The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-03

| capes. He smiled suddenly. and nod
ded again and again, opened his ewes.
| shut them; furtively waved a hand. 1t
distracted me, threw me off my bal
ance, my GOODNESS was gone. 1t was as
| if something had snapped After that
1 remember very little; I think 1 may
| have quoted the Prisoner of ChilIon.' -
because he put it into my head.
| I seemed to be back again in Cuba.
down below me the barristers were
+ talking. The Kings Advocate pulled
out a puce-coIored bandanna and
waved it abroad preparatory to blow
| ing his nose A cloud of the perfume
/ of West Indian bean went UP from it
sweet and warm. I had smelt it last at
| Rio, the sensation was SO strong that I
| could not tell where it was The
| candles made a yellow glow on the
| judges desk but it seemed to be the
I blaze of light in the cell where Nicholas
/ and the Cuban had fenced. I thought
| I was back in Cuba again. The people
! in the court disappeared in the deepen
| ing shadows. AT times 1 could not
| speak. Then 1 would begin again.
If there were to be any possibility of
saving my life, / had to tell what I had
! been through-and to tell it vividly-I
! had to narrate the story of my life;.
| and my whole life came into my mind
I 1t was Seraphina who was the essence
/ Of all Cuba, of all Spain, of all ro-
! nance. began to talk about old Don
| Balthasar Riego. began to talk about
| Manuel del Popolo, of his red shirt. his
| black eyes, his mandolin; I saw again
| the light of his fires flicker on the
| other side of the ravine in front of the
| cave.
+ the story I was telling to that young
| girl In the black shadows of the wall
of the court could feel the eyes upon
me; I could see the parted lips of the
| young girl as she leaned further to-
ward me. l knew it because, when one
Of the barristers below raised his voice,
| some one Missed Ssh from the win
| doWs.
I And suddenly it came into my head,
| that even if l did save my life by talk
/ ing about these things, it would be alb
! solutely useless. / could never go back
/ again; never be the boy again; never
| hear the true voice of the ever faithful
| Island. What did it matter even if I
escaped; even if 1 could go back? The
/ sea would be there, the sky, the silent
| dim hills the istless surge; but
should never be there, 1 should be al
| tered for good and all. I SHOULD never
| see the GREATNESS dawn in the pond
water of Havana harbor, never be there
| with Seraphina close beside me in the
little drogher. All that remained was
| to see this fight through, and then have
done with fighting.
Look at me look at what
they have made of me, one and the
| other of them. I was an innocent boy.
What am now? They have taken my
life from me, let them finish it how
| they will, what does 1t matter to me,
WAT do I care?"
There was a rustic of motion all
round the court. On board Rowley
flagship the heavy irons had sawed
open my wrists. hadn't been ironed
in Newgate, but the things had healed
up very little. I happened to look down
at my claws of hands with the CRIME of
blood that the dock spikes had caused
What sort of a premium is it that
you set on sticking to the right? Is
this how you are going to encourage
the others like me? What do l care
about your death? What's life to me
Let them get their. scaffold ready.
have suffered enough to be put out Of
my misery God, have suffered enough
with one and another. Look at my
hands, say. Look at my wrists, and
say If 1 care any more" I held my
ghastly paws high, and the candle light
shone upon them.
Out Of the back. shadows came
shrfeks of women and curses. I saw
my young girl put her hands over her
face and slip slowly, very slowly, from
her chair, down out of sight. People
We're staggering in different directions
L had no more to say, but I forgot in
my concern for the young girl. The
turnkey pulled my sleeve and said:
I say, that amt true, is it, it amt
true?" Because he seemed not to want
1t to have been true. 1 glowed for a
moment with the immense pride of my
achievement. had made them see
things.
a minute after, I understood how
futile it was. I was not fool even in
ny then half-mad condition. The real
Keeling Of the place came back upon
ME, the court of law" of it. The kings
advocate was whispering to the attor-
ney general, he motioned with his hand.
flrst in my direction, then towards the
jury; then they both laughed and
nodded. They knew the ropes too well
for me, and there were seven West In
dla merchants up there who would re-
member their pockets in a minute But
L didn't care. l had made them see
things.