Morris tribune., 1883-03-31
FORGED TOGETHER.
A Wild Tale OF the Mutual Hatred of
Two CONNECTS.


A Wild Tale of the Mutual Hatred of
Two CONNECTS.
I am French by birth, and my name Is
francois Thieny. will not burden you
with my early history; but win begin by
stating that ] was sent to the galleys. and
find myself to-day In exile. Branding was
not out Of date at that time, and until my
death / shall bear some fiery letters on my
shoulder.
/ was arrested, registered, condemned,
and sent to Paris. AS left the court of
Justice my terrible sentence rang in my ears.
On the long road from Paris to Bicetre---all
day and all night-till we arrived at Tou-
lon, the dull rolling of the prison wagon
on the pavement repeated 1t to me. When
! look back to that time, think must
have been stunned by the unexpected severi-
ty of nay doom, for have not the slightest
recollection of The particular OF that jour-
pey. Hard labor for lifel" lizard labor
for nfel / heard nothing else, / could
think of nothing else. Late in the after
noon o. the third day, the wagon stopped,
the door was unlocked, and was led
through paved conrt, into hall that was
but family lighted. Here an officer asked
me my name, which he entered tn large
book, banded with iron as though it were
fettered.
mo. 2O7," cried the officer, "green."
Then i was led into another room, where
put on the uniform of galley. slave.
From this moment lost my individuality.
l was no longer Francois Thierry; but No.
2O7. The officer was present while I was
dressing.
Hurry up!" he sale; it is getting late,
and you must be married before dinner
married." repeated.
he laughed as he Lit cigar. was again
led through another corridor into damp
court, where Withholding men with clank-
ing chains were walking up and down be-
fore the muzzlcs of cannon.
Bring No. 2O6," cried the officer, land
then call the priest" No. 2O6 came in
dragging q heavy chain behind him, and
with him robust blacksmith.
The ring of an iron chain was put round
my ankle, and forged together with single
stroke of the hammer. A like ring bound
me to my conpaniop. Each stroke re-echoed
through the arches like the scernful laugh
OF demons. The officer drew a small red
book from his pocket, and said:
mo. POT, listen to our prisoners laws:
If you attempt fight and fail yen will be
bastinadoed. If you succeed in getting to
the harbor and are there captured, You will,
doubly chained for three years. As soon
as you are missed, three caznon-shots will
be fred and signals of alarm will be hoisted
on each bastion. Telegraphie messages
will be sent to the harbor-guards and to the
police throughout France"
After the officer had read this with terri
BILE satisfaction. be re-lit his cigar, put the
book away, and left the hall. was now a
prisoner forged to another prisoner. As
looked at him l found his Eyes turned to.
ward me- He was sinister-leoking fellow,
about forty years old, not any taller than /.
but of herculean build.
''Then you are in for life?" he said.
How do you know that2" / exclaimed
angrily.
II can tell by your cap-green is for lite.
Why are you here?"
II conspired against the government"
He shrugged his shoulders contemptuous-
ly. "Then you're an elegant one. We
other prisoners hate such aristocratic CON-
pany-"
made no answer.
"This is the fourth time that I've been
here" continued my campanion. Per
haps you have heard of Gasparo, the coua-
terfeiterP'i
l had heard of the daring criminal, and
drew back tremblingly from his gaze. An
uneasy look in his eyes told me that he had
noticed my shrinking. From that moment
he hated me. Gssparo and /, with two hum
dred other prisoners, were put to work in q
stone-quaIry on the other side of the harbo"
Day after day, and week after week, from
sunrise to sunset, the rock resounded to
our blows. Thus spring and summer
passed, and autumn came. My fellow pris-
oner was a Piedmontese. He had been a
thief, counterfeiter, incendiary, and when
he last fed from prison he committed
murder. Heaven alone knows how my suf-
ferings were intensified through this terrible
comradeship. How I shrank from the
touch of his handl What loathing took
possession of me when felt his breath on
my face at night / tried to overcome this
aversion; but il vain. He knew it as well as
I, and took every opportunity to revenge
himself in such ways as only depraved
mind can think of. However, it woald
have been of no avail to put myself in oppo-
sition to him, and any complaint to the
overseer would only have provoked the
wretch to- worse tyranny. At last there
came day when his hate seemed to dimin-
ish. He allowed me my nights rest, and
seemed to be in hurry. The next morn
ing, shortly after we had begun work, he
came close to me- and whispered In my esr:
do you want to escape2"
/ felt the blood rush to my face, and could
not say word.
''Can you keep q secret" he went on.
"Until deathl"
"Well, then. listen: Tomorrow Marsha
d'Auyerge will inspect the harbor, docks,
prison. and stone-quarry. Salutes will be
fred from the walls and ships, which will
make it difficult to hear the euara' signal
for two escaping prisoners. Do You under
stduu iuCt
yes"
what, then, will be easier than 10 knock
of the letters with the pick-axe, and escape
when the overseer is not looking our way 2
Will you dare?"
with my lifel"
"Your hand"
81 had never before touched his blood
stained hand, and could not refrain from
shuddering as clasped it. The next morn
ing we had to undergo an inspection before
going to work. An hour before noon the
first salutes from the harbor reached our
ears. The dull report went through me Ike
an electric spark Gasparo whispered to
mo-
When the first shot is fired from the
barracks, strike with your pick-axe on the
6rst ring of my chain close to the ankle"
A Sudden suspicion came over me.
'And if should do 1t, how can be
sure that you will free me? No, Gasparo,