Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-05-28
THE CONVICT OF TOULOUSE.

On the 18th of October, 1850, the moon
shone-brightly on the prison of Toulouse,
softeping with It's mellow. light the hard
outline Of the gloomy walls. II twas Bit
terly cold; one of those sharp, frosty
nights that gives us foretaste of the
coming winter, and that even in the
south Of sunny France makes us shudder
with satisfaction as from the warmth of
our beds we hear the wind whistling
without The whole town seemed buried
in sleep; not soul was stirring save the
guard, who paced now and again in front
of the massive gateway. Clear and dis.
tinct through the midnight air were
heard at intervals the silvery tones of
many a clock as they struck the hours of
the coming day. = The prison was full to
overAowing that night; crammed with
the elite of the Faubourg St. Antoine
lust arrived from Paris on their way to
CAYENNE. SaJules Renette was one Of The
number; Jules Renette, who but four
short months before had been the hope
and prop of his fathers house, and now
convicted felon at the galleys of Tou-
louise. There he sat alone in his small
damp cell, haggard, cold, and numbed,
motionless in his despair 1t was not
that he cared for life, or dreaded the
prospect before him; he< sould have
borne that with nsaJ - Nm, for Jules
Rene,Ye - iSSSSAn. But
the past dragged him heas down, and
wrung, hisr verv soul ~ ithinV him;
the memory of the happy home he
had 1eft, and the crime he had
committed. In one mad hour of youth
full folly he had thrown away the chances
of n lifetime and blasted forever the
homes of his family. Maddened with
sucb thoughts as these. he determined to
make one struggle for liberty. Fortune
favored the attempt. The cellinto which
he had been thrown had long been dis
used and the iron bars of the window,
worn with. thetrust of centuries, offered
but n feeble resistance to the efforts of a
strong and desperate man. He burst
the bars. and. leaping a dizzy hight to
the ground, escaped wounded and bleed
ING. hut still alive and free. to the open
conntrv. His first thought was of his
home. The happv home of his boyhood.
ten miles away on the banks of the Ga
rome Pursuit when the morning came
he knew was certain. Lame and bruised
in every limb he could hardly drag him
self along; but the desire to see once
more his father and mother to know
their state and TO receive their forgive
ness overeame allobsta cles, He turned
his face homewards. Through the weary
hours of the night he toiled on, wishing
for the day. vet dreading its arrival,
vearniug for the first view Of his old
familiar haunts. vet afraid to be there
lest the bloodhounds of the law should
he there before him.
Day at last broke and found him. faint
and Exhausted. two miles vet from home;
he stopped at a cottage and begged some
thing to eat. and concealment while he
rested awhile. But he found the inmates
Of the cottage in the greatest distress.
Fonr Iittle Children sat trembling in
corner their mother beside them weeping
and tearing her hair. and the father, an
ala man az seventv wears was walking
the floor in agony The roomitseIf pre-,
sented the annearance of the most abiect
novartv. no.ere was LIGHTED in the stove.
f'be window almost destitute of plass its
hroken onartnres va;nlv stonned mn with
.tattered 'rags. afforded no protection
.s,,a;nst tho Teen wind tbat swent ruth
iesslv tbrough the chamber. Two or
three broken chairs. an old. table. and
something hat Looked as IL n had in
hetter days been a he'd stretched on the
hare floor: these were the only articles
Of S,rn;tnre 4 few toys-an oil don
baadless an ormIess n wooden horse
,bat v'oTs onoe ,,ranJ with na;ut and leather
had been the cbildren's great ioy. a
s1s Sa0sen ar SOp IcarsS ah1 UI5eT SroOS 1OSs ppe
W Tba conv;c, ,oncbed with n;tv in
or;red tba canse ~ sncb distress The
T+has .s,1;sJ thot tber ,va,,,. that morn
~ 20 be turned ont Of doors ,hecanse
hee,, e ~ oorId NO., nov tLe;r rent
'"f S!Yon ySris Soc nj driven 70 desna;r he
so;d. @mv w;fe and little ones without
Tod or sbaIter and I without means Ia
tUou nror;Se AZ s them anr" T
fJnles listened 10. the sad tale with
taars of svTnnathr lie thoueht of his I
fstber's bousa bnt two short miles away I,
Mhs he tbongLt of once more clasping TO