Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Volume 26 December, 1880. by Various None (smart ebook reader .txt) 📕

At Length The Dreaded Day Was Over,  The Trial Was At An End,  And,  In

Spite Of Every Effort Made,  Jerrem Condemned To Die. The Hopes Raised By

The Knowledge Of Adam'S Escape Seemed Crowned With Success When,  To The

Court'S Dismay,  It Was Announced That The Prisoner'S Accuser Could Not

Be Produced: He Had Mysteriously Disappeared The Evening Before,  And In

Spite Of A Most Vigorous Search Was Nowhere To Be Found. But,  With Minds

Already Resolved To Make This Hardened Smuggler'S Fate A Warning And

Example To All Such As Should Henceforth Dare The Law,  One Of The

Cutter'S Crew,  Wrought Upon By The Fear Lest Jerrem Should Escape And

Baffle The Vengeance They Had Vowed To Take,  Was Got To Swear That

Jerrem Was The Man Who Fired The Fatal Shot; And Though It Was Shown

That The Night Was Dark And Recognition Next To Impossible,  This

Evidence Was Held Conclusive To Prove The Crime,  And Nothing Now

Remained But To Condemn The Culprit. The Judge'S Words Came Slowly

Forth,  Making The Stoutest There Shrink Back And Let That Arrow From The

Bow Of Death Glance By And Set Its Mark On Him Upon Whose Face The Crowd

Now Turned To Gaze.

"Can It Be That He Is Stunned? Or Is He Hardened?"

For Jerrem Stands All Unmoved And Calm While,  Dulled By The Sound Of

Rushing Waters,  The Words The Judge Has Said Come Booming Back And Back

Again. A Sickly Tremor Creeps Through Every Limb And Makes It Nerveless;

A Sense Of Growing Weight Presses The Flesh Down As A Burden On The

Fainting Spirit; One Instant A Thousand Faces,  Crowding Close,  Keep Out

The Air; The Next,  They Have All Receded Out Of Sight Back Into Misty

Space,  And He Is Left Alone,  With All Around Faded And Grown Confused

And All Beneath Him Slipping And Giving Way. Suddenly A Sound Rouses Him

Back To Life: A Voice Has Smote His Ear And Cleaved His Inmost Soul; And

Lifting His Head His Eyes Are Met By Sight Of Joan,  Who With A Piercing

Shriek Has Fallen Back,  Deathlike And Pale,  In Reuben'S Outstretched

Arms.

Then Jerrem Knows That Hope Is Past And He Must Die,  And In One Flash

His Fate,  In all Its Misery And Shame,  Stands Out Before Him,  And

Reeling He Totters,  To Sink Down Senseless And Be Carried Off To That

Dismal Cell Allotted To Those Condemned To Death; While Reuben,  As Best

He Can,  Manages To Get Joan Out Of Court And Into The Open Air,  Where

She Gradually Comes Back To Life Again And Is Able To Listen To Such

Poor Comfort As Reuben'S Sad Heart Can Find To Give Her. For By Reason

Of Those Eventful Circumstances Which Serve To Cement Friendships By

Suddenly Overthrowing The Barriers Time Must Otherwise Gradually Wear

Away,  Reuben May And Joan Hocken Have (In The Week Which Has Intervened

Between Her Arrival And This Day Of Trial) Become More Intimate And

Thoroughly Acquainted Than If In an Ordinary Way They Had Known Each

Other For Years. A Stranger In a Large City,  With Not One Familiar Face

To Greet Her,  Who Does Not Know The Terrible Feeling Of Desolation Which

Made Poor Joan Hurry Through The Crowded Streets,  Shrinking Away From

Their Bustle And Throng Toward Reuben,  The One Person She Had To Turn To

For Sympathy,  Advice,  Assistance And Consolation? With That Spirit Of

Perfect Trust Which Her Own Large Heart Gave Her The Certain Assurance

Of Receiving,  Joan Placed Implicit Reliance In all Reuben Said And Did;

And Seeing This,  And Receiving An Inward Satisfaction From The Sight,

Reuben Involuntarily Slipped Into A Familiarity Of Speech And Manner

Very Opposed To The Stiff Reserve He Usually Maintained Toward

Strangers.

Ten Days Were Given Before The Day On Which Jerrem Was To Die,  And

During This Time,  Through The Various Interests Raised In His Behalf,  No

Restriction Was Put Upon The Intercourse Between Him And His Friends; So

That,  Abandoning Everything For The Poor Soul'S Welfare,  Reuben,  Joan

And Jerrem Spent Hour After Hour In The Closest Intercourse. Happily,  In

Times Of Great Extremity The Power Of Realizing Our Exact Situation Is

Mostly Denied To Us; And In The Case Of Joan And Jerrem,  Although

Surrounded By The Terrors And Within The Outposts Of That Dreaded End,

It Was Nothing Unfrequent To Hear A Sudden Peal Of Laughter,  Which Often

Would Have As Sudden An End In a Great Burst Of Tears.

To Point To Hopes And Joys Beyond The Grave When Every Thought Is

Centred And Fixed On This Life'S Interests And Keen Anxieties Is But A

Fruitless,  Vain Endeavor; And Reuben Had To Try And Rest Contented In

The Assurance Of Jerrem'S Perfect Forgiveness And Good-Will To All Who

Had Shown Him Any Malice Or Ill-Feeling--To Draw Some Satisfaction From

The Unselfish Love He Showed To Joan And The Deep Gratitude He Now

Expressed To Uncle Zebedee.

What Would Become Of Them? He Often Asked When Some Word Of Joan'S

Revealed The Altered Aspect Of Their Affairs; And Then,  Overcome By The

Helplessness Of Their Forlorn Condition,  He Would Entreat Reuben To

Stand By Them--Not To Forget Joan,  Not To Forsake Her. And Reuben,

Strangely Moved By Sight Of This Poor Giddy Nature'S Overwrought

Emotion,  Would Try To Calm Him With The Ready Assurance That While He

Lived Joan Should Never Want A Friend,  And,  Touched By His Words,  The

Two Would Clasp His Hands Together,  Telling Each Other Of All The

Kindness He Had Showed Them,  Praying God Would Pay Him Back In blessings

For His Goodness. Nor Were Theirs The Only Lips Which Spoke Of Gratitude

To Reuben May: His Name Had Now Become Familiar To Many Who Through His

Means Were Kept From Being Ignorant Of The Sad Fate Which Awaited Their

Boon Companion,  Their Prime Favorite,  The Once Madcap,  Rollicking

Jerrem--The Last One,  As Joan Often Told Reuben,  Whom Any In Polperro

Would Have Fixed On For Evil To Pursue Or Misfortune To Overtake,  And

About Whom All Declared There Must Have Been "A Hitch In The Block

Somewheres,  As Fate Never Intended That Ill-Luck Should Pitch Upon

Jerrem." The Repetition Of Their Astonishment,  Their Indignation And

Their Sympathy Afforded The Poor Fellow The Most Visible Satisfaction,

Harassed As He Was Becoming By One Dread Which Entirely Swallowed Up The

Thought And Fear Of Death. This Ghastly Terror Was The Then Usual

Consignment Of A Body After Death To The Surgeons For Dissection; And

The Uncontrollable Trepidation Which Would Take Possession Of Him Each

Time This Hideous Recollection Forced Itself Upon Him,  Although

Unaccountable To Reuben,  Was Most Painful For Him To Witness. What

Difference Could It Make What Became Of One'S Body After Death? Reuben

Would Ask Himself,  Puzzled To Fathom That Wonderful Tenderness Which

Some Natures Feel For The Flesh Which Embodies Their Attractions. But

Jerrem Had Felt A Passing Love For His Own Dear Body: Vanity Of It Had

Been His Ruling Passion,  Its Comeliness His Great Glory--So Much So That

Even Now A Positive Satisfaction Would Have Been His Could He Have

Pictured Himself Outstretched And Lifeless,  With Lookers-On Moved To

Compassion By The Dead Grace Of His Winsome Face And Slender Limbs.

Joan,  Too,  Was Caught By The Same Infection. Not To Lie Whole And Decent

In One'S Coffin! Oh,  It Was An Indignity Too Terrible For Contemplation;

And Every Time They Were Away From Jerrem She Would Beset Reuben With

Entreaties And Questions As To What Could Be Done To Avoid The

Catastrophe.

The One Plan He Knew Of Had Been Tried--And Tried,  Too,  With Repeated

Success--And This Was The Engaging Of A Superior Force To Wrest The Body

From The Surgeon'S Crew,  A Set Of Sturdy Miscreants With Whom To Do

Battle A Considerable Mob Was Needed; But,  With Money Grown Very Scarce

And Time So Short,  The Thing Could Not Be Managed,  And Reuben Tried To

Tell Joan Of Its Impossibility While They Two Were Walking To A Place In

Which It Had Been Agreed They Should Find Some One With A Message From

Eve,  Who,  Together With Adam,  Was In Hiding On Board The Vessel Captain

Triggs Had Spoken Of. But Instead Of The Messenger Eve Herself Arrived,

Having Ventured This Much With The Hope Of Hearing Something That Would

Lessen Adam'S Despair And Grief At Learning The Fate Of Jerrem.

"Ah,  Poor Sawl!" Sighed Joan As Eve Ended Her Dismal Account Of Adam'S

Sad Condition: "'Tis Only What I Feared To Hear Of. But Tell Un,  Eve,  To

Lay It To His Heart That Jerrem'S Forgived Un Every Bit,  And Don'T Know

What It Is To Hold A Grudge To Adam; And If I Speak Of Un,  He Says,

'Why,  Doan'T I Know It Ain'T Through He,  But 'Cos O' My Own Headstrong

Ways And They Sneaks O' Revenoo-Chaps?' Who Falsely Swored Away His

Blessed Life."

"Does He Seem To Dread It Much?" Asked Eve,  The Sickly Fears Which

Filled Her Heart Echoed In each Whispered Word.

"Not _That_ He Don'T," Said Joan,  Lifting Her Hand Significantly To Her

Throat: "'Tis After. Oh,  Eve," She Gasped,  "Ain'T It Too Awful To Think

Of Their Cuttin' Up His Poor Dead Body Into Bits? Call Theyselves

Doctors!" She Burst Out--"The Gashly Lot! I'Ll Never Let Wan O' Their

Name Come Nighst To Me Agen."

"Oh,  Reuben," Gasped Eve,  "Is It So? Can Nothing Be Done?"

Reuben Shook His Head.

"Nothing Now," Said Joan--"For Want O' Money,  Too,  Mostly,  Eve; And The

Guineas I'Ve A-Wasted! Oh,  How The Sight O' Every One Rises And Chinks

In Judgment 'Gainst My Ears!"

"If We'D Got The Money," Said Reuben Soothingly,  "There Isn'T Time. All

Should Be Settled By To-Morrow Night; And If Some One This Minute

Brought The Wherewithal I Haven'T One 'Pon Whom I Dare To Lay My Hand To

Ask To Undertake The Job."

"Then 'Tis No Use Harpin' 'Pon It Any More," Said Joan; While Eve Gave A

Sigh,  Concurring In What She Said,  Both Of Them Knowing Well That If

Reuben Gave It Up The Thing Must Be Hopeless Indeed.

Here Was Another Stab For Adam'S Wounded Senses,  And With A Heavy Heart

And Step Eve Took Her Way Back To Him,  While Reuben And Joan Continued

To Thread The Streets Which Took Them By A Circuitous Road Home To

Knight'S Passage.

But No Sooner Had Eve Told Adam Of This Fresh Burden Laid On Poor Jerrem

Than A New Hope Seemed To Animate Him. Something Was Still To Be Done: