Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903, July 29, 1897, Image 2

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    THE TORCH of REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THCRSDAV, -Il I-V 21), IS!),.
w»e to m arrv BlHHChe. T hcre’d be Is it strange, th en , th a t the great-
GOLDEN THRONE.
no lawsuit then, and we could both e»t acts of wrong-doing should take
[ a romance by SAMUEL P. PUTNAM. J W|.<>y , he fo rtu n e.”
upon them a divine sanction, and
■ „ . „ ¡ „ . i 1,in,«elf an object of di-
“ Did B la n c h e accede to this ar-
m erito rio u s.- T h is in n a te
im a g in e d b im s tll an
J
BaVi,Kery of O rthodoxy breaks out
vinefavor. Some are so accustomed rangementV
« "IF )
to their villanv th a t it ceases to he
-S h e d id n ’t understand it as well at tim es,and we see its terrib le result
villanv in their eves, hut rather as 1 did, hut filially I persuaded in the red hand oi m urder, a father
justifiable, if not found out and her.”
slaying his own child.
'is is the
fortune favors Gooch had intended
“ But the fortune was hers any- legitim ate result of the old belief in
after he had obtained possession of way.”
m iracles and inspiration.
It is
B lanche’s fortune, to e n d o w s the«»-
“ Yes, legally.
I could have softened and defeated, I grant, in
logical sem inary; and this end made trouble, though; for it d id n ’t m any noble an d beautiful natures,
justified the means. He had tlior- seem right to come so near having th a t, clinging to O rthodoxy with a
»
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i
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a
. . £ 1 t A, 1 1 , .A-» I i i I Lll n I 1 11
tl tl H
oughly identified “ God” with every- a fortune and not have it. You sort of intellectual blindness and
thin g th a t was for his self-interest, see, if she had been dead, the for- weakness, are yet trained and de­
veloped by higher ideas. I bey do
He read the bible through the eyes tune would have been m ine.”
of his own lust: the whole plan of
“ So you thought you would kill walk som ew hat in the light of sci­
ence.
But in wholly ignorant
salvation from all eternity was an her by m arrying her? ’
arrai.gem ent by which Gooch could
“ 1 was willing she should live; m inds we see the 1« >gic of O rthodoxy:
he m ade happy. He never thought but I knew she d id n ’t need the and what is it but m urder and as­
of it in an y o ther light: the com- the money, and w ouldn’t use it for sassination, finding its im pulse in
m and to leave fath er and m other the glory of the Lord as I would, a so-called divine voice, within
and brother and sister was sim ply I ’m sorry she’s dead, hut I acted which is only the nam e for a fierce
anim al passion. T he Bible has
au th o rity to let these take care of for the b est.”
justified every crim e; and it needs
them selves, so far as m aterial
“ You’ll go to E ngland th en ?”
things are concerned, while he
“ Yes, there’s about a million <lol- no stretch of logic for a man like
couId he free to devote himself to lavs coming. I shall give a hu»»- Gooch, intensely selfish, t<> find au ­
thority for any wrong th a t will im ­
securing a h arp of gold.
dred thousand to the C hurch.”
This was the sum and substance
“ D idn’t you know th a t Morton prove his chances, and so add to
the coffers of his divinity. I ex­
of Gooch’s religion, a h arp of gold, was engaged to Blanche?”
If the h arp had been brass, I don’t
“ I rath e r thought so; ami I felt pect that Gooch believes him self to
thin k he would have been quiet so it my du ty to save her. Morton be a sort of am bassador of God, and
good a C hristian. Gold, gold,— w ouldn’t give a cent of money to so is capable of com m itting any
this was the all-devouring aim of the C hurch.
I m arried her, in crim e in his Deity’s name. C hris­
bis life; and Bible and Church and order th at the Lord m ight get her tian ity should not disown Gooch,
regeneration w *re valuable to him money. It w asn’t for myself th a t when at last the halter is draw n
only as they converge so this end. I cared, hut for the welfare of Zion. about his neck. He is the creature
He was ready to do anything for Our church at Scooptown needs a of its own teachings.”
C iL lil
its sake, and he had the wonderous new bell: and the people talk of
C H A P T E R X X V I.
facility of th in k in g that all he did startin g a m issionary sem inary
C aptain Furgeson returned to the
for him self he did for the Lord, there, in order to educate I he young “ A lbatross,” and reported the situ ­
Hence, he could com m it a crim e, men to preach the gospel to the ation of affai's.
w ithout a qualm of conscience. He heathen, and I was anxious to en-
“ I’m ready,” said the doctor.
was as cold as a lizard. N othing «low a professorship. You see how “ M orton will he awake in a few
could touch him . The ap p aren t m uch good I can do with the m inutes, and in prime condition.
death of B lanche had no perceptible m oney.”
We couldn’t have a better day.
••fleet. He did not care for her only
“ Did Blanche think as you d id ?” The sea is as clear as glass, and we
as she was an in stru m en tality to the
“ Not exactly, hut I think she
can walk through it as easily as
acquirem ent of w ealth; and, since would in time. Shese»*med to hate
through a meadow. The m achinery
her death gave him more complete me ami religion and everything .
,
___
sway, he had only a m echanical th a t was good. She was wilful. 1! (JS a ir
W ork slow and sure.”
and outside sorrow in view’ of it.
m ade o u t by the exercise of a par-
Morton was soon awake, When
“ Tne burial will lie a t two o’clock ental au th o rity to m arry her.
told, he cried : —
this afternoon,” said Soekdolliger. G rad u ally , she was becoming sub-
“ Is it possible? How brave she
u W ill you re m a in , g e n tle m e n ? ”
du«-d. Sin* se»*iued to feel the force
“ Yes,” said Paddie and W ill.
of my rem arks. If she had lived, I is! Now, we m ust show our spirit;
“ I m ust re tu rn ,” said C aptian think she would have become a and all will he well.”
“ Keep cool,” said the doctor.
Furgeson.
hriyht and shining light.”
“ I t’s all ov«*r w ith,” said Paddie
“ W hat a phenom enal hypocrite “ We m ust not hurry. Put your
to the deacon after Furgeson had the deacon is!” said Paddie to W ill, suit on.”
The grotesque suits were put on,
departed for his own ship, “ and
they sauntered alone to the
th ere’s no need of q u arrellin g ; hut, ship’s side. “ He can cover rascal- and Morton and the d«»ctor looked
really, I do not u n derstand your ity with the slime of his theology, j like a couple of immense ghouls
m arriage. It was sudden, was t it ? and swallow it whole. He could w’ith enorm ous eyes.
Paddie was somewhat of a diplo- easily convince himself th at it was
“ You see, I ’ve arranged a little
m atist, and he was determ ined to right to kill \o u or me, if by so do- com pass in your hand, and so can
find out-a th in g or two.
ing five cents could he put into the direct our course. We ehan’t ’fail
“ It was ra th e r sudden,” said the treasu ry of the L ord.”
to strik e the ‘Betsv J a n e ’ by the
deacon, “ hut it was kind ©’n atu ra l,
“ Tie is th a t m onstrous th in g ,” shortest path. 1 hen, I ’ve a few
after all. We were cousins. My said W ill, “ which only O rthodoxy torpedoes tucked aw ay; an d , if big-
m other was a Kennedy. You see can produce,— a hypocrite and £er
than we attack
us, we
ther«* was a big fortune in E ngland
rogue, who finds in the pages of an crtn f?’ve them more th an they bar
for tin* K ennedys, and I r«*ckoti to inspired hook justification for every gain for with these little cannon.”
Morton went to his task with a
come into it through mv m oth- act he can com m it. Of all crime,
e r’s rights; hut she was an heir inspired crim e is the w orst. It has determine«! spirit. He had not a
after W illiam and R alph Kennedy, no conscience, and it is incapable particle of fear, and he would not
and I found by inquiry th a t Miss of remorse. It can wield the knife allow him self to he disturbed even
Blanche was the heir of lioth. You of the assassin, and glory in the by th e m om entous results th a t m ight
see there was a conflict. I thought deed. D< h * s not O rthodoxy justify happen. Placed in such new and
the best wav to settle the m atter even m urder for the glory of its G« h 1? o ra n g e circum stances, about to u n ­
dertake what had never yet been
accomplished even by the most
daring, he faced the trem endous
journey with scarcely a trem or. He
m eant to succeed, if it lay within
hum an power; and he knew th at
only the utm ost steadiness could
carry him safely along.
All was ready; and they were
lowered into the sea, and sank into
its profound bosom. The waters
closed over them , and not a ripple
was seen.
They were in the awful depths.
They could com m unicate with each
other only by slow and aw kw ard
signs. Down they sank, u n til they
were a hundred feet below the su r­
face. Above, they could behold a
confuse«! and m ost dazzling light,
and occasionally coruscating colors
with infinite variety of movem ent.
Fishes glided by, and hardly seem­
ed to notice them , any more th an if
they were fam iliar m onsters of the
sea.
Around them rolled ever
the
th u n d er
of
the
deep.
Slowly, very slowly, they advanced,
as if they were clim bing an im ­
mense hill. The route appeared
interm inable, for there was nothing
by which to m ark the way. The
doctor, however, advanced as if
guided by an unerring instinct. lie
seemed to he at home am id the un-
travelleJ waters. As he turned to
his com panion, his eyes looked like
two blazing balls. He was like a
huge giant hewing his way through
the liquid wilderness. Morton fol­
lowed his firm step. He met all the
horrors of the deep with unflinch­
ing gaze.
At length, the doctor signalled a
halt. They rose by pressing the
air-valves, arid f«>und th a t they
were just beneath the “ Betsy Ja n e ,”
which like a great p lan et rolled and
heaved in the m idst of a sheet of
light. The top of the sea flashed
over them like a b rillia n t firm a­
m ent; and intense and splendid
hues chased each other with m vraid
evolutions, while beneath stretched
an awful ami unsounded darkness.
Here they rem ained, w aiting for
the prize to drop from the sp ark ­
ling firm am ent above.
All on board the ‘‘Betsy J a n e ”
gathered to listen to the funeral
service. B urnham and McConnell
were there, w atching with in ten t
gaze th e silent form, wondering if
indeed the spirit were in the mask
or in the reality of death, so v erit­
able it all seemed and so like a
dream .
C aptain Soekdolliger read the
burial service, the grotesque yet
wonderfully eloquent passages from
St. Paul. It m ust be adm itted th at
he read them with solemn and
heautiftil effect, for he profoundly
Itelieved every word th a t he u tter-
ed. He had undoubting faith in
the resurrection of the body,— th at
all would come forth from the sea
and land some day at the tru m p of
the archangel, and C hrist would
♦ I „ « a r» 1
T I a A *A O Hi!