There were was
oftentimes we see,
Two chums who seemed so wonderfully attached,
Room-mates at college, friends so true,
It seemed that they were rightly matched.
Each told the other all that passed
Outside the college halls,
And each was ready to assist
When should the other call
But fate
ofttimes is cruel!
It binds with cords of steel.
And causes deep and painful wounds
Which time can never heal
One of these boys commits a deed,
So dastardly a crime,
His friend is shocked and yet he tries
To hide the guilt just at the time.
In doing this
he makes himself
A prey to supposition.
Both are convicted, both must hang,
Unless a commutation.
An accomplice, so the sentence read,
To such an awful deed:
To hang him is the proper way,
So that others may take heed
But he has an
anxious mother,
Whose love for him holds true.
Believing he is innocent,
She tries what she can do
To prove it to the public,
Though the sentence has been read.
She risks her all in trying,
While bitter tears are shed.
Through the
evening, dark and gloomy,
With no light for her ahead,
Tottering form and eyes all tear stained,
On she moves with feeble tread.
To the home of yet another,'
Whose face as well bears sign of grief.
Such a meeting, such a pleading
With words which seem beyond belief.
The one the
mother of a convict.
Which is soon to meet his doom,
The other mourning for a daughter,
Not long ago laid in the tomb.
If we pause and think a moment
Of the sorrow of the two,
How our hearts for each will reach out
To heal the wounds again made new.
The daughter
left her home and mother,
Led by an influence strange but calm,
To meet the one which proved to be
A murderer in fiendish form.
How could this young girl's mother
Express one word of cheer!
She was seeking retribution
For the life of one so dear.
And finding
there no hope, no cheer,
She leaves that home in sorrow,
With a firm determination
To try again tomorrow.
When morning dawned, still crazed with grief,
She sent a messenger
To plead for justice for her boy,
Who was all the world to her.
Nothing gained
in this, she leaves
Her home alone and sad,
To plead as but a mother can,
From all the source she had;
Her plea has proved of some avail,
But now to what extent;
Four days of respite only four
From the governor is sent.
The murderer
must hang at date,
Fixed by the court to be;
Will a confession come at last,
To set the other free?
May God who rules the universe,
Bring about the truth, though late,
And if the boy is innocent,
Save him from such a
fate.