A POPULAR AUCKLAND SKIPPER COMPLETELY CURED BY RHEUMO.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9209, 11 April 1908, Page 2

A POPULAR AUCKLAND SKIPPER COMPLETELY CURED BY RHEUMO.

From Auckland, on July Isfe> 1907, Captain J. Gibbs writes.*— "l was iin capacitated for eight months, and could not go to sea : in faot ' was bent double with pain. I tried Rotorua fa* three months, and cam* baea^ not haying received any benefit. Nothing seemed to do me good, until a friend of mine, who had also take* Hheutno, asked me to give it • trial. The result, after taking four bottle* ' surprised both myself and my friend*, who knew hbvr much I had suffered, f shall recommend your medicine to anyone who suffers with Rheumatism «r Gorb." Give Rbeumo a trial; and ft will cure YOU. AH stores and chemutft, 2s 6d and 4a Sd. it \

|ie eaid, and moved away out of ear- i fchot. . Sarah Harvey was a dned-up little Quakeress, not at all comely, and not the kind of woman you would have thought capable of heroism. But her heart was big and her .faith strong, bhe Was brought out of the house, together jwith her three children, aiid approachted her husband with a deliberate step. She was so little of stature that Theoflore must needs bow his head low down to kiss her lips. "Farewell, Sarah, *nv dear wife," he said in a firm voice. "'lt is God's will that I should leave llt<3e in a few minutes ; but I believe I have chosen the better part. The chilflTeTi shall not be ashamed to hear their father's name spoken. YeaTS of eelf-discipline had their effect upon Sarah Harvey. She was not hysterical, but her pale blue eyes had * look in them that would perhaps haunt the dreams of the man who had brought this trial upon her. "They fcannot part us forever, Theodore^ she Whispered, with her arms round his fceck. "Mv dear one, I never loved fchee so fondly as now, never held thee [n so much honour. It is hard to lose the©, Theodore, for tbou haet\always been a kind and lovinsr husband ; but 1 : bannot ask thee to pav the price of Me. I May these wicked men be forgiven I Then she released him; and lifted her children up to be kissed for the I last time— Johnny, aged five; Harry, aged eight; Mabel, who was nearly fifteen, did not require to be lifted, being as tall as her mother. She wa6 a pretty, brown-haired girl, who sobbed trithout ceasing, and clung oonvulsiveJy to her father. The accusing sound bf the child's lamentations drove the murderers further and further back from the tree. They had not bargainbd for this; it somehow made them feel uncomfortable. The Quaker's manhood was not proof against his daughter's tears, in truth he saw her but ijimly. But he waa able to smile upon fceT at last, and, in a steady voice, bade her take t:are of her mother through the coming years. It was over now. The woman and hex children returned to the desolate house, and the lynchere gathered round their prey. Sarah had addressed no words of remonstrance to her husband's murderers, had made no appeal for mercy, well knowing how futfle it would be. She passed from among them in silence and with dignity. ■ ' Felix Dawson lay in the dark cellar far down under the foundation of the bouse. Even here the hoarse murmurs find the shouts of the mob reached him. He had known when the searchers entered the houee — they were very near bis hiding-place once — and. when they quitted it. He lay here wondering whether the Quaker's fortitude would be proof against tile demands of the snob backed by threats of vengeance. STbe uproar had now subsided, and'there Was an awful stillness. A braver man Khan he/might have trembled. It was not only that death threatened ; he had up cowardly fear of death. Vi " flreaded the horrible torture through .Which he must pass to the mysterious beyond. He had seen men of his race Hie at the stake, the victims of| .<•'■>" Jtnost hideous and awful cruelly, and .a Jiko fate awaited him. .!' What was that? The sound of a Boor openiT*" and a soft footfall on the ladder. He drew his pistole, and made Iteady. " Felix Dawson \" It was the voice bf the Quaker woman that reached him in the darkness. "What is it missus P" " Pawson, my husband is about to die for tjtry sake. The rope is round ins neck, and he ba« only a very few minutes to live. Thou hast seen my children, Felix, they are crying upstairs. They will soon x be fatherless irod I shall be a widow." The woman's voice was calm, yet.it (had, a ■nleadinw. pathetic quality in it, Which tugrs&d at the negro's heart. " The cowards 1" he said in a hoarse jjroaoe. "Hanging him, are they? They Would burn me alive, if they causht ane. Don't give me op, missus, don't »© it !" ;" I cannot do that, Felix. My husfcand would not wish it.° # " Do you want me to give myself up, inissusP" " Nay, I must not ask thee to make Ghat sacrifice, Felix. Only I thought I ought to tell thee what was happening. Three children, soon to be orphanled, crying upstairs. My dear husband Ihas bat two minutes to live. Farewell, Felix Dawson." ' Then he heard her ascend the ladder. Theodore Harvey stood facing the house in which he had been born. His toemory was strangely active. He was back in his childhood, and be beard the voices of his mother and father. 3Te remembered the day he brought his young wife home ; and he heard aerain fche first faint cry of his eldest child. The tumult of the mob no longer troubled him. He seemed to be lifted up in spirit, and to belonsr to earth no snore. The whole scene had lost the semblance of rea kv. He felt as if ho was dreaming of the execution of an r Other person. His lies moved, and an earnest prayer for mercy upon his errInpr soul wfitit no. Now ! Mostyn put up bi« watch, ami feddrefwed the prisoner. " Time's up." Jie said curtly. " I give you one more chance, Harvey. Say where the niggeis, and we loose." The doomed man was seen to smile. "My earthly affairs are all done with," he said. " I onlv 6ay that I hope this wicked murder will not be remembered against you all at. the last day. May bur Heavenly Father forgive you, as I do. I will tell you nothing." The men who held the rope moved back, arid were about to give the fatal boist, when a jrreat shout from the liouee arrested their action. "'• Hold on. there, you white cowi»rds!" Felix Dawson had made his way (through one of the upper windows, and\ How stood upon the porch. • / A roar that might have come from a hundred wild beasts greeted his ap^ pearance, and in the excitement the tope was dropped. "You cursed cowards! You dogs!" felled the nee;ro, who eeemed to be halfInsane. " I'm innocent, do you hear? Innocent. I was ten miles away from Barnard's Bar at the tinfe. But you'd burn me all the same, you low-down White cowards { I'll beat you this way, fcnd spoil your sport," and before a gun eould be raised, the bunted man put his pistol to bis temple. The revolver bracked, and the negro's lifeless body tolled from the porch. Theodore Harvey fell heavily forward, the slack rope foiling over him like a 6erpent. Sarah and her children came out oi the house, and ran to the tree. The little Quakeress sat holding her husband's head in her lap, dry-eyed and calm, while the mob drew off and departed in silence. The negro's body lay where it had fallen. The mob had neglected to burn it, after their usual custom. Perhaps the lynchers had' some idea that the man after all really might be innocent. Ihe next day, when Theodore had regained some measure of his usual vigour, he placed the body in a rude 00-fiSn, and, driving into the woods, buried it with all reverence; himself end his wife and children being the ©nly mourners. Two nights afterwards, Theodore was moused from sleep by the sound of firearms and a mighty shouting and confusion. The red glare of a big fire not , for off illuminated the room. Hastily ! Euttine on a few clothes, he went down > the gate. "What's all this, friend?" |te asked of a rough-looking man who Hfras riding by at a leisurely pace. J " A lynching," replied the man, with teen relish. " The boys have got the nigger who shot Dave Gootch at Bar- | card's Bar, and his black soul has gone op in the smoke of a bonfire. Got the right man this time, you bet. Good night, boss."