american tragedy

Chapter 132 (2)
Chapter 322 (2)
"No, sir. I was expecting another call, and I was telling my husband to listen too. We all waited, but there was no more call."

Then Belknap, bent on proving that it might have been a cry of fear, and not of pain or injury, cross-examined her, and after another round of questioning, found that she and the latter were taken to the witness stand. The same cannot be shaken by her husband.They insisted that the very miserable feeling aroused by the woman's call could not be removed from their hearts.The sound made them both terrified all the time.When they got to the camp, they talked about the call.It was dusk at that time, and he didn't want to look for the place where he made his voice. She thought that some woman or girl might have been killed in the woods, so she didn't want to stay any longer, and moved to another lake the next morning.

Then there was Thomas Barrett, another guide from Atlondax, working at a campsite on the lake.He testified that at the time Donahue mentioned he was walking along the shore towards the Great Buckton Hotel.Not only did he see a man and a woman on the shore of the lake just mentioned, but he also found the tents of these two campers in a farther place, also on the south bank of the lake.He also said that it is impossible to see the boats in Moon Lake no matter where it is outside the Moon Lake, unless it is near the entrance.The entrance is very narrow and completely blocked from the view from the lake.There are other witnesses to testify to this.

At the most appropriate moment for psychological factors, the afternoon sun had dimmed in the tall and narrow courtroom, and Mason read all of Roberta's letters aloud according to a well-arranged plan.Read them one by one, in a very plain, undisguised tone, with the infinite sympathy and emotion that aroused him when he first read them.These letters had brought tears to his eyes.

Read the first one first, the letter of June 14, just three days after she left Lycurgus.Then read one by one, and read No.15, No.16, No.17, and No.[-].In these letters, she mentioned some sporadically, or mentioned important key points.In this way, she explained the whole process of her relationship with Clyde, until he planned to see her within three weeks, then extended it to one month, and then agreed on July [-]th and [-]th, and then, she suddenly Threats made him suddenly decide to meet at Fonda, blah blah blah.When Mason read the letters, there was excitement in the room.Weeping eyes, handkerchiefs wiping away tears, and coughing, among the audience and jurors—sufficiently testify to the force of these letters.

You want me not to worry, not to think too much about my feelings, and to have fun.You are at Lycurgus yourself, and you have your friends all around you, asking you everywhere, and of course you may say so.If I say something at the Wilcox's, it's often overheard around, and you're always reminding me that I must never say it, I must never say it, and I'm really embarrassed.However, I have something to ask you, but there is no chance over there. You just said that everything is fine, but you didn't say for certain that you will come on the 27th.You just said that for some reason (I couldn't hear the voice on the phone because of the noise) you might not be able to leave, but it would be later.But it won't work, Clyde.My parents are going to my uncle's in Hamilton in three days, Tom and Emily are going to my sister's on the same day, but I can't and don't want to.I can't stay here alone, so you must, must come and do as you promised earlier.In my current body, I really can't wait any longer, Clyde.So, you must come and take me away.Ah, please, please, I beg you, this is the end of the matter, don't delay and torture me any longer.

and also:

Clyde, I came home because I thought I could trust you.Before I left, you told me so solemnly that as long as I was willing to go home, you would come to see me in three weeks, and you said that you would not wait too long to raise a sum of money for our reunion or you Overhead until otherwise finding work elsewhere.I will be leaving for a month until July [-]rd, but yesterday you did not decide whether to come or not, and, I told you later, my parents will definitely leave on that day to live in Hamilton for ten days.Of course, you said later that you were coming, but when you said that, it seemed you were just trying to comfort me.From that moment on, I have been saddened by this.

Because, I should tell you, Clyde, I'm sick, not very sick.I almost always feel weak.Besides, I was really worried, what would I do if you didn't come, it made me feel dazed.

I know, Clyde, that you don't care about me any more than you used to, and you just wish things were different.But what should I do? I know that you are the one who says all this is due to your fault, and on the other hand it is my responsibility.People might think so if they knew about it, but how many times have I begged you not to force me to do something I don't want to do! Even at that moment, I was sure, although I love you so much and I don't want to let you go Go, you still have to stick to your mind.

Clyde, I wish I were dead, that would be great.That's the end of it.Lately I've been praying, praying, that I'm dead.Really, I prayed, because life is nothing to me now, far less than when we first met and you loved me so much.Oh, those happy days! If only things hadn't come to this! It would have been better for me and all of us if I hadn't met you, but not now, Clyde, I can't do anything else. Not a penny, not an iota of way to get legal status for our kids.But if it hadn't been for the shame and pain it caused my family, I would have ended it in another way, I really do.

and also:

Ah, Clyde, Clyde, what a miserable life this year is compared with last.Then you and I went hand in hand to Crane Lake, Fonda Gloversville, and one of the other lakes near Little Falls.But now... now, alas! Some of Tom and Emily's boyfriends and girlfriends came to pick strawberries with them just now.When I saw them go, I knew I couldn't go, I couldn't be like that again.I cried, cried, cried, cried for a long time.

最后:

Today, I've been saying goodbye to a few places.There are many corners here, my dear, and all of them are so dear to me.I've lived here all my life.First there was the derrick, with the mossy sides, I said good-bye to it as I walked by, because I wasn't going to be back here anytime soon, probably never, and the old apple tree, We used to play under it when we were kids—Emily, Tom, Kiefe, and I; and the "dream house," a little house in the orchard, where we sometimes played.

Ah, Clyde, what all this means to me is beyond your comprehension.I have a hunch that this departure may be a farewell.And my poor mother, I love her so much, but I've been cheating on her, and I'm so sorry.She never loses her temper and is considerate.Sometimes I want to tell her the truth, but I can't, she has suffered enough, and I must never break her heart again.No, if I go now, when I come back, or after marriage, or after death, it makes no difference now, she will never know, and I will never make her suffer.For me, this is bigger than life.Well, Clyde, goodbye until you and I meet again, as you said on the phone.Forgive me for the trouble I have caused you.

you sad

Roberta

Mason wept himself as he read the letter, and when he turned to the last page he was terribly tired, but he was very proud of it, which he thought provided a complete argument."The people have read," he said aloud, and by this time Mrs. Alden, who was in court with her husband and Emily, was whimpering and screaming not only because the trial was too long but because the evidence was too exciting for her. With a sound, he fainted forward.Clyde was also stimulated, and when he saw her yelling and falling down like this, he jumped up suddenly.Jefferson stopped him at once, and took him by the hand, and the constable and others helped him out of the courtroom, with Titus beside him, to the almost equal indignation of the spectators who witnessed it, and utterly loathed Clyde, It was as if, here and now, he added another crime to his crime.

But after a while, the excitement passed, and it was getting dark. The clock in the courtroom pointed to five o'clock, and the whole court was tired, and the judge immediately announced his retirement.

All the journalists, feature reporters, and art reporters immediately got up and chattered among themselves: The defendant's defense will begin the next day, who will be the witnesses, and where are these witnesses; in such a passive situation, whether Clyde will be allowed to personally Appearing in court to defend, or let his lawyer come up with a set of similar excuses such as spiritual and moral weakness, the result may be life imprisonment, which will not be lighter.

And Clyde, when he walked out of the courthouse, people cursed at him, he thought: They have been preparing for tomorrow for so long, but will he have the courage to go to the witness stand? He wondered, is there any other way (On the way between the detention center and the court, he is not handcuffed)? Well, tomorrow night, when everyone is standing up, the crowd is moving, and the police officers are walking towards him in the distance. As soon as he could run, or walk leisurely to the steps, he would run as fast as he could for his life...to...well...anywhere...to get out of the little side door by the big staircase.He had noticed this side door before! As long as he could run into a wood, and then walk, or run, eat without stopping, until he escaped, no matter where he escaped, that was the only way. What a chance! Sure, maybe he'll be shot, or dogs and men will come after him, but it's an opportunity, isn't it?

And now, he has no chance at all.After this interrogation, no one will believe that he did not commit murder.But he does not want to die like this, never wants to die like this!

So another cold, dark, weary night passed, followed by another cold, gray winter morning.

(End of this chapter)