The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-12-23

one row Of grating few feet before tho
other-keeps the prisoners from any
personal contact with tho outer world.
represented by the restaurateur and
his aids, the surgeon and the chaplain.
In tho roorl adjoining mine were con-
fined Greek and young woman, who
passed portion Of their time in sing.
ing to the music Of guitar and occa-
sionally tambourine. Much Of the rest
was spent in eating. drinking and sleep
ing, to Judge from the long intervals OF
silence But there were noisy episodes
which conveyed strong proofs that the
lady could scold as well as sing. and
sometimes the quarrels rose to a terri
bio pitch, O thump. followed by o
sc: Gam, furnishing the climax. 1t was
Christmas day The SHOW fell heavily,
deadening the sound Of the church BELLS
which. through broken pane, remind
ed me Of the holy festival. expected
to hear my neighbors sing hymns My
own time was devoted to my books
the only relief to an enforced solitude
Toward evening, while the guard
slept, distinctly heard the voice of the
man Greek He seemed to be growing
rather than speaking, and in the inter
walls Of his silence heard the female
sob Not q very merry Christmas, !"
thought l. Sometimes one voice rose
above the other The one was shrill, the
other loud and angry Then there was
q scuffle: then all was tranquil Night
had fallen. and had hoped the parties
had gone to sleep But again the muir
murs. the expostulations, the outbursts,
disturbed my quiet And now the wom-
an became voIuble. and smsnodic bursts
Of grief alone interrupted tho torrent OF
her eloquence Often the man called out
what appeared to be "Silencel' adding
q few words, none Of which was dis
tinct enough to be caught, in minatory
tone Then came another struggle,
words, bitter words stified cries, q heavy
fall, scream, silence again.
could not sleep What had been tho
issue Of the last quarrel? Had the
peace and good will" taught by the
Christian world was celebrating. ulti-
mately prevailed, and were the recent
antagonists illustrating the Horatian
maxim that the falling out Of lovers is
the renewal Of love? Or had the last
fall SO stunned the feebler Of the two
individuals as to render the revival OF
either love or anger temporarily impos-
Gible?
was not long in doubt 1t was past
midnight when was awakened by dol
orous cries and heavy sobs, vehement
protestations and earnest apostrophes III
the voice of the man. knocked loudly
at the wall to suggest silence He evil
IDENTIFY did not heed the knocking !
called out in good Italian. "Be quietT
1t was of no avail reused up the
guard and asked him what was the mat.
ter with the gentleman. My custodian
suggested he was drunk. l could not.
however. divest my mind of the idea
that deed OF darkness had been perpe-
trated
The night wore away. l could not
sleep l no longer heard the voice OF
tho woman. Even the man s voice was
hushed. But instead of tho usual sounds
my ear was assailed with knockings on
the floor and noise as Of a saw or file
at work. When the estnurateur came
round in the morning to take orders for
breakfast told him what l had heard
and suggested that the lady might be
ill and need medical aid He went next
door. but was sent away with the init
nation that nothing was wanted Tive
or three moro days elapsed. The tins
had arrived for my release On the very
day indeed when I was to be emsnci
pated my neighbors were also to be
freed. I heard the officers arrive next
door Some words were uttered, follow
cd by an alteration. Then the man cried
bitterly. What could be the matter:
More officers came. The man was fetter-
Cd and taken away Where was the wo-
nani H had stabbed her In his anger.
md under some absurd notion thak hor
s2iatAs0s would b foraoetsa BY the IN.
AAs.-Anf.-. L. IA S.A--s