Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-02-13
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Prison Tragedy.
1902. by c. B. Lewis. ]

deputy warden was man ndIneu hui
ton. He was editor and proprietor of
a weekly paper. He was a pretty
strong writer and made many enemies.
The article which led to its authors
Imprisonment was n five line squib
ridiculing a local doctor The doctor
called to demand a retraction, n fight
ensued, and the editor had the misfor-
tune to kill his man. He was sem
fenced to be hanged, but the governor
committed it to Imprisonment for life.
When Horton reached the prison, he
was made librarian to the prison IL
brary.
After a year or so Horizons wife got
a divorce. his friends ceased to call,
and he was virtually dead to the world.
There was living in the town in
which the prison was situated young
lady named Calhoun. She used to
come in every Saturday afternoon at 2
o'clock, with papers or other things for
the prisoners, and sometimes she had
company and sometimes not. Satur-
day afternoon was a holiday with the
prisoners-that is, all were locked up
in their cells after the monday meal
and could read, write or sleep. This
certain other TRUSTEES
One Saturday afternoon Miss Cal
houn was an hour late 1t was in
April, and the day was dark and foggy.
The order was to pass her in and out
without question. At o'clock in the
evening some of her friends called at
the prison to say that she had not re-
turned home.
The country around the prison was
searched all night long, and soon after
daylight the mystery was solved. The
dead body of the girl was found in the
prison yard. On the second floor OF q
storehouse lay the half naked body,
while hat, dress, skirts and wrap were
in heap beside it.
About eight months after the MUIR
der, when Horton had been with us for
three years and four months, he made
his escape by means of tunnel which
he had been over two years digging. 1t
began in a clothes closet off the library
and ended ninety-three feet away out
side the prison walls. What was done
had to be accomplished between a. IN.
and p. III. Horton could not bar any
one out of the library, nor could he
ter. No convict ever worked for lib
erty with such odds against him. He
simply took the one chance in a thou
sand.
You will want to know how learned
of certain things. a year after Hor-
toms escape we heard of him in Mon
tana. He had Joined a small band Of
trappers and hunters and was living
among the mountains. After he bad
been located it was decided that I
should be sent out to attempt his cap
ture When 1 reached Gallatin, 1
learned that Horizons party was in the
mountains to the north and enlisted
two men in the search for him. We
were on the trail of the hunters for
month before we found them. One
evening we rode into their camp pre-
pared to capture or kill the fugitive
murderer, but he was not there. Two
| days before he had started out alone
to inspect some traps and had not re-
| turned. The rest of the party, number
| ing six, had been out looking for him
on the day of our arrival, but had
found no trace. The search was re-
sumed next day, and along in the aft
over cliff and landed on a shelf about
forty feet below. His fall had been
broken by a bush, but he had been Sc
verely injured and was almost dead
when we got him up. He had broken
leg and an arm, and as there was no
show to get doctor we knew that
death must soon end his sufferings.
During the last day of his life Horton
was not only conscious, but talkative
and free from pain. He insisted on
| telling me all about the tunnel bust
ness, and of course 1 was interested
in the details. 1 plainly told him that
had suspected him from the hour of
finding Miss Calhoun's body and that
| figure it out as / might, no one else
| had the opportunity that he had. He
did not answer me for several minutes
and then quietly said:
81 will give you my idea of that af
fair, though of course it may be all
wrong. When Miss Calhoun and
separated, she started for the exit and
for the library. There were several
TRUSTEES about, and no doubt one of
them spoke to her, and she may have
| turned aside. 1t was a dark, foggy
day, you remember and the man might
have clutched her by the throat to pre-
vent an alarm and carried her to the
storehouse. He took great risks but
was not discovered. | have always
felt much grieved over the fate of that
poor girl"
| what motive do you think the MUIR
derer had?' L asked.
| Probably to don her clothes and
| mass ont to Iibprty''
But why didn't he carry out his
plan?'
| Probably something threw him off
his nerve as he approached the wicket
He could have gone out unquestioned
but something happened to make him
suspect that he would be nabbed."
"And you will not confess. realizing,
as you must, that death is not far