The Trials of the Soldier's Wife: A Tale of the Second American RevolutionAbrams, Alex. St. Clair (Alexander St. Clair)
History
The Trials of the Soldier's Wife: A Tale of the Second American Revolution
Abrams, Alex. St. Clair (Alexander St. Clair)
Confederate States of America -- Fiction; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction
"You will have to track her," answered the clerk. "The first place you
had better go to is Elkin's drug store, for I saw the woman enter
there after leaving here."
Mr. Swartz made no reply, but taking up his hat he walked out of his
office, and proceeded to the drug store. The druggist, who had noticed
the wild and haggard appearance of Mrs. Wentworth, informed him, in
reply to his enquiries, that such a person as the one he described had
purchased several descriptions of medicines from him, and on leaving
his store, she had walked up the street. This being the only
information that the druggist could give, Mr. Swartz left the store,
and after many enquiries discovered where Mrs. Wentworth resided. He
immediately returned to his store, and mentioned his discovery to the
clerk.
"You had better go at once and take out a warrant against her for
robbery;" remarked the clerk, "and take a couple of policemen with you
to arrest her."
Starting to the City Hall, Mr. Swartz took out a warrant against Mrs.
Wentworth for larceny, and procuring the assistance of two policemen,
he started for the old negro's cabin, determined to prosecute the
thief to the utmost extent of his power and the law. Having informed
our readers of his conduct on discovering that his money had been
stolen, we will continue from where we left off at the close of the
last chapter.
Mrs. Wentworth on perceiving Mr. Swartz and the two policemen, had
pointed to the dead body of her child, and pronounced the solitary
word, "there," while her face became cold and expressiveless.
Involuntarily looking in the direction pointed out by Mrs. Wentworth,
the three men started with awe as their eyes fell upon the beautiful
face of the dead child. One of the policemen, who was a devout
Catholic crossed himself, and withdrew from the entrance of the door,
but the other policeman and Mr. Swartz quickly shook off all feelings
of fear that had passed over them.
"Here is de voman," said Mr. Swartz, pointing to Mrs. Wentworth. "Dis
is de voman who shtole mine monish."
As he spoke she turned her face towards him, but the mute anguish of
the mother did not cause a sentiment of regret to enter Mr. Swartz's
heart, at the part he was acting towards her.
"Arrest her," continued Mr. Swartz, "I vant you to take her to de
jail, where she can be examined, and to-morrow morning I can have her
up before de Mayor."
"Not to-night," exclaimed Mrs. Wentworth in a hollow voice. "Leave me
with the dead body of my child; after she is buried you can do as you
please with me."
"I knows better tan to do dat," observed Mr. Swartz, "by to-morrow
morning you vould be a pretty far avay from Shackson."
"I will not move from this cabin an inch further than to the burial
ground," replied Mrs. Wentworth, "but if you fear it is my intention
to escape, let one of your policemen remain here and watch me to
night."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account