The Jasper weekly courier., 1877-06-29

. wife he had taken under his protection.
: Or 70 his parents from whom he had
been previously estranged. On the way
back lo In. room, il struck him in mo-
ment thar he could enter the adjoining
room. occupied BY the young ladies m
question. seize their jewelry and make
up the loss without being discovered
Of course. the idea was folly and worse
But the man at that moment was not
sane, and the temptation oyercame him.
That night the deed was done easily
enough accomplished because he only
had 70 60 through the folding doors that
separated the rooms, and he undid the
lock quietly and noiselessly with piece
of wire. His arrest and incarceration
followed too quickly for him to write 10
his friends, but not quick enough 10 pre-
vent his determining on a line Of action.
overwhelmed with rem0rse and shame.
he resolved 10 bury himself from the
wife and family he had disgraeed, and
let them burst in ignorance before they
should know his fall.
I" have occupied good deal of time
IN explaining the position in which he
was placed. and how impossible il was
for him 10 rctrace the first fatal step.
Under the name Of Jas. ID. Wells he
pteaeed guilty at once, when arraigned
70 answer his next Indictment. and al
most the next train saw him bound for
the Missouri Penitentiary
HANDcUfFED AND sHAcKLED
with wretches whom he despised There
was nothing extraordinary in his con-
duet in the Penitentiary, except that he
kept by himself and maintained a dis
tance from the other prisoners which
none Of them dared to cross, even when
locked up with him in the same cell at
night. To him the Imprisonment had
been burial: he had. as il were placed
himself in tomb from which he could
not emerge. even when his sentence was
served He cared not how long it
should last, and pardon would have
elected no thanks from him He obey
ed the rules, but he manifested no inter-
est in any thing save one. The convicts
were allowed to work over time, for
which they received slight compensa-
ton, making trinkets, which were some
times purchased by visitors to the insti-
tuition. Wells took his money and SUBJ
scribed for the Cincinnati papers-a
that was noticed because
most of the convicts of those that could
read purchased either the ST. Louis pa
pers or some such periodical a. the Po-
Zee Gazctte. One day he rot shock.
1t was
DEATH NOTICE.
and notified him that his wife was no
more. Died of consumption after
long Illness said the advertisement.
Wells had never been in good health
since he came there. The doctor called
TO see him.
- IL j. heart disease, he said. and
incurable. | have left prescription
with him. If he l. taken again give
him some morphine. Let him have it
he needs it,
. Wells went 10 work the next day,
but he seemed possessed He did
every thing wrong, and disobeyed the
rules right and left. The guard checked
him three or four times. and finally or
Tered him 10 the dungeon. In the dun
yeon. you know, every bit Of light is
excluded, and the prisoner has nothing
% do except 10 sit on the stone floor
md think. The loneliness and silence
IRE something terrible even there.
The passage Of time Is not
noted. and the prisoner has no idea
whether il j. day or night. The mo
iotony has the effect Of putting the at
ention on a rack, in which il j. kept
II painful suspense through 10, 20 .
md sometimes SO or As hours.
The intellectual machine works with an
action. and passes through
tself thoughts. ideas and fancies which
nave already become monotonous and
vearisome. The silence i only broken
" the splashing Of an occasional drop
4 water, for the place j. too damp to
'e wholesome. The past rises before
i'm like a dream. and the fancy i tor
nented with familiar faces tortured into
shapes and expressions like
aces seen behind current Of heated
ir, loving and yet drawn into express
'oices are heard. II j. indescribable. Ii
! awful. II drives men to the brink Of
insanity and sometimes over the brink
ITO madness. Wells came out worse
han ever. Within week he was fog
ed, and he stood II like man. Only
fter it was over and he was putting on
i shirt, which showed Immediately
he signs Of fresh and clotted blood, he
aid that he felt his
HEART TROUBLING HIN,
nd he must have some morphine. It
'as given him--the small quantity
hich the physician prescribed. Having
rders to that effect the ap0thecary gave
i'm the dose prescribed whenever he
II al far n WallS unuSf have asked
,r ii pretty often. One night ! was
allied 70 his cell. Wells was stretched
ut. Between his gasps he told me that
Q had kept the morphine given him
ntil hc had accumulated sufficient 70