The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, June 06, 1907, Image 6
' f "7,
I CONQUEST
5 By BOOTH T
' Author of "CherVy." "M
I COPYRIGHT. 1905. BY
*- 191
(Continued from last week.)
"TTai ir %>e said cavalierly to Ariel.
He went iu quickly after Mr. Fear and
Closed the door.
This was Joseph Louden, attorney at
fcw. And to Ariel it was like a new I
face seen in a flashlight?not at all the
f*ce of Joe. The sense of his strangeness,
his unfamiliarity in this elec- '
trical aspect, oyercame her. She was
possessed by astonishment Did she
know him so well after all? The
Strange client had burst in. shaken beyond
belief with some passion unknown
to her, but Joe, alert and masterful
beyond denial, had controlled
kin instantly; bad swept him into the
Other room as with a broom. Could
It he that Joe sometimes did other
things In the same sweeping fashion?
She heard a match struck lu the next
room and the voices of the two menJoe's,
then the other's, the latter at
first broken and p rotes tire, bat soon
rWng shrilly. She could hear only
fragments. Once she beard the client
cry, almost scream, "Joe, 1 thought
Oltodlne had chased him around there
to do me!" And instantly followed
{xmden's voice:
"Steady, Happy, steady."'
The name "Claudlne" startled her,
I tad, although she had had no comprehension
of the argot of Happy
iFear, the sense of a mysterious catastrophe
oppressed her. She was sure
I: f - IU
9 ?
j v / "Steady, Happy, ttcady!"
(bit something horrible had happened.
She went to the window, touched the i
hade, which disappeared upward immediately,
and lifted the sash. The
front of a square building in the courtfeouse
square was bright with lights,
tBd figures were passing In and out of
tUf Main street doors. She remember- ;
Od that this was the jail.
"Claudlne!" The voice of the husband
of Claudine was like the voice |
Of one lamenting over Jerusalem.
"Steady, Happy, steady!"
"But, Joe, if they git me, what'U she
dot She can't hold her Job no longer
?inot after this."
I The door opened, and the two men |
eame out Joe with his hand on the
fiber's shoulder. The splotches bad
*|?n* from Happy's face, leaving it an
van, deathly white. He did not
-glance toward Ariel. He gazed far
beyond all that was about bim, and
lOdd^fily she was aware o( a great.
tragedy. The iittie man's chin trembled,
and he swallowed painfully.
^ Nevertheless be bore himself upright
tad dauntlessly as tbe two walked
alowly to the door, like men taking
P*rt in some fateful ceremony. Joe j
topped Upon the landing at the head
Of the stairs, but Happy Fear went
? on, clumping heavily down the steps.
"It's all right, Happy," Bald Joe.
-Trs better for you to go alone. Don't
worry. I'll see you through. It 1
.brill be all right."
"Just as you say, Joe," a breaking
voice came back from the foot of the j
"Inst as vou say."
) The lawyer turned from the landing '
asd went rapidly to the window beside i
'Ariel. Together they watched the I
tabby little figure cross the street
below, and she felt an Infinite pathos
gathering about it as it paused for a
moment, hesitating, underneath the arc
lamp at the corner. They saw the
white face lifted as Happy Fear gave
one last look about him; then he set
bis shoulders sturdily and steadfastly ,
entered the door of the jail.
Joe took a deep breath. "Now we'll
go," he said. "I must be quick."
"What was itV* she asked tremulously
as they reached the street. "Can
you tell me?"
"Nothing; just an old story."
He had not offered her his arm, but
walked on hurriedly a pace ahead of j
.her, though she came as rapidly as she
could. She put her hand rather timidly i
on his sleeve, and without need of
more words from her he understood ;
her insistence.
'o/ CANAAN
ARKINGTON,
omifur Beiucaire," Etc.
HARPER Is BROTHERS
C? 4
"That was the husband of the woman
who told you her story." he said.
'Terbaps it would shock you less if I
told you now than if you heard It tomorrow.
as you will. He's just shot the
other man."
"Killed him!" she gasped.
"Yes." he answered. "He wanted to
mn sxrflv hut I wouldn't lot him. He
has my word that I'll clear him, and I
made him give himself up."
CHAPTER XVI.
WHEN Joe left Ariel at Judge
Pike's gate she lingered there. -I
her elbows upon the uppermost
crossbar, like a village
girl at twilight, watching his thin fig- j
ore vanish into the heavy shadow of
the maples, then emerge momentarily <
ghost gray and rapid at the lighted
crossing down the street, to disappear
again under the trees beyond, followed
a second later by a brownish streak as
the mongrel heeled after him. When
they bad passed the second corner she
could no longer be certain of them, although
the street was straight with
flat draftsmanlike western directness,
both figures and Joe's quick footsteps
merging with the night 8tlll she did
not turn te go. did not alter her position
nor cease to gaze down the dim
street Few lights shone, almost all
the windows of the houses were darkened,
and save for the summer murmurs,
the faint creak of upper branches
and the infinitesimal voices of Insects
in the grass there was silence?
the pleasant and somnolent hush,
swathed in which that part of Canaan
crosses to the far side of the eleventh
hoof.
But Ariel, not soothed by this balm,
sought beyond it to see that unquiet
Canaan whither her old friend bent his
steps and found his labor and his
dwelling?that other Canaan where
peace did not fall comfortably with
the coming of night; a place aa alien
In habit. In thought and almost In
speech as if It had been upon another
continent. And yet?so strange la the
duality of towns?It lay but a few
blocks distant
Here about Ariel as she stood at the
gate of the Pike mansion the houses
of the good (secure of salvation and
dally bread) were closed and quiet, as
safely shut and sound asleep as the
churches. But deeper In the town
there was light and life and merry,
evil industry, screened, but strong to
last until morning. There were haunts
of haggard merriment in plenty; surreptitious
chambers where roulette
wheels swam beneath dizzied eyes; 111
favored bars, reached by devious ways,
where quavering voices offered song
and were harshly checked. And through
the burdened air of this Canaan wandered
heavy smells of musk like that
upon Happy Fear's wife, who must
now be so pale beneath her rouge. And
above all this and for all this and because
of all this was that one resort to
which Joe now made his way?that
haven whose lights burn all night long,
whose doors are never closed, but are
open from dawn until dawn?the JaiL
There In that desolate refnge lay
Happy Fear, surrendered sturdily by
himself at Joe's word. The picture of
the little man was clear and fresh in
Ariel's eyes, and, though she had seen
him when be was newly come from a
thing so terrible that she, could not realize
it as a factj she felt onl^ an overwhelming
pity for him. She was not
even horror stricken, though she had
shuddered. The pathos of the shabby
little figure crossing the street toward
the lighted doors had touched her.
Something about him bad appealed to
fcerj for he bad not seemed wicked. His
face was not cruel, though it was desperate.
Perhaps it was partly his very
desperation which bad moved her. She
bad understood Joe when be told her
that this man was bis friend and comprehended
his great fear when he said:
"I've got to clear him! I promised
him!"
Over and over Joe had reiterated:
"I've got to save him! I've got to!"
She had answered gently, "Yes, Joe,"
hurrying to keep up with him. "He's
a good man," he said. "I've known
few better, given his chances. Ana
none of this would have happened except
for his old time friendship for
me. It was his loyalty?oh, the rarest
and absurdest loyalty!?that made the
first trouble between him and the
man he shot. I've got to clear him."
"Will it be hard?"
"They may make it so. I can only
see part of it surely. When his wife
left the office she met Cory on the
street. Yi>u saw what a pitiful kind j
of fool she was. Irresponsible and helpless
and feather brained. There are
thousands of women like that everywhere?some
of them are 'court beauties,"
I dare say?and they always mix
things up, but they are most danger-!
ous when they're like Claudine, because
then they live among men of
action like Cory and Fear. Cory was !
artful. He spent the day about town ;
telling people that he had always lik-1
ed Happy; that his ill feeling of yesterday
was all gone. lie wanted to
find him and shake his hand, bury past
troubles and be friends. 1 think he
iold Claudine the .same thing when
they met ana convinced the tiny Dramlet
of his sincerity. Cory was a man
who 'had a way with him/ and I can
see Claudine flattered at the idea of
being peacemaker between 'two such
I nice gen'tlemen as Mr. Cory and Mr.
Fear.' Her commonest asseveration?
quite genuine, too?is that she doesn't
! like to have the gen'lemen making
j trouble about her. . So the poor imI
becile led him to where her husband
! was waiting. All that Happy knew of
j this was in her cry afterward. He
was sitting alone, when Cory threw
. open the door and said. 'I've got you
tliic timo Hnnnv!' His nistol was
raised, but never fired. He waited too
' long. meaning to establish his case of
I rourse the murderer, after consultation
j with his lawyer, claims that their nature
was threatening. Such a statei
ment in determining the truth is worse
; than valueless. It is known and readily
proved that Fear repeatedly threatened
the deceased's life yesterday, and
there is no question in the mind of any
man. woman or child who reads these
words of the cold blooded nature of the
crime. The slayer, who had formerly
made a murderous attack upon bis victim,
lately quurreled with him and uttered
threats, as we have stated, upon
bis life. The dead man came to him
with protestations of friendship and
waa itruck down a corpse.
"It is understood that the defense
will in desperatiou set up the theory of
self defense, based on an unsubstantiated
claim that Cory entered the
room with a drawn pistol. No pistol
was found in the room. The weapon
with which the deed was accomplished
was found upon the person of the murderer
when he was seised by the police,
one chamber discharged. Another re[
volver was discovered upon the person
of the woman when she was arrested
on the scene of the crime. This upon
being strictly interrogated she said she
had picked up from the floor in the
confusion, thinking It was her busband's
and hoping to conceal It The
chambers were full and undischarged,
and we have beard it surmised that
the defense means to claim that It was
Cory's. Cory doubtless went on his errand
of forgiveness unarmed, and beyond
doubt the second weapon belonged
to the woman herself, who has an
unenviable record.
"The point of it all Is plainly this:
Here Is an unquestionable murder In
the first degree, and the people of this
city and county are outraged and incensed
that such a crime should have
been committed In tbelr law abiding
and respectable community. With
whom does the fault lie? On whose
bead is this murder? Not with the >&tborlties,
for they do not countenance
' ? U ? ? + V.o A/innt.
LTIUJC. HAS 11 U/UIC IV t'ODO iuui, vvuutIng
on juggleries of the liw, criminals
believe that they may kill, maim, burn
and slay as they list without punishment?
Is this to be another Instance
of the law's delays and Immunity for a
hideous crime, compassed by a cunning
and cynical trickster of legal
technicalities? The people of Canaan
cry out for a speedy trial, speedy conviction
and speedy punishment of this
cold blooded and murderous monster.
If he Is not dealt with quickly according
to his deserts the climax Is upon
us, and the limit of Canaan's patience
has been reached.
"One last word, and we shall be glad
to have Its significance noted. J. Louden,
Esq., has been retained for the defense!
The murderer before being apprehended
by the authorities went
straight from the scene of his crime to
place his retainer In his attorney's
pocket! How long Is this to last?"
The Tocsin was quoted on street
corners that morning. In shop and store
and office, wherever people talked <f
the Cory murder, and that was everywhere,
for the people of Canaan and
of the country roundabout talked of
nothing else Women chattered of it
In parlor and kitchen; men gathered in
small groups on the street and shook
their beads ominously over it; farmers,
meeting on the road, halted their
teams and loudly damned the little
man In the Canaan jail; milkmen lingered
on back porches over their cans
to agree with cooks that It was an awful
thing and that if ever any man deserved
hanging that there Fear deserved
it?his lawyer along with him.
Tipsy men hammered bars with fists
and beer glasses, inquiring if there
was no rope to be bad in the town, and
Joe Louden, return ng to his office
from the little restaurant where he
sometimes ate his breakfast, heard
hisses following him along Main street
A clerk, a fat shouldered, blue aproned,
pimple cheeked youth, stood in the
open doors of a grocery and as he
passed stared him in the face and said
"Yah!" with supreme disgust.
Joe stopped. "Why?' he asked
mildly.
The clerk put two fingers in his
mouth and whistled shrilly in derision.
"You'd ort to be run out o' town!" he
exclaimed.
"I believe," said Joe, "that we have
never met before."
"Go on, you shyster!"
Joe looked at him gravely. "My
dear sir," he returned, "you speak to
me with the familiarity of an old
friend."
The clerk did not recover so. far as
to be capable of repartee until Joe had
entered his own stairway. Then, with
a bitter sneer, he seized a bad potato
from an open barrel and threw it at the
mongrel, who had paused to examine
the landscape. The missile failed and
Respectability, after bestowing a slightly
injured look upon the clerk, followed
his master.
In the office the red bearded man sat
waiting. Not so red bearded as of
yore, however, was Mr. Sheehan, but
grizzled and gray and, this morning,
gray of face, too, as he sat, perspiring
and anxious, wiping a troubled brow
i with a black silk handkerchief.
"Here's the devil and all to pay at
i last, Joe." he said unea_sily_on the oth
era entrance. "This is tne worst 1
ever knew, 'and I hate to say it, but I
doubt yer pullin' it off."
"I've got to, Mike."
"I hope on my soul there's a chanst
of it! I like the little man, Joe."
"So do I."
"I know ye do. my boy. But here's
this Tocsin kickin' up the public sendI
rnent, and if there ever was a follerin'
j sheep on earth It's that same public
sentiment."
"If it weren't for that"?Joe flung
himself heavily in a chair?"there'd
i not be so much trouble. It's a clear
enough case."
, "But. don't ye see," Interrupted Sbeej
ban. "the Tocsin's tried It and convicted
him aiorehand? And that if things
i keep goin' the way they've started today
the gran' jury's bound to indict
him and the trial jury to convict him?
They wouldn't dare not to. What's
more, they'll want to. And they'll
rush the trial, summer or no summer,
and"?
"I know; I know."
"I'll tell ye one thing," said the other,
wiping his forehead with the black
handkerchief, "and that's this, my boy:
Last night's business has just about
put the cap on the Beach fer me. I'm
sick of it, and I'm tired of It I'm
ready to quit sir."
Joe looked at him sharply. "Don't
you think my old notion of what might
be done could be made to pay?"
Sheehan laughed. "Whoo! Too and
jer hints, Joe! How long past have ye
come around me with 'em? 'I b'lieve
ye c'd make more money, Mike'?that's
the way ye'd put It?'if ye altered the
Joe stopped. "WhyT" he asked mildly.
Beach a bit Make a little countryside
restaurant of It' ye'd say, 'and have
good cookln', and keep the boys and
girls from raisin' so much bell out
there. Soon ye'd have other people
eomin' beside the regular crowd. Make
a little garden on the shore, and let
'on en nt tables under trees an* erSDe
j irbors'
"Well, why not?" asked Joe.
'Haven't I been tellin' ye I'm think*
In' of It? It's only yer way of hlntto'
that's fanny to me, yer way of aayln'
I'd make more money, because ye're
afraid of preachln' at any of as, partly
because ye know the little good it'd
be and partly because ye have humor.
Well, I'm tblnkin' ye'll git yer way.
I'm wlllin' to go Into the missionary
business with ye!"
"Mike!" said Joe angrily, but he
grew very red and failed to meet the
other's eye, "I'm not"?
"Yes, ye are!" cried Sbeehan. "Yes,
sir! It's a thing ye prob'ly haven't
had the nerve to say to yerself since
a boy, but that's yer notion inside.
Ye're little better than a missionary.
It took me a long while to understand
what was drlvin' ye, but I do now.
And ye've gone the right way about it
because we know ye'll stand fer us
when we're In trouble and fight fer
us till we git a square deal, as ye're
goin' to fight fer Bappy now."
Joe looked deeply troubled. "Never
mind," he said crossly and with visible
embarrassment "You think you could
not make more at the Beach if you
ran It on my plan?"
"I'm game to try," said 8heehan
slowly. "I'm too old to hold 'em down
out there the way I yooeta could, and
I'm sick of It?sick of It into the very
bones of me." He wiped bis forehead.
"Where's Claudlne?"
"Held as a witness."
"I'm A>t sorry fer her!" said the red
bearded man emphatically. "Women
o' that kind are so light headed It's a
wonder they don't float Think of her
plckln' up Cory's gun from the floor
and hidln' It In her clothes! Took It
fer granted It was Happy's and
thought she'd help him by hldln' It!
There's a hard point fer ye, Joe?to
prove the gun belonged to Cory.
There's nobody about here could
swear to It. I couldn't myself, though
I forced blm to stick It back In his
pocket yesterday. He was a wanderer,
too, and ye'll have to send a
keen one to trace him, I'm thinkln', to
find out where he got it so's ye can
show It In court."
"I'm going myself. I've found out
that be came here from Denver."
"And from where before that?"
"I don't know, but I'll keep on traveling
till I get what I want."
"That's right, my boy," exclaimed
the other heartily. "It may be a long
trip, but ye're all the little man has to
! depend on. Did ye notice the Tocsin
j didn't even give him the credit fer giv'
in* himself up?"
"Yes," said Joe. "It's part of their
| game."
"Did it strike ye now," Mr. Sheehau
asked earnestly, leaning forward^, in
his chair?"did it strike _ ye . that the
(Continued on page 7.)
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