St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-01-16
HIS DAY CT FREEDOM.

OF the saddlery shop been imbeddetl
into their beings that not one Of the
others looked up when the messenger
came in. and, after salutirg the guard
standing at his lighthouse-l;ked desk, ap-
preached and tapped STAB on the shoul-
der and beckoned him to follow. But
he knew. The convict understood. 1t
was liberty ut last. For - years he
had awaited it. And although the mes
renger's summons might have meant
n thousand different things to any
other Of the saddlery workers, it meant
10 him only that the pardon had final
" come. He felt as he followed the
messenger, doglike- in his docfie sub
mission, that this WAS the les. time he
would cross the threshold Of the saG-
dlery shop.
Twenty-Five years!
The time had passed in such sullen,
lcaden fashion, that after the first year
or two he had become uncertain a. to
whether he had coanted the day once
OF twice. He had not cared to inquire
of the guard. for the sweet puzzle Of try
ing to figare out whether it were the
month Of May or July Was an oceupar
tion for his mind, and it would have
been q distress If he had been set right
at tho time that he mistook Thanks
giving day for Christmas. for. 30 long
an he was not positive Of the point,
he had the somber satisfaction of cele-
hrnting both. The only continuity of
thought which lived to support him was
the thought that certainly at some
time his innocence would be shown and
he would be discharged.
He steadily thought of that Sum
day afternoon when he had lain on the
bed and had danced the two-year-old
boy and had allowed him to climb re-
lentlessly over him. even the pressure
Of the baby shoes upon his cheek hav-
ing. N he often remembered. been
sweet to him. He recalled that the
careful wife had spread a red comfort
er over the white counterpane. 50 that
the latter might not be disordered in
the rough play. How many times had
he remembered that! In the solitude
OF his cell he had dweit upon that Sum
day afternoon when he had played with
tho baby. until every detail-evcry
crack of the wallpaper, which showed
that the new house was settling. every
figure Of the design of the ceiling up
to which he had looked-was Us plain
to him as though now before his eyes
he was called upon to describe it.
And now the time had come. The
time for which he had waited so long
and SO patiently. He had yearned for
il INCREASINGLY. Studying over the
peculiarities of the crime with the com
mission of which he had been charged.
he had been confident that after years
the robber whom he had surprised in an
assault upon his own especial enemy
would be discovered, and it would be
shown that. although he had openly
hated the man who he had found
dead 1T his feet still he was not that
mans murderer. 1t would be known
at last that this sentence of his to life |
was monstrous injus-
lice. and he would be set free again. |
He would be permitted to 60 back. and
from an incognito point of view see |
his boy. Tho boy. growing. could have
known nothing Of him. of course. The
mother, who, he sometimes hor-
ribly thought, half believed him
guilty. would have safeguarded
from the child the dreaded
secret. He knew that, for he had in
xsxted upon this course himself on the
day before the party Of convicts. OF
which he was = member, were taken
down to the train, prison-bound. He
had pledged her 10 silence in this re.
rard. and, rankled by the bitter thought !
hat she herself wavered concerning
his guilt, he had supplemented the Oh
liration BY demanding that not by -isit
~ letter or other communication
,hould any risk Be run OF the child
|nrnin9 the real whereabouts OF his
parent.
sHe win be = bright boy" he said.
and SC Il possible he will be ten years
I'd before l am released. II you COM
muuicate with me- he will And It ont
"a be ashamed. Do not even write.
/ win remember you both, and it may
be tba. can the better deceive myself
INTO the delusion that you believe me
innocent II you do not come down to
pee me-
And With this compact they had eep-
rated. and the next day. mauaeled toa
neSro burglar. b bad gone on that
Erssyipg journey.