect. I knew your mother,
Eric, when she was a tiny little girl.
she was in shoe top frocks, and l never
saw her afterwards. That's neither here
or there. I've never forgotten the
scurvy trick Horace played on me in
school. Somebody In our room was
stealing things from the desks of the
other scholars. Horace openly accused
me of 1t. | was driven out in disgrace.
Not one of my old playmates would
look at me, except Oswald Bright. BY
George, he was a great Judge, eve in
those days. He defended me on all oc-
casions, and he-he pulled me out of
the water once when l actually tried
to drown myself because / was so UNI
happy. He put new courage into me.
MY father moved to Gloucester "A
few months afterward. but day Os-
valid wrote me a letter saying they had
caught the real thief in the act of pill
fcring. and he confessed to the whole
range Of thefts. He was sent to the
all the rest of his life. But 1 never for
got Horace Blagden's charge against
me. Years passed before he grudgingly
apologized to me at Brlght's suggestion.
dont mind saying I've never liked
your Uncle Horace. and that's putting
It gently. Now my turn has come.
He'll squirm when I tell him the name
of the man who got away with the
banks money a few months ago. 1t
will turn his hair greyer than 1t is
when he finds out for q certainty that
1t wasn't John Payson who took It,"
"Payson? The teller who used to-.
be
Aa Il, g sl'n,y' Il p, place. :, ,, completed a.s 4
taken out about the time Pavson left
the bank uncle sent for me. He
wab determined Jack was the thief. l
went to work. For weeks and weeks
watched every move that fellow
made, n0tssO much for the purpose of
finding him guilty to please Horace
to please myself. Payson was no more
guilty OF fObbinR th0t hank than VIM