The evening times., 1896-04-13
THE CRUEL MATRON.
Thrust Her Charge Into n Cell and
Securely Locked 1t.

She shut and locked the door AMI sup
| posing ii would be natural Tor me Ia appear
! to wish to get away went over to the door
| and stood by II ready TO rush out If the op-
portunty came. | didn't mean to get
away, however, even il ii we're possible,
and knew u wouldn't be with the stairs
and outer office !Tct ween me and the street.
When the door opened again she hlD Cket
! up I he cgrcSs and bciOrcl could make knu WI
my purpose she said:
That's right. cone along here" aud She
seized hold OF me with an iron grip, hei
fingers siuking into my arms. | then sa "
that there was Il StaIwarJ young officer
behind her. Take hold OF her on the other
side said the natron in an excited voice.
II don't want To go. screamed and held
back with all my might, Tor Jusl across tle
han | could see they had lighted room
which looked very bare and miserable.
''Eargon to her said tie matron. G!arin4
at me stonily: pull her along" ana the
officer certainly did hiS part. | couldn't
make out his face well enough 10 see II he
was the sane officer who had called me
Miss Smarty, but thought II likely lie was,
"a he was 50 rough with me.
They literally dragged me across the hall
and | kept wailins Il don't want to go
and cried and sobbed Historically. Tney
got tne over to the rCom, however, and the
officer thrust me into the cell with all his
strength aud slammed the door shut
The upper part OF the door WAS open,
with iron bars fixed in it. when they
shut ii they sprung the paddock aud stood
eyeing me with sai ABSTRACTION. Let me
Ouli lei me Dul! 4 eCErdlntu- stamping
The floor ana shaking the door by the
bars.
No. wen not let you out. and you'd
better keep stili,' said the matron. I've
got you wncFc l can watch you now, MY
lady
l tried to stop crying but could not
The nervous strain l had been under
had broken into hysteria. and | rcireated
10 the window and sobhed and cried
/ don't remember having done since l
was child. l was having excitement
enough now 10 please anyone, and though
| could not possibly control my weeping,
| was "A ware all the time that the necessity
of making "A scene was removed by this
piece OF business. The scene had been
without my yoii,ion.
what are YOU CRYING about. girl:''
said the officer, lecring through the hars
at me. say, come, now, quit II, VIII
you?''
The light was full upon me and they were
in the shadow. Fear of discovery and the
natural Discrimination 10 be stared at
caused me TO make rush at The door,
with my Bible up!iftcd.
Go away from here, You dcvil-devils,
devils, deviIs!' l snricked.
Both the officer ana nlatron rrtrcrted
precipitately, and as | made a gesture
as though l would throw the book they
at the end OF the hali. and left me to have
my sobbing fit out alone.
THE CURIOUS OFFICERS
About the time that / though, l had
quieted myself quite troop of officers
came to the door to gaze at he. The ma
tron came out OF her room to explain to
them all that she had put me in there where
She could watch me; that she couldn't do
anything with me in the other room. She
had not tried TO any extent that | could
remember, but what she said was or no
consequence to me. The thing that wor-
ried me was whether any OF those Officers
knew me. and having found a way TO dis
perse them, put it into practice, making
another rush at the door.
f.ar
matron. as they all stood together in the
rear of the hall. shes thoroughly vi
cious."
Crazy as a loon, isn't shc"'' srid one
OF them. What started her off, anyway
''Oh, she's go. religion. AMI wants to east
out devils" explained the matron. "She
was headed for the White House whent they
caught her. Sne thinks the President has
the prince OF devils. She's dangerous, but
she can't hurt anyone now. l can watch
her without going near her.
After a little they went away and had
time TO look at my new quarters. The
room was o? the same size as the other,
but it was so much worse in appearance
as 10 make the other one paa tial quar-
tesr in comparison.
The floor was bare and dirty and the
walls instead of being Cheerfuliy papcred
were whtewashed and hespattered with
tobacco spit. The ceiling was covered with
cobwebs and the windows dirty. There
was bed in either end of the room. and
such looking beds as they were. The COW
erlets Oh both of them were in a state
of disorder. and ! gingerly lifted them
for Inspection and found the matt rcsses
bcgrimed with dirt. The whole outfit On
both beds was in a state OF filth that
would make IT impossible 10 think Of seek
ing repoSe on them.
Beside these beds there was only an
old armchair and tin cup with stai"