The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-17
THE WARDER'S STORY.
BY JAMES {. HARVEY.

lows:
l, William Worthington, believing
that / am about to die, pray to heaven
for strength to tell tale Of wrong and
suffering | know not the year in which
/ am living. | dare not ask. | only
pray for strength to finish, for my wife
and children, if they still 1--we, the
story Of my woes. The shock Of freedom
upon my broken constitution is proving
too great, and feel that death is near
| was warder in the Tower Of London.
Every prisoner placed under my sur.
vellanCe for twenty years had been tried,
judged and sentenced by my inner con-
sCiousness, and as my intuitiOns led me,
so were they treated, though never VIC
lated a law.
BY this inner tribunal my own, |
judged that the Duke of Elton had been
a traitor to his King, and from my hands
he received no faEocs beyond the require
ments Of the law
| little dreamed that 50 great a person
age would wrca5l vengeance upon a vas
sal so far below him, yet his hirelings
gave oath, months after his release, that
during a time when the utmost watch
fulness had been enjoincd upon the
warders, | was found asleep at my post.
During that critical period the penalty
was death.
That very day | had walked far into
the suburbs of London, on leave of alb
sence to visit my family, and had re-
turned to take my usual watch from nine
at night until nine on the following
morning.
was weary and travel-stained, which
h1+ !
God i'll heaven l did not sleep on my
post, neither that night nor any
night during my years of serv ce.
A warder had once slept and al
lowed the escape of political prisoners.
He was accused of completely, and the
death cnalty had been instituted.
could prove nothing. l had paced
the corridors through the night, but the
prisoners had slept and could say moth
ing to save me.
Two men claimed to have passed
through the corridor as the clock struck
twelve, and upon their oaths affirmed
that | was sleeping. If they entered the
corridor at all, it was while | was at the
farther end, and they must have left be
innocence. The friends of the Duke of
seemed inevitable.
l had been foully dealt with, aad dur
ing a short recess l bethOught me of foul
means for escape.
had a s,aunch friend in the tower,
fellow warder. I would risk every
thing and trust to him The infinite
patience and kindness of a mothers love
had taught me to write, and carelessly
Will ho
steaIthily writing a word or two now,
and then, without detection. At last it
was finished, no whit too soon, for the
opportunity came at once to slip into
the warder's hand, unseen, this writing
Haste to the clock, outside the wall Cut,
with saw, a thirteenth notch. after the
twelve in the striking wheel, and save the
life of WILLIAM W0RrHiNGT0N'
With this paper crumbled IN his hand,
he gave his evidence which availed me
naught, save to prove that | was at my
post before eleven o'clock, aud that the
usual greetings were exchanged.
AS he passed out he gave me a search
ing look, but its meaning | could not
divine. l could not tell his bearing to-
ward me. If | were removed, my place
would become his, and | was little
above him. Would he risk imprison-
ment for himself to save me-
Midnight alone could answer.
was asked if had aught to say, and,
as though under the influence of a sud-
den recollection. | said:
"'These men claim that the clock struck
twelve while | was sleeping. At twelve
o'clock l was awake, in proof of which
know this: The great clock needs re-
pairing, for at twelve in the night
counted thirteen strokes of the bell. 1t
will probably do SO aga:n tonight.
Wait and see."
Oh, the horror Of those hours of wait
ing Three, Four! Fivcl Six o'clock,
and for the first time in twenty years,
save for my holidays, | was not in my
place. Seven! Eight! Nine. and still
the hours dragged on, YEARLY, when
bethought me of the all-absorb;ng issue,
| but much too swiftly if that wooden
wheel was untouched.
Ten and eleven % clock struck. Then
came the longest hour Of my life. Days
| and weeks seemed TO. pass, and all the
actions Of my life in slow procession
| trooped before me. l longed for mid
night, and yet dreaded 10 know what
fate it held in store for me.
Boom came the first stroke from
the great bell. With breathIess lips
counted the strokes, at each one press
ing finger into the palm of my hands
so hard that the nails pierced the skin.
Four fingers had thus closed on the
right hand, and over them the thumb,
recording the fifth stroke Four moro
on the left hand, and slowly over
then closed the thumb, like a band OF
steel. Eleven, The hands few oper
and l started forward listening, trem
bling, praying. Twelve. | could fee
the very vibrations Of the bell bea,in4
J against my temples as tie iron tongue
struck the side. Thirteen, Thank
God! He had befrjended me in ms
hour of need. I fell fainting to thC
floor, and from sheer exhaustion SLEPT
| until daybreGl.
believe that the Judges would have
reinstated me, could they have been al
lowed to use their own discretion, bu
powerful euem es were at work agalns
me and the freshly sawed slot in th'
striking wheel of the clock was dlscOv
further trial. The guards swOre that nc
person had access TO me after my arrest.
and thus left a doubt in their minds
This doubt caused them to modify thl
death sentence TO solitary confinement
in the lower dungeon of the tower
What modification!
Better death than that; better to know
that one swift stroke would end al
earthly suffering and that revengefu