Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-01-24
FeTTeReo TO A oespERAoo.


was not out Of date at that time, and un.
til l die. shall bear some fiery letters on
my shoulder.
Twas arrested, registered, condemned
and sent to Paris. As left the court of
justice my terrible sentence rang in my
ears On the road from Paris to Bicetre
"A day and a night-the duh rolling Of
the prison wagon on the pavement re-
peated IL to me think must have been
stunned by the severity Of my doom, for
III have not the slightest recollec-
ton of the particulars of that jour
ney. "Hard labor for hfe,' l heard
nothing else, could think Of moth
ing else. Late in the afternoon OF the
third day the wagon drew up at the prison
door and entered. Ny name was then
written IN large book, banded with iron,
as though it was fettered
Number al7, green" said an officer
Then put on the uniform Of the gal
ley slave. 1 was no longer Francois
Thierry, but number 2O7 The officer was
present while was dressing
Hurry up; IL is getting late" he said,
and you must be married before dinner
~MArried,n repeated
He laughed as he Lit q cigar. was led
into Q big court where wiid-looking men
with clanklng chains were walking up
and down before 'he muzzles OF cannon.
1Bring number BOG, and call the priest"
cried the oficer
Number eo6 came in, dragging q heavy
I chain behind him, and with him robust
blacksmith.
The rlng OF an iron chain was put round
Imy ankle and forged together with .
single stroke OF u hammer. 4 like ring
bound my companion. Each stroke re-
echoed through the arches like the laugh
| OF demons The officer drew . small red
nook from his poke; and said:
Number 9e,, listen to our prison laws.
tf you attempt Hight and fail. you will be
,astinadoed. II you succeed in getting 10
the harbor and are there captured, you
will be doubly chained for three years
As soon as you are missed three cannon
shots will he fired and signals Of Of alarm
yin be hoisted on each bastion. Tele-
grams will be sent to the harbor guards
and to the police throughout France
And after the officer had read this he
relit his cigar and went out
| Twas now a prisoner, forged to another
prisoner As glanced at him found his
syes turned toward me. He was sinis-
ter-looking fellow. about 20 years old, not
any taller than I. but Of Herculean build.
@You are in for life." he said.
How do you know that exclaimed,
angrily
Il can tell by your cap. Green is for
life. Why are you heres" ErF.
Il conspired against the government
He shrugged his shoulders contemptu-
ously.
xThen you're an elegant one We other
pFisoners hate such aristocratic com
pany." M
y made no answer
This Is the fourth time that I've been
here,' my comparison continued Per
hAps you have heard Of Gasparo, the coun-
terfeiter,r
had heard Of the daring criminal, and
drew back trembling from his gaze. An
nneasy look in his eyes told me he had
noticed this shrinking. From that mo-
ment he hated me-
Gesparo and I. with 800 other prisoners.
were to work in a stone quarry on the
other side Of the harbor. Day after day.
rom sunrise to sunset, the rocks re-
sounded with our blows. The spring and
summer psssed and autumn came. NV fel-
low prisoner was Piedmontese. Ee had
Been counterfeiter. thief. incendiary and
when he last fed from prison he commit
tee . murder Heaven alone knows how
my snfferings were intensified by this
terrible companionship. How shrank
from the touch of his handl What loath-
ing took possession of me at night when
felt his breath on my cheek! 1 tried to
overcome this loathing, but in vain. He
new 1t as well as ], and took every op-
portunity to revenge himself. However,
would have been OF no avail to put my
seif In opposition to him, and any COM
plaint TO the overseer would Only have
provoked the wretch to worse tyranny.
At Last there came . day when has hate
seemed TO diminish. He allowed me my
nignts rest, ana the next morning ne
whispered In my ear:
Dont you want 10 escape
teit tne oiood rush 10 my Iace ana
'oulo not say WORD.
Ian You keep secret' ne went ON.
Nnui oeath!
wen, then. listen tomorrow Mar
snal AuSergue Will inspect the hafoor.
hOcks, prison ana stone quarry. Salutes
VIII De nred from the walls and ships,
~n1cn VIII make II difncuit to hear the
guards signal Tor the two escaping pris-
ners. DO you understand mes
Yes
what then. will be easier than to
Snock on the fetters with pickax, and
.scape when the overseer is not looking
'ur wayf Will you dare!'
with my hfes
your hand
had never before touched his blood
'tained and thieving hand. and I shud-
Tered as clasped it, The next morning
We had to undergo the inspection before
'oing to work An hour before noon the
rst salute from the harbor reached our
ara. The dull report went through me
ke an electric spark! Gasparo whis-