THE COLONEL'S STORY.
"I pax think of no circumstances," said
young Johnson. " where a dclilierate suicide cculd be otherwise than wrung: a violation
of the great principle—'Thou shall not
kill:"' Young Johnson prided himself on his hard sense. It was hard sense he had. Hard to change. He was somewhat set. in his
opinions. The Colonel hadn't been taking par; in the discussion. The Colonel was older than mo-it of us. But this remark of young Johnson's see-lied to start him thinking, for he
broke 111 here with: "1 don't quite agree with you," he said, and a long argument ensued. The Colonel waxed eloquent in defending his ca.-e. but most of the company were against him. Then
be took a new tack: "You have heard of John Savage, boys, ' he said. "He was a little before your time, I know, but did you ever hear the story of
his life i" There was none of us who had. as I renumbered, so the Colonel had to tell it. He
began: "John and I were boys I \va
his lie>i man when l.c married. Hp was in love if over a in.m was, and, well, the liked him pretty well. ton. They were just as huppy—a.< married folks can lie." You see the Colonel was married himself and thought it his duty to speak cynically of married life before oilier people. 4 * John wanted to spend his noneymoon in a new way. >o they planned it for an out-of-the-way resort up in the country, and there they went. There was only one railroad anywhere near the place. We heard from them while theie. They were in Paradise. huh is a way young married people have, said the Colonel in an aside. "But John's vacation came to *n end; they had to return. They missed the regular train back to the city, and had to take a slow old accommodation in.-tead. .Some fool 1*• ft a switch open 01 something, and the train ran off the track and over an embankment ! "There were very few passengers in the one dilapidated old passenger conch. but there might just as well have been a hundred so iar as John was concerned, for the first sight that men his eyes as he puked himself up out of the dirt was hi.-: wife pinioned under the wreckage of half a dozen tr.i*. You can imagine his frantic grief as he saw her lying there with a heavy truck cnuliing her down, and on top of this a trre.il pile of twisted wood and iron. Her head and arms were frc, lul the rest of her h.»dy held fast. "The trainman were to the rr«cue in a moment. They worked like heroes and began to clear aw«»y tin- wreckage, hut. with a warning sound, it settled, and a groan of stifled pain from the unhappy woman told them they had better stop. Meanwhile he reeking crew at the nearest city, some 20 miles away, had be«n telegraphed for, bill the men said it could hardly arrive in lev than an hour. "All this time Savage wa« at his wif.-'-? fide comforting her a. l ? best he knew how. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Poor woman ! fhe evidently knew she had jit lie longer to live. Then there was another omino;.-: sound and t!i" . wreckage settled still further, and with i \ mean she fainted "John'< grief kenw no bounds. He tore around like a madman. lie cursed :he trammen one moment, ih" next implored them most piter.nsly to help him. They, poor fellows, felt his sorrow, too, and tried every means to help bun. 'IVy found a spare rail alongside the track, a pile of cro-s-ties was placed under one end of i;, and with it as a lever, after several :.itenvois a portion of the wreckage was raised. Relieved of the pressure upon her. Mrs. 'virago opened her cvcn just for a moment, But 'hat moment, and the expression in llu /«> eyes w.n- enough im inspire every man to do his utmo.-t. They bore down still more heavily on the 'pvt. when—horror ! one of the crosvvies slipped out of place and the wreckage dropped down again with a crash ! "Screams of agony burst from the unhappy woman's lips. It was an awful thing just to listen to them. The men stood dumb. They could do nothing. But John was at i'c; side in an instant. "'Oh, John !' she cried, 'can't you put to end to this? Can't you put an end to this? It's killing me! 'I he pain is killing nw! Put me out of my misery, •f<»hn ! Mv John, I fog of you. kill me ! Kill me ! I am dying by incises !" It wa: torture to stand helpless by. It wculd have been a kindness to have relieved her of the agony by killing her. Bui he could Jot think of »uch a thing. She might not m fatally injured. There was the hope of ill*3 wrecking train. She inigfit yet be rescued. '''I can't. I can't !' ho groaned. "The agony of the situation increased. The wreckage, disturbed by the lever, with a sudden lurch settled again. Another scream of greatest pain was heard. It was a living death for his wife, and again and again she begged to Ik? put out of her misery. There Was nothing that, could be done but wait. But her anguwli '! Conk! *!ie stand the strain, the pain ? "You have read about such things, gentlemen, but you cannot realise the anguish of John Savage at that moment. He felt for the revolver in his pocket, but his band drew back abhorrently. Yet the screams of his wife continued to ring in his ears. ( "'John, dear, darling John-' she replied. 'I can't stand it. I can't stand it. Oh, John, put an end to this. Kill me ! Kill ®9 1 It would be God's mercy to kill me ! "It seemed as if a shadow ran over his body. He -was trying to nerve himself. Something desperate had to be done, flu could not stand that his loved one should be in such misery, lie was suffering almost as niuoh as 6he. He had been silting near Mr, trying to keep her cries of distress out of his oars, but of a sudden he arose, before anyone could judge what he was doing, took me pistol from his pocket and gave it to her. I cannot do it,' was all he said.
"'Kiss me, John, dear John,' was her
reply. , ~ " With almost frenzied passion lie threw Ins arms about her. She drew him even closer to her. There was one long, lingering embrace, a word of love—and then—then Mrs. Savage was out of the reach of the pangs and pains of the world for ever. ' The Colonel paused a moment to collect himself, and then continued: " . 'J " Not a word was spoken. The trainmen stood as if dazed. Then the husband bent down and picked up the still smoking revolver. It was but the work of an instant, before anyone could interfere, to place it against hit own temple—and John Savage had gone to join his wife." Again the Colonel stopped and felt for 'his handkerchief. It was rather warm in the room. "That is the itory," lie said. "And I don't think there Hvns anything ethically, morally, or religiously wrong about it, either." And the rest of us, not even voting Johnson, had not a word to say-American paper.
TOMORROW, •'THE CURSK OK TilK SCAKAB/liUS."
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10970, 26 January 1899, Page 3
Word Count
1,261THE COLONEL'S STORY. New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10970, 26 January 1899, Page 3
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