Page:Black Jacob, a monument of grace.djvu/18

10 shrunk back from the bloody deed. He asked her, "if it would be right?" She replied, "Yes, for if the old man is not put out of the way, he will ruin my husband and brother. They are entitled to the property which he has taken from them, and only by his death can they get it back." But neither her persuasions, nor the repeated promises of reward, fully satisfied the mind of Jacob. He still hesitated as to his final decision.

To overcome his remaining difficulties, recourse was had to the use of ardent spirits, that fearful agent, which most effectually perverts the conscience and destroys the soul. From Jacob's long-established habits of intemperance, this course soon drowned all remaining sense of moral rectitude, and left him the complete victim of his seducers. The wretched woman, alternately reasoning with Jacob and ministering to his vicious appetite, prepared him to engage in the work of death. He was furnished by one of the men with a musket, powder