The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-05

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his own so steadily. the cool hand which
rested obediently in his, the girls normal,
composed InanReE repeated TO himself:
"Oh, certainly! Quite harmless"
1t was after 1thisSAab the keeper made
himself easy Theeezznina&ion Of cell No.
30 was no fongercensaaeraG necessary, No.
30 herself grew, paser ans ate but Hktle.
This could scarcely besaid to-distrezs the
keeper, whose family progted thereby.
Winter canae, and from her grated window
the poor young creature watched fhe year
grow gray. A-hew witherea leavesaatsered
in through thecasemcHt and she treasured
then-poor dead thinssl TREY were redo
lent of the free life beSoad tAe cruel bars
The swallows in the court yard caaplained
shrilly of the kHHgee aad beneath the caves
they huddled, plaaniAs themselves and
giving piteess little cries She weIld have
liked TO feed them. bat TIE family of the
keeper could use even the crumbs, and
harshly, he forbade her to waste good
bread. She was now very thin and her
eyes were brilliant with fever-that oon-
Stunning mental feverswAich burns in the
eyes otan great toilers who fanty they see
near them the desiFea e1pdffor which they
have strivenlCns and patiently toiled.
Now came the hong winter nights. when
tho rrbifa f1rrt1f Law thu Arr71r of IA
cell. The girl hated the moSn. 10 was a
great eye, she thought Calm. impartial,
all seeing, why did 10 watch and watch,
and wait and wait, the night through to
see what she would dor And it was so
cold-ahl so cold! And she turned her
back to the window and crept TO her bed,
drawing the covers up over her head to
shut out the hateful eye. And at last it
went away, and there were long dark
hours when its silver face was hidden, and
at Last she could move ,stealthify about her
cell at night: could SO On, silently and
swiftly, with the great work she had been
planning, without feeling continually spy
ing upon her the cold stare OF this nysteri-
Gus enemy. By this time she had won the
entire confidence of the keeper. She was SO
patient and docile. y
Ali more patient than this good man
guessed, and more cautious, too, and more
furtivel
And, at last, it happened on a cold, black
night when the heavens were overcast by
threatening clouds, and all earth's crea-
lures sought shelter from the bitter touch
of winters hand, light figure crept be-
tween the loosened bars Of cell window
and dropped noiselessly to the ground.
Swift and straight it took its way across
the court, never swervinsaneyer hesitating
in spite OF the impenetrabie darkness; for
Ia the slow elaboration of this mighty idea
all had been NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
with the triple patience which comes of
madness, of solitude and of imprisonment.
Yelled in the darkness No. 80 took her 81
lent way past the square garden plot. She
moved with the noiselessness and the Ger
tainty of a cat. She never stopped, but as
she moved rapidly she lifted her face to
the free night air as if she loved it and had
lorged for it. Her face was like moon
beam against the shadows of the night.
Its peculiar pallor seemed to radiate q
faint, unearthly light.
Almost as if she were conscious of this,
she bent her head and quickly covered her
face with her long hair. She passed on in
the shadow Of the asylum walls and paused
before the keepers quarters. Here there
was small door. Well she knew It'll Long
and patiently had she waited to hear from
some one through which door she must
pass to accomplish her grand purpose. She
stood here listening for an instant, then
thrust into the keyhole something she held
tightly in her hand. There was a faint
clicking sound-Shen a sharp squeak,
which might have been made by mouse
and little rectangle of darkness opened
before her.
Silence
The clouds gathered thickly over the
mournful walls of the asylum. A wild
night wind sobbed in the gauut arms OF
the leafess trees in the courtyard. A sin
gle star trembled for an instant in the
black mass OF moving clouds and was gone.
Suddenly a woman's sharpcry smote the
night air. 1t seemed to come from the
keepers quarters, but one could scarcely
tell whence it began, for it was instantly
caught up by the startled creatures in the
asylum and passed on from one to another
with varying and terrible modulations OF
fear. of anger, of insensate joyl The night
was soon hideous with their criesl The
panic spread. From. every cell came curses,
shrieks, groens, wslings and sobbings;
the sickening sound OF human bodies beat
ing against the invincihle bars which held
them captive; despairing cries mingled
with snatches of obscene song. The SON
orouS voice of Some frenzied orator deliv-
ering his theories; the heartbreaking
prayers of maniaos begging TO be delivered
from imaginary toTtures, all the horrors of
the bestial scene, inclescribahla a. it is aw-
full. enacted in these living hells, where
men and women live the lives OF Gagged
brutes, forsaken by reason and seemingly
by God.
The doors opened, and the director Of
the asylum made bis appearance among
the keepers. His face WAS pale. This was
unusually bad, he thought, even for the
violent wards Awakened freZn a deep
sleep by the horrible upPasr, he had feared
a general rsyS among the patients. Sud
denly a woman Appeared st the eRd of the
passage. She was in her night robe, She
held candle in her hand, and two children
clung terror stricken TO her skirts.
Here! Monsieur the Director' Herel
And OIL come Gui0klyw
The director moved toward her. He
recognized the wife of the keeper, De
samhre.
The woman began q mournful ltany,
broken by ftfu sobbfng. AIasi She
could hardly tell, She had been siesping!
There had bean saDething-she knew not
what. Her husband had bounded up in
bed had given q heavy groan, had fallen
back on his piEowi TAan dark thing
had sFEung from the bed right By her Ade,
glided across the Room down stairs, per
haps-who kDe<s2 She had been unable
to rouse her good mani Alas! Alas! And
again-alasl
The director followed the woman 10 a
nom in tie kasr,ErE' clTlarfers