Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1895-01-31

kCenn, NOG during his hospital leisure
formed scheme OF inteltrual and
moral discipline, He forced himself
to an interest in the rcpulSiVe human
creatures and the dreary occupations
OF the prison. lie made mental
time. thlc, in which certain days or
hours wore to be given to the rccrl.
lection of particular fields Of knowl-
edge, certain days OF the mental
speaking of Latin, Greek, etc. Such
poetry rs he knew by heart he ar.
ranged for periodic mental repetition,
He did the same with the plots Of
AeSchyluS and others which he loved,
and could not obtain from the prison
library, lie told himself the story Of
Troy and the wauderingS Of Ulysses
on many a lonely aight, He traced
the minutcst rcceSSes OF his fellow
prisoners anatomy beneath their out
ward Srmhlarce, mentally dcpnving
them Of flesh, muscle, and Stncw, rs
easily rs Caryle'S imagination dis
possessed his fellows Of their gar.
mentS; and lost no opportunity Of Oh
serving whatever crossed his limited
field Of vision.
1t was weary work, but II saved
him. He fed his starving heart with
memories of hours passed with Lillian
and others dear to him memories as
fun OF pain as pleasure, particularly
those which recalled the few last vivid
days at Malbourue before his arrest
Yet his heart was Still bitter with
black despair.
Chapel going was droSry filing
and little calculated to edify one less
full of dcspairing doubt than Ever.
ard, 1t was difficult to preserve Il de-
votional spirit amid that crowd OF
foul-mouthed malefactors, who min
gled ribaldry and blasphemy with the
responses they uttered and the hymns
they sung for the sake of using their
voices
one day, Everalrl was aroused from
a mental review of the symptoms IN
n complicated and interesting case he
once conquered during the sleepy
dronc of the Lttany, by rush through
the air near him. followed by n crash.
He looked up in time to see the bent
head of the governor struck by the
shoe OF the prisoner next him, and
the governor himself looked mp in time
10 receive the second shoe full in his
face. This incident typical of many
similar ones, seriously intcrrcred with
the mornings devotion.
One drowSy. warm autumn morn
ing, about six months after his con-
victiou, Evcrard was more than usu-
ally depressed, and had taken refuge
in sorrowful dreams OF happier days,
The prisoners were quictcr than usual,
some doing. some refreshed by The
''Fe Deum" they had been loudly sing
ing, some really touched by the awful
pathos of the gospel which was being
read, when suddenly phrase seemed
to detach itself from the rest Of the
narrative, and. as If uttered by n
trumpet voice. to trace itself deeply
upon Evcrard's mind, waking him
from his melancholy dream, and
startling him into n newer life. The
phrase consisted of those heart-shak-
ing words, MY God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken meT
Every detail of the agony and cru.
cifiNlon flashed clear upon his mind,
strangely mingled with the feeling OF
calm strength with which the picture
OF Gethsemane In the study mt Nal
bourne had inspired him In the hour
Of his extremity. Tears rushed to his
eyes, and he .rembed. All those
weary months his heart had been echo
ing that most bitter cry, without re-
Numbering that Christ had been
forced to utter II In the hour In which
He accomplished mans redemption.
The darkness which had come upon
him in the prisoners dock at the dis
covery Of his friends baseness rolled
away, and he recognized his own
wrong doing. What was Cyril, after
all, that his faith in divine and hui
man goodness should depend on him?
Had he not idollZed the poor. weak.
erring lad, whom his strength should
rather have pitied? And what was
he that he shodld escape that dark
ness which brooded over the very
cross? How many men down the long
roll Of the ages had suffered bonds
and trcachery, being innocent2 Cy-
ril's cynical "She Is not the first"
flashed upon him, and ne wondered
that he should have cried out 90 loud
when he found himself enrolled In rhe
vast army Of the worlds sufferers.
What claim had he for exemption
from earth's anguish?
"rhere Is n God, and there Is good,
and the bitterest lot has comfort" he
said within himself, reversing his de-
spairlng utterance In the dock when
the conviction Of Cyrfrs treachery
flashed upon him, as he marched with
his fellow-suffercrs into the yard,
where an hour of sunlight and free
dom within four walls was permitted
them on Sundays.
The midday sky was transparency
blue and suffused with light, so that
1t was a 10y to look upon; the sunny
autumn air was sweet to breathe; and
the sheets Of sunshine fell pleasantly