Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

IA rectors sitting in session at the prison,
lsxyTg had heard and disposed Of the com
k&48I plants and petitions Of number Of
convcts, the warden announced that
All who wished to appear had been heard. There
upon certain uneasy and apprehcnsive express
sion, which all along had sat upon the faces Of the
directors became visibly deeper The chairman
"a nervous, energetic, abrupt ncsive man
Glanced at slip Of paper in his hand, and said 70
the warden
Send guard for convict No. 14,20s"
The warden started and became slightly pale
Somewhat confused he haltingly replied, why.
he has expressed no desire to appear before you"
Nevertheless, you will send for him at once"
responded the chairman.
The warden bowed stiffly and directed guard
to produce the convict. Then, turning to the
chairman, he sad,-
II am ignorant Of your purpose in summoning
this man, but of course I have no objection.
desire, however to make a statement concerning
him before he appears"
when we shall have called for statement
from you" coldy responded the chairman, "you
may make one"
The warden sank back into his scat He was
a tall. fne-looking man, wellbred and intelligent
and had kindly face Though ordinarily COOL
courageous, and sefpossessed, he was unable to
conceal strong emotion, which looked much like
fear. heavy silence fell upon the room, dis.
turbed only by the official stenographer, who
sharpening his pencils. A stray beam of light
from the westering slipped into the room be-
tween The edge of the window shade and the
sash, and fell across the chair reserved for the
convict. The uneasy eyes of the warden finally
fell upon this beam, and there his glance rested
The chairman, without addressing any one par
ticularly, remarked,--
There are ways of learning what occurs in
prison without the assistance of either the warden
or the convicts."
just then the guard appeared with the convict
who shambled in painfully and laborously, as
with string he held up from the floor the
heavy iron ball which was chained to his ankles
He was about Do years old. Undoubtedly he
once had been man of uncommon physical
strength for powerful skeleton showed under
meath the sallow skin which covered his emac-
ated frame His sallowness was peculiar and
ghastly. It partly that of disease, and partly
of something worse; and it was this something
that accounted also for his shrunken muscles and
manifest feebeness.
There had been time to prepare him for
presentation to the Board. As a consequence, his
unstockinged toes showed through his gaping
shoes; the dingy suit of prison stripes which COW
cred his gaunt frame frayed and tattered;
fashion, and being rebellious, stood out upon his
head like bristles; and his beard, which, like his
hair, was heavily dashed with gray, had not been
shaved for weeks These incidents of his appear
ance combined with very peculiar expression of
his face to make extraordinary picture. 1t is
difficult to describe this almost unearthly ex-
preston. With a certain suppressed ferocity it
combined infexibility of purpose that sat like
an iron mask upon him. His eyes were hungry
and eager; they were the living part of him, and
they shone luminous from beneath shaggy brows.
His forehead was massive, his head of fine pro.
portions his jaw square and strong and his thin,
high nose showed traces of an ancestry that must
have made mark in some corner of the world
at some time in history. He was prema turely
old; this was seen in his gray hair and in the
unoommonly deep wrinkles which lined his fore
head and the corners of his eyes and of his
mouth.
Upon stumbling weakly into the room, faint
with the labor of walking and of carrying the iron
ball, he looked around eagerly like bear driven
to his launches by the hounds. His glance passed
so rapidly and unintelligently from one face to
another that he could not have had time to form
conception of the persons present until his swift
eyes encountered the face of the warden. Instantly
they flashed; he craned his neck forward; his ps
opened and became blue; the wrinkles deepened
about his mouth and eyes; his form grew rigid and
his breathing stopped. This sinister and terrible
attitude-a the more SO because he was wholly
unconscious of twas disturbed only when the
chairman sharply commanded, Take that seat"
The convict started as though he had been
struck, and turned his eyes upon the chairman
He drew deep inspiration, which wheezed and
ratified as it passed into his chest An expression
of excruciating pain swept over his face. He
dropped the ball, which struck the floor with
loud sound, and his long, bony fingers tore at the
striped shirt his breast. A groan escaped
him, and he would have sunk to the floor had not
the guard caught him and held him upright In
a moment it was over, and then, collapsing with