Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1901-12-18
qfe
SILENT CONVICT
a FTER the gaping three-inch cash

. LEN tue gaping tnTee-lncn SdSn
! ~ in the head of Prison Guard
Morgan had been dressed by the
renitentiary physician and a nip of
| rye given the wounded man, he was
escorted into the presence of the new
warden to tell how it all happened.
"You see, it was this ere way, war
den," he began, after he had saluted
his chief and dropped into a comfort
able position on the sofa in the pri-
vate room of the penitentiary Office.
six of us were out there by the broom
shop cleanin' up the yard a bit. Kid
| Sly and Shorty were comm the rake
act. l told Green to take spade and
throw some loose dirt up agin the tool
house. He was standin' in one of them
cat fits of his'n and paid no attention
to me. He just rolled his eyes and
worked his arms"
Morgan paused and pressed a huge
gnarled hand against his bandaged
Uranium.
"Take it easy" said the warden, sym
patheticaEy.
Then" continued the guard, 81
| caught him by the shoulder and gave
him a push toward the tool house, at
| the same time tellin' him TO get a mill
tary move on himself. He reache d
down, grabbed the spade and whacked
me across the noggan with it. When
he stars scattered out little. saw
that Kid Sly and two of the other boys
were holdin' him. 1 whistled for help
and had him yanked back to his cell"
Warden Hill reached for the huge
| ca.f-bound volume in which the daily
dc .inquencies of the prisoners were re-
corded. The page allotted to Convict
GLIB. imprisoned for life, was blank
save for the entry made in a neat,
round hand, stating that all attempts
to make the prisoner talk since his in
generation had been unavailing. Muir
der was the crime and the date of the
commitment papers showed that eight
years of the life sentence had been
served. The warden looked perplexed.
Recently appointed, he had not yet ha d
time to look at the majority of the
prisoners in his charge. Besides, more
important matters awaited his atten-
ton. He closed the volume and turned
to the deputy warden.
Give Convict Green five days in the
dark cell on bread and water" he said
Ten minutes later, Convict Green
closely guarded, was escorted to the
ha..owed niche beneath the tier of cells
commonly known among the prisoners
as 1.-The hole" the door was unlocke
and Green thrust inside. The bolts
were shot and the guards retired.
With inky blackness on all sides OF
him, Convict Green pressed his sweaty
palms against his throbbing forehead
and tried to think. Dull, agonizing
pains seemed to hover between his
temples and dart toward each eye. He
| arose from the oaken plank upon which
he had been crouching and extend &C
both arms. His hands touched a stone
wall on either side.
With a groan he sank back on the
! damp stone floor of the dungeon ant
| tried TO think. For time he was con
scious of only pain and anguish, bu
| ut last the darkness which hung like
| PAL over his clouded intellect bega1
| to clear away. The red spots hat
| come again. What they were, Greer
had often tried to find out, but b,
never could. The huge patches of lurit
red came and danced before his eyes
After time they left, but terribl
pains remained behind torturing hin
almost beyond endurance. If he triet
| to find out what the red spots wer
they always came back so much tn
quicker.
The convict crept nearer the wal o
! the dungeon and laid first one burnin;
cheek and then the other against tn
damp stones. The mental anguish O
the man became less wracking; peri
| DDS of intellectual calm followed j
which detached sections of conscious
ness became clarified. Now and the,
he caught blurred glimpses of the pas
A few faint, half-obscured recollee
tions of his childhood days actual
made the miserable inmate of the Gel
smile with delight. Names he no long
er remembered, but familiar face
wearing Pleasant smiles so differen
from the scowling visages which h
now saw every day seemed to brigh
en- up the cell. But finally one fac,
smiling, coquettish, with dimple
chin, and gracefully curving lips, r.
manned. Her he had worshipe
throughout his childhood and courte
in his youth. Like a flash came tn
memory of the joyous wedding tril
the farm on the outskirts of q n,
braska village, his valiant struggle fc
fortune.
Then the scene shifted to vast fel
where withered corn rustled harsh!
in the scorching breeze. There was
fiery globe in the center of the HEAVIER
piercing shafts of which seemed t
burn his very blood. The crop was II
ined. That was sure. The quartz
section was mortgaged and in the CO
tage near the village his wife VIZ
scowling at the prospect of povert
and loss of social prestige. Alread
she was bemoaning the monotony {
the western country. Once she had a
tually tod him that he was a brui
and at the same time limited that D
Scott was such a dashing, handson
fellow. Then the red spots came fc
the first time. Nothing ever was s
very clear after those horrid. carmir
tinted disks began to dance vindictiv,