Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-22

This is some dream" was the mans
first thought ''Oh, If I could prove II
reaI!'
He lay there in the long. cold grass
afraid to move although the night was
so dark What stirred him chiefly was a
wonderful sweetness of the air; clean,
fresh SAVIOR that he had not known Tor
wears 1T was never like that in there,
he thought
Without lifting himself. he turned half
round. and his eyes strained at the dark-
ness Then it was that he began to thlnk
he was alive and awake Behind MN. not
twenty yards away. rose the huge black
mass of the prison.
Thank God. 1t was true, then; he had
escaped: he was free. All the others were
in there. locked in their cells, and every
gate and every door locked; and he, ne VINO
had endured six years, was free. The io-
erty that God destined for all His creatures
was his at last. He rocked himself Tor
10y rolling to and fro in the sweet. moist
grass. 1t seemed, all at once. so natural
He had longed to escape, he had dreamed
of escaping and he had escaped.
Then he wondered how he had done It,
but he could not in the least remember
what had happened since he had quilted
his cell for work in the carpenters shop
in the afternoon. 1t puzzled him, yet II
did not seem too strange. He thought ne
must have slipped in letting himself down
from the wall and tainted on falling But
he was not hurt in the least; he had never
felt such strength in him. such hghtness
1t was dark, rich night of summer, no
moon. and scarcely the simmer OF d
star: il was the very night he had hoped
to escape in He sat up in the grass, and
considered what he should do: turned 1t
over in his mind comfortably. without the
least anxiety.
He would go home. Home. that had
seemed so far when they locked him in at
night-every night of six unending years
seemed no farther than the edge OF
this warm, dark, quiet field, where no one
was stirring. He was sure he could be
home before daylight.
He Crept to his feet, and then, dark as
IT was. he fancied that he stood very high
He missed the whitewashed roof of the
cell which he could almost touch with his
head, reaching tptoe. and the sense OF
space above him gave him a feeling of
greater height, and he asked himself IL IL
were possible for him to be seen.
All this time he had been utterly alone,
and this sense of solitude made him think
that ne had put the prison leagues behind
himS but as he stood up he heard voice,
or voices. not very far away The echo of
the voices shook him. He remembered
that, when his flight was discovered. he
would be pursued He threw himself In
the grass again. and began to steal away,
Crawling. Then he rose, ran, and stopped.
There were no lights about the prison.
He stayed, painting; perhaps they had not
yet found out But he could see shadow
figures growing in the black beyond; he
was certain that he saw them; they made
marks upon the darkness. If they were
warders. there should be lanterns with
them; but perhaps they were scouting with
their lanterns hidden, and would form a
Gordon round him, and close In on him.
He forgot the hope of home, and ran blind
ly for safety. He wished, in his terror,
hot no. hon otyair in
The whistle of an engine sounded II
seemed not very far in front of him. and he
ran toward the sound. He remembered
that the prison was quite close to London.
The train, If he could reach it, might carry
him there, or far out into the country.
He was quite sure now that he was being
followed. and he ran head1ong, with no
thought but OF saving himself. If he could
but reach the railway,
Now and again ne stumbled, and once he
fell heavily: but he felt no hurt, and was
scarcely conscious of the shock. He be-
lieved he could run through the night with
out fatigue. He thought of what would
happen to him if he were taken He could
hear the warders' chuckle of revenge as
they hammered round his ankles the irons
he would have to wear. waking and sleep
ing, for six months.
The scrub that he was traversing had no
end and in the dark it was as trackless as a
desert: yet in the cell the man had some
times heard sounds Of life out there, music
even, and far-of echoes of laughter. and he
knew that desolate and black as it was, he
must even now be almost at 14OndOn'S edge.
Streets were lighted and people going to and
fro in them. and shOpmen at their doors.
II might be not above mile away.
Then. as he continued running, there
traced Itself against the Obscurity of the
night irregular large outline right In
front of him. and the man went weak,
thinking he had been moving in circle and
had reached the prison again. Stealing
closer. he saw that this was a place with a
low wall, and iron rails above 1t, and trees