Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-03-07
DAILY SHORT STORY
THE MAN WHO WAS wRoNeED.

Jim Cassidy was a brute Of man.
That was no more his fault than II
he had been born Il wolf. His nature
had come down to him from others,
and he but lived it
When Cassidy got his first term in
prison il was for burglary. He had en-
tered a dwelling house at nighttime
and stolen money and goods. The own
er of the place was well of man. de
could spare what had been taken and
never miss it The burglar could not
understand why SO much fuss was
made over it. He felt injured when the
lawyer spoke of him as a criminal and
when the papers had something TO say
about his hangdog look. II seemed TO
him TO he combination against him,
q conspiracy to prevent him from liY-
ing his natural life.
BY and by, when it so happened that
the detectives We're giving Cassidy a
rest for Il few weeks, he got married.
In his way he loved the young woman.
In another way she would be of help
TO him. He knew and respected other
men who lived OH what their wives
earned AT the washtub and he had no
doubt of being respected in his turn.
He had been married a week when he
blackened his wife's eyes and broke a
couple of ribs for her. He felt that it
was his privilege. When the police and
the judge differed with him he looked
upon it as Il put up job to discourage
him from seeking natural enjoyment
While he was serving his sixty days
a fellow prisoner told him that the
great constitution of the United States
guaranteed every man certain rights.
There were eight or ten of these rights,
according TO the mans list. and Cas-
sidy came forth with u determination
TO have them all. The law had hereto
fore depended on his ignorance and
taken advantage of him. He would
now show the law that he knew his
privileges and was bound to maintain
them. Within a week he had broken a
pOliceman's head with a rock, assault
ed Il man who differed with him about
the social status of states prison, stol-
en- Il wagon and robbed Il drunken
man. With the constitution on his side
he felt that he was getting along.
Mrs Cassidy would have come in for
another beating III time, but she has
tened the event by becoming a mother.
Being busy at the time, the husband
adjourned the beating for week.
Then he blackened her eyes, broke her
jaw and dislocated Il shoulder, and he
took it very i'll of an officious neighbor
who FASTENED away and Informed the
police and secured his arrest.
The wife died, and Mr.. Cassidy was
fri Il fnt ma lan srl1f a
sidered it altogether unfair. He was
privileged under the constitution to
beat his wife, while she was not PR Vi
legged TO die under it. she had died to
spite him, and he looked upon it as
more spite when he was somehow sent
to prison for fifteen years.
OF all the things that hurt him most
We're the words Of the prosecutor He
had called direct attention to his evil
face and his previous record and had
vowed that he was more of Il wild
beast than man. Nothing else hurt like
this, and he determined on revenge.
From the day he entered prison Cas-
sidy lived only to escape and secure
revenge on the man who had Missed ut
him in court. He didn't blame the
who had volunteered their testimony,
he would knock them about and let it
go at that, but the prosecutor should
die by his hand. His words were re
membered morning, noon and night,
and day by day the convict thought of
escape.
Seven long years passed by, and then
day came that a guard relaxed his
vigilance for moment. and Jim Cas-
sidy made his escape. Another convict
would have tried to get away as far
and as fast as possible. Not so with
Cassidy. He had only twenty miles
to go to reach the prosecutors house.
He had kept track of his enemy
through visitors. He knew that he Oc-
cupied house in the midst of grounds
just outside the city, and over and
over again he had planned how he
would approach, how enter the house.
how surprise the man in his sleep and
take his life. He made his journey
across the country in a logged sort of
way, and he would have killed any
living thing Obstructing his path for
moment. He was a wrongcd man on
his way to right himself
The escape was made in the early
morning. When evening fell the con-
vict was at the end of his journey
The grounds contained two acres and
were full of trees and shrubbery. He
easily found a hiding place and then
waited. There was no thought Of
turning back. Years had gone by. and
the prosecutor was now an old man
and no longer had to do with the law,
but that made no difference to Cassidy
Let him but secure his revenge and
the prison officials might pick him up
the next hour. 1t was midnight before
he moved. He had heard the growing
of thunder for the last half hour. but !
had given it no heed. Now, as he final |
ly rose up to approach the house, the |
storm broke over his head.
1t did not delay him a moment. He |
went forward with less caution for the |
swish of the storm, and he had drop |
ned under tall Daar frea within, fan i