The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-09
LA GUILL0TINE.
From the Chicago Record.


Paris.
June %. 1890.
AS the first gray Of dawn began to
steal through the grated window Fernan
rose from the narrow iron bed and, de-
manding a pan OF water from the death
watch, bathed his face and arranged his
hair before little mirror that hung in
the cell. Then he went to the window and
looked out.
In the street below a crowd was already
collecting. The twilight of morning SEEM
ed to have a hushing influence upon them.
They were talking eagerly and pointing
upward to his cell. but they spoke in I'M
dertOnes. From his position, sixty feet
above them, he could not distinguish
words. Fernan regarded the crowd with
curious scorn. They were but a herd of
bloodthirsty beasts. He would lie down
and sleep again. But the crowd fascinated
him. 1t was growing lighter and he could
distinguish faces and words. He tried to
catch what they were saying, then, as he
still looked, he saw them only as one who
looks beyond the object of his vision He
had taken a step backward. He was liv-
ing MS life over The sands were running
out with terrible swiftness.
the head Of v6nthfri Souas II fna 5'
does There lad been a midnight raid
an alarm-a sab in the dark-a squirt of
warm blood in his face, then fight-to
Paris.
The panorama was reviewing itself
swiftly before him. A fugitive from JUS
tce. A member of a bold and reckless
band of outlaws. Their leader. The ter
ror and admiration of all Paris. Arrested
tired and acquitted amid the cheers of
the populace. Back to his old associates.
more reckless. more daring, more dashing,
more terrible than ever.
The hero of a beautiful woman who had
sacrinced the world to become his slave
who, as time went on and he had become
debauched and degraded, had lied, cheated
and robbed for his comfort
what had he given her in return? A
brief passton-then kicks, curses and ridi-
Guile; and then-and then
A sickness came over him, and he
elutched the iron bars with trembling
And then-death. She had been i'll and
unable 70 OBEY his commands. In a drunk
en- rage he had beaten out her brains.
He was no longer the hero of the popu-
lace. Arrested, tried and convicted. The
people that crowded the court room had
ss app the sentence. They were, eager
for his blood. They were filling the neigh
boring wineshops, chattering, laughing
and waiting.
There, was the grating of a key. Some
one had entered. A monotonous voice he
gan reading, and again the sickness came
BY !5y and by hand was laid upon his arm.
No word was spoken in the corridors. A
guard walked on each side holding his
arms. Two more marched in front. two
followed. Their boot heels clicked in ree,I
lar measure on the stone floor.
As Fernan mounted the last step Of the
scaIIold MS eyes swept to the horizon of
a. Writing 1,ing and motley sea The hum of
tts living waves was in his ears Its
human tide was breaking heavily against
MS life. He WOULD be overwhelmed.
Suddenly he began desperate struggle
Tor freedom. The delighted crowd bo9feS
ana yelled, and rushed over each other in
tii Ear, nerce endeayor to get nearer view.
II a. SrHah was dying hard. He grappled
WIN one OF the guards and threw him
Two others We're upon him Instantly: then
d ~ an moment there was wild confusion
The crowd, now frantic with delight
We're charging upon the scaflold, a surgine
W. Wa t,t,o Oh shrlseklng humanity. The Gordon
put as yet held them at bay.
II seemed at first that Fernan would
f s6rovgu Dut ne was empowered and
ms hands, two other were at his feet, and
a nth sat upon his PROSTATE form.
e., d ne, old Inc, not stop to strap him to the
| hrmly the still jerking quivering limbs,
slowly urged the sliding plank forward be-
tween the great uprights until his neck
was beneath the knife. Then there was a
sudden flash of light, a second of brea The
less silence, and Fernan's head rolled into
the waiting basket.
The crowd, no longer to be controIIad
| broke through the ranks of police. tram
pied and fought over each Other. to gain
the scaffold. Those who succeeded stood
gIoatng over the discovered head until
the guards beat them away
One man holder than the rest grabbed a
handful of the bloody sawdust as a SOU
Yenir Then, as one of the guards held
Fernan's head to view, there arose a shout
that threatened to burst the threats that
uttered it.
A moment later the crowd was dispers-
ing. The neighboring wineshops were
again filled with chattering, Laughing.
drinking humanity. He with the sawdust.
envied and admired by all, trudged home,
ward, his treasure still clutched in one
blood-stained hand.
Albert Bigelow Paine.