The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-10-10

Will nave out one way Oh uoScenUlng, Dy
faling-fallng hap hazard into the gulf
and from any height. and on what? on some
unknown thing beneath. Or you will climb
up a chimney at the risk of burning your
self; or crawl through a sewer at the risk
of drowning. | will say nothing of the
holes which must be masked; of the stones
which you will have to remove and put
back twenty times day. or of the plaster
you must hide under your mattress A
lock presents itself, and the citizen has in
his pocket the key for it. made by the lock-
smith, but you. if you wish to go out. are
condemned to make terrible masterpiece;
you will make double sou and cut it
asunder with tools of your own invention:
that is your business. Then you will hol-
low out the interior of the two parts. being
careful not to injure the outside. and form
a thread all arOuud the edge. so that the
two parts may fit closely like box and its
cover. When they are screwed together
there will be nothing suspicious to the
watchers. for you will be watched; it will
be a double sou, but for yourself box
What will you place in this box? small
piece of steel, a watch spring, in which
you have made teeth. and which will be a
saw. With this saw. about the length of a
pin you will be obliged to cut through the
bolt of the lock. the paddock of your chain.
the bar at your window, and the fetter on
your leg. This masterpiece done, this prod
ICY accomplished. all the miracles of
art. skill. cleverneSs, and patience executed,
what will be your reward if you are de-
tected?-a dungeon. Such is the future.
" hat precipiceS are sloth and pleasure! To
do nothing is melancholy resolution. are
you aware of that? TO live in Incidence
Oh the social substances! to be useless. that
is to say. injurious! This leads straight to
the bottom of misery. Woe to the man
who wishes to be parasite, for he will be
vermin. All! it does not please you to
work! All. you have only one thought.
to drink well. eat WELL and sleep we'll.
You will drink water; you will eat black
bread; you will sleep on a plank. with fet-
ters riveted on your limbs. and feel their
cOldness at night in your flesh! You will
break those fetters and fly; very good. You
will drag yourself on your stomach into the
shrubs and eat grass like the beasts of the
field. and you will be recaptured. and then
you will pass years in a dungeon, chained
to the wall, cropping in the dark for your
watering. biting at frightful black bread
which dogs would refuse, and eating beans
which maggOts have eaten before you. You
will be WOOdlOuSe in cellar. All! ah!
take pity on yourself, wretched boy. still
SO young. who were at your nurses breast
not twenty years ago. and have doubtless a
mother still! implOre you to listen to me.
You want fine black cloth; polished shoes.
to scent your head with fragrant oil. to
please creatures, and be pretty fellow;
you will have your hair close shaven, and
wear a red jacket and wooden shoes. You
want ring-on your finger. and will wear a
collar on your neck. and if you look at a
woman you will be beaten. And you will
go in there at twenty and come out at fifty
years of age. You will go in young, red
checked. healthy. with your sparkling eyes.
and all your white teeth, and your curly
locks, and you will come out again broken.
bent. wrinkled, toothless. horrible. and
gray headed! All. my poor boy. you are
on the wrong road, and Incidence is bad
adviser. for robbery is the hardest of labOrs.
Take my advise. and do not undertake the
labOriOus task of being an ider. To become
rogue is incOnvensnt. and it is not nearly
50 hard to be an honest man. Now 90
and think over what l have said to you"
Victor Hugo in Les Miserables.