Beadle's Dime Novels No. 38: The Wrong Man — page 90: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

82 THE WRONG MAN, noble-hearted hunter. ’Twere a vain task. I will not ask you, gentlemen, to consider the numerous acts of kindness whicn he was always perpetrating with a high and open hand, nor his undeviating, eternal, immutable and unchangeable benevo- lence, generosity and piety, nor the trials and sufferings which he underwent and endured in making his extensive journeys through the trackless forest at the most inelement season of the year; nor the self-sacrificing devotion with which he toiled in order to accomplish the dream of his life—that of. building a church edifice which, through all coming ages, should stand as a living monument of the love, benevolence, unbounded generosity, unparalleled piety, extronnery perse- verance, and indomitable determination of the founder, Mr. Edward Overton. I will not ask you, I say, to consider these, gentlemen. ’Twere a vain task. ’T'would be an insult suppose that such intelligent, educated and accomplished ci izens as yourself had failed to take in all the points of evidence which have been given in this morning. “T shrink aghast horror-struck from the contemplation of the inhuman murderer, who in the dead of night, with uplifted arm and iridiscent dagger, stole up to his victim and let out -his life-current upon the ensanguined turf. I do not ask ‘Who is he? where did he come from? how many crimes like these has he committed ? why did he come here? I don’t ask you, gentlemen,‘ Why did he come here? Peradventure, he can answer that question himself better than any of these constituents which surround him. I do not refer, gentlemen, to the suspicious circumstances—and I use a mild term, gen- tlemen, when I say suspicious cirewmstances—I do not refer, gentlemen, to the suspicious circumstances which has brought this ’ere prisoner here. "Twere a vain task. I only ask you to consider the merits of the case. Think only for a mo- ment of the character of this characterless adventurer who makes his appearance here, unheralded and unknown, and the noble-hearted fallen hunter, whose sole object that he lived for was that he might erect a church edifice that through all coming ages should be a living monument, etc., and who, to_ accomplish this Herculean and saintly and good task, was accustomed to make extensive journeys through the trackless forest at the most inclement seasons of the year. I do not Commicbooks.com