Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-05-16
DAILY STORY.
THE PRISONERS TESTIMONY.


counsel. Il desire to rest this case sole
~ on my clients testimony"
The prisoner. the pallor of death, toe
weak TO stand. sat i'll the witness box.
passed his hand over his brow and be-
gan. as 1t seemed. in the middle-it was
at the end of his story.
Il was gradually waking. 1t must
have been night, for 1t was dark as
Erebus. l heard the stroke of i deep
toned bell and counted three. 1t must
have been O'Clock in the morning. If
In midsummer it would soon be light:
IL In midwinter the darkness would
continue till nearly 4. But l could not
remember whether it was summer or
winter | felt no bedclothes over me,
so / concluded it must be summer.
lone thing I knew-my bed was very
hard. The muscles of my back, on
principally taken up with where i was.
| remembered who | was and that
had been very sick in a hospital. but
could not now be there. for the hospital
ward was lighted, and the nurse in
charge always. when not engaged with
a patient. sat at a table on which was
shaded lamp. My bed had been soft.
Where was l?
1.-The OdOr of the room was very bad,
and could not feel that there was any
ventilation. l put my hand down be-
side me and felt wood. | explored the
wood. and it appeared to be a table.
What did it mean?
Il wished to get up to find out where
/ was. But l was very weak. too weak
to go rummaging around i'll strange
dark room, too weak to go about any
where, too weak to stand. No. | could
not get up. | must lie where l was
and think it out. With difficulty I sue
ceeded in turning on my side.
Il hadn't even pillow.
II thought and thought and thought
but could come to no conclusion.
Then | worked myself toward the
edge of my wooden bed and reached
out with my arm as far as could and
felt-Other wood. 1t was smooth, like
that on which 1 rested. and, as far as
could feel, the same shape. l raised
myself on my elbow and put out the
other hand This enabled me TO reach
little farther. | felt
Great heavens!
That's flesh, Cold, clammy flesh.
Il shrank back and lay still. My
heart now was humping. The instinct
of self preservation came to give me
will power to regain my self control
When my heart had somewhat quoted
L raised myself again and reached
4 nj
the side of human being.
1T came to me suddenly. / was in
a dissecting room.
Il felt myself fainting. but ter
rible thought nerved me. Suppose /
relapsed into Inconsistencies. Morn
ing would come and with it a medical
student who would begin to cut me up.
Perhaps his first thrust would be in
vital part. Heavens! / must get up
and make an effort to get out of the
horrible place. Terror gave me strength.
and l sat up. Then. bracing my hands
on the edge of my table, lowered my
self to the floor.
TOO weak to walk, 1 got down and
crawled-crawled in among tables till
at last | felt Il wall. Along this /
CROPPED till | felt a window casing.
Pulling myself up, reached shade.
Moving it aside. 1 admitted little
light from a street lamp far below.
My sight was keen, and l saw what
appeared to be a door Long l looked
at it with view TO fixing its direction.
But l dared not go straight for 1t. /
must follow the wall. This did and
reached 1t after what seemed an age.
wondering the while If l would make
myself heard in case l found 1t locked.
1T was ajar. thank God.
Crawling through IL, l entered an
anteroOm. There was no light in it, but
light in a building close by gave me
all 1 needed. was in coat room.
Among other articles were pieces of
clothing doubtless left there by stu
dents to put on for dissecting work. /
found a coat vest, trousers. hat. shoes.
In coat pocket l found a bottle of
liquor l drank it oil and went out and
downstairs. In an office room in a desk
drawer / found box with stamps and
a few small bills with some change. l
knew must have something to sustain
me, and this would buy it. / took the
money. 1t, was my first theft.
Il was going toward the street door
when 1 heard the words:
Stop thief"
ut was all up with me. / had escap-
ed from dead house to be put in Jail
The night Waterman seized me. / told
him my story.
He laughed"
The man was a melancholy sight. A
part of his clothing was too large for
him. a part too small. Most of it was
far too large, for there was little of
him except skin and bone. He had told
his story with an effort and shuddered
at recalling his grewsome experience.
Every eye in the courtroom was fixed
upon him till the end of his story then
all turned to the judge. who suddenly
started rs from a dream and said:
Prisoner. you are discharged"
No sooner We're the words spoken