For us, it was
bad business from beginning to end.
Henry wrote a letter to me, that just before his trial, before he
had delivered himself up, and while he was still under bail, he had
gone to see Sarah Scheimer on the little farm which was bought with
her money, and was worked, so far as it was worked at all, by her
drunken husband. The family were even poorer than the landlord at
Water Gap had reported. Sarah herself was miserable and unhappy. She
told Henry, when he informed her who he was, that if I had wanted to
see her or her son, I should have been welcome. She would have been
very glad to have had me take the boy and clothe him decently; but
she could not part with him, and would not have let me take him
away; still, I could see him at any time, and as often as I liked,
and the boy should grow up to know and to look upon me as his
father.
And this, really, was all I desired, all I wanted; and it was all
easily within my grasp, ready in fact to be put into my hands, and I
had gone ahead in my usual mad, blundering way, acting, not only
without advice, but against such advice as came from Henry at the
last moment, and had alienated the mother from me, lost the boy, and
had sent Henry, who was wholly innocent, to state prison for
eighteen months.
The poor fellow was take to Trenton and was put into the prison
where I had spent seven months. He was almost crazy when he got
there. His mother and sister went with him, and took lodgings in the
place so as to be near him, to render him any assistance that might
be in their power.
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