One’s life is about having the spirit to persevere. chapter 1

A Strange Letter

As the saying goes, “A man lives for his pride.” There’s a story behind this saying. In the late 19th – century in a small town in the Midwest of the United States, there was a man named Jack. He was known as “Brave Jack” because he had been bold since childhood. When Jack was twenty, recommended by someone, he became an executioner in the local sheriff’s office. Although it wasn’t a glorious job, it could support his family, so he had been doing it for more than thirty years.

One year, there was a change in the political situation, and a general amnesty was declared. There wasn’t much work in the sheriff’s office, so Jack was at home enjoying his leisure time. He would drink some beer, go bird – watching, and have a little argument with his wife. It was a simple but fulfilling life. One day, he was sitting under the grapevine in his small yard, having peanuts with his beer. Suddenly, his wife rushed in from outside, waving a letter in her hand and shouting, “Honey, honey!”

Jack held his beer mug and didn’t even blink. After taking a sip of beer, he put the mug on the table with a straight face and said, “Dear, what’s all the fuss about? You’ve been with me for so many years, but you’re still so timid. What scared you?”

His wife’s eyes were a bit glazed. She handed him the letter and said, “You, you read it yourself.”

Jack took the letter casually and said, “It’s been a long time since we got a letter. Where is it from?”

His wife pointed at the envelope and said, “It was delivered by the postman. It’s from Chicago. And on it, on it…”

“What’s wrong with it?” Jack said as he looked at the envelope. To his surprise, even a brave man like him gasped. The letter was from his nephew, a boy named Tommy.

Tommy was Jack’s real nephew. Since his sister and brother – in – law died early and Jack and his wife had no children, Tommy had lived with them since childhood. He was like a son to Jack. Normally, a letter from his nephew should have made him happy, but Jack couldn’t be happy at all because his nephew had died five years ago. How could a dead person write a letter?

If it were someone else, they would have panicked. But Jack calmly opened the letter and read it carefully from beginning to end. The letter was mainly saying that Tommy was grateful to his uncle for saving his life five years ago. He had settled down in Chicago, got married, and had a son. Hearing about the amnesty, he finally dared to write to his uncle, inviting him to visit his home in Chicago. He wanted to thank his uncle and catch up on old times.

After reading the letter, Jack told his wife exactly what was in it. His wife said nervously, “Honey, are you sure it’s Tommy’s handwriting?”

Jack nodded. His wife was fidgety and said, “Didn’t you execute Tommy yourself five years ago? I went to collect his body on the day of the execution. He’s buried at the foot of the hill west of the town. We go to burn candles for him every holiday. Could this be a letter from the underworld?”

Jack slapped the table and said, “Nonsense! The letter says he’s married and has a son. How could he be a ghost?”

His wife hesitated for a long time and said, “Honey, was the person you executed not Tommy but a scapegoat? Did you secretly let Tommy go?”

Jack shook his head and didn’t say a word for a long time. He decided to go to Chicago himself to find out. But this matter was so strange that he was worried about leaving his wife alone at home. So he arranged for her to stay with a neighbor and then took a stagecoach to Chicago by himself.

In those days, transportation was not well – developed. The stagecoach was slow. It would take a whole day to travel just a hundred miles. Jack got on the coach in the middle of the night. He estimated that he would arrive in Chicago the next afternoon. There were three people in the coach including him. Because the society was unstable and there were many outlaws, there were few travelers. The other two people seemed to be merchants. They held their money – bags and dozed off along the way.

But Jack couldn’t fall asleep. He kept thinking about the letter…