The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-02-27

! ing the different ideas which presented
| themselves, to seeking definite aim TO:
| his existence
Il must" said he s'find something st
| the same time novel, useful and defying.
/ must invent a task which shall occupy
my time, which shall be productive Of
some good and which shall have the value
of a protest" Another year was employed
in this search, and at last success crowned
his efforts
1t was a veritable dungeon, that in
which the prisoner lived, which the sun
entered but for one short half hour daily,
| and then 10y single ray, which was q
mere thread Of light. The bed on which
the unhappy man stretched his aching
limbs was pile of wet straw.
1.-The very thing" lie cried. with en-
ergy Now shall defy my jailers and
cheat the courts"
First he counted the separate straws
that made up his bundle. There were
1907 straws, a meager bundle
Then he made an experiment to find
out how long it would take to dry single
straw. Three-quarters Of an hour. Is
would require for them ALL for the 1, 307
straws, a total of $50 hours and Is min
utes, with half hour of sunshine day,
1861 days. Calculating that the sun
would not shine ut least one day out OF
three, it would require 10 years, month,
week and days. He set to work at onco.
Every day that the sun shone the pris-
oner carried a straw and put it in the sun
shine, busying himself thus whenever
there was sun. For the rest of the time he
Kept warm under his clothes the straws
which he had been able 10 dry
Thus ten years passed. The prisoner
slept on only third of the bundle of the
damp straw, and lie had stuffed in the
bosom Of his blouse the other two-thirds
which, one by one, he had dried
Fifteen years passed. Happiness I'M
speakablel Only 126 damp straws re-
manned
Eighty-four days more, and the prisoner
could scarcely contain himself. Proud CT
his work, victory over circumstances, he
cried, with the voice of an ayenger, with
mocking, rebelliols laugh:
"Ah, ali! You condemned me to the
vet straw of a dungeon! Well, weep with
rage, / sleep on dry straw"
Alasi cruel destiny was watching for
its prey.
One night, while the prisoner dreamed
of the happiness in store for him, in his
wild JOY he threw out his hands in speech
less exultation, overset his water jug, and
the water ran trickling down his breast.
All of the straws were wet.
What to do now? To begin again the
toll Of Sisyphus? To pass Is years more
putting straws TO dry in the slender rayg
Oh, the encouragement of it!
But, you say, he had only IL years
more in prison.
And do you count as nothing wounded
pride, fallen hopef Think, this man
would have worked IS years to sleep ON a
bundle of dry straw, and should he con-
sent to quit his prison with wet straws
clinging to his hairf Never!
Eight days and nights he writhed in
agony.
lie finished by acknowledging defeat.
One evening he fell on his knees, de-
spairing, broken.
20 God, " he cried in his tears, "par-
don me that have lost courage today !
have suffered for so years. l have felt my
limbs waste, my skin mortify, my eyes
grow dim and my hair and teeth fail me.
[ have resisted hunger, thirst, cold and
solitude. i had q hope which sustained
my efforts. / had an aim in my life. Now
it is impossible 10 satisfy my hope. Now
the aim is gone forever. Pardon me that
desert my post; that I quit the field Of
battle; that i flee like coward. l can
bear it no longer" Then in Il sudden sc,
cess of Indignation he cried:
''No, 10, a thousand times mol 1t shall
not be said that have lost my life for
nothing. will not desert. / am not
coward. No, will not sleep for a minute
more on the damp straw of the dungeon.
No, they shall not defeat me-"
And the prisoner died during the night
conquered, like Brutus; grand, like Cato.
He died of a heroic indigestion. He
had eaten all his stTaw.-Fr the French
of Jean Richepin.