Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

loi me; put he did IL with A human word, and
not with the dungeon and the ladder. / didn't
believe the warden when he said he would take
me to the ladder | couldn't inaeine myself alive
ana put Through at the ladder, and couldn't
imagine any human being who could find the
heart to put me through. If I had believed
nun would have strangled him then and there,
and got my body full Of lead while doing IT, No,
SIR could not believe it.
And then he told me TO come on. I went
with him and the guards. He brought me TO
the ladder. had never seen It before. II was
heavy wooden ladder leaned against the wall,
and the bottom was bolted to the floor and the
TOP to the wall. whip was on the floor"
Again there was pause. The warden told
me TO strip, sir, and l stripped. And still
dldnt believe he would whip me. / thought
he lust wanted TO scare me
Then he told me TO face UP the ladder.
did go, and reached my arms up to the straps
Ihey strapped my arms to the ladder, and
OF the floor. Then they strapped my legs to the
ladder: The warden then picked up the whip.
he said TO me, I'll give you one more chance:
will you 60 to work tomorrow ] said No;
won't go to work till get my dues Very WE'LL
said be, you'll get your dues now And then
he stepped back and raised the whip. | turned
my head and looked at him, and / could see It
in his eyes that he meant to strike. And
when | saw that, sir, felt that something in
side of me was about to burst"
The convict paused to gather up his strength
for the crisis of his story, yet not in the least
particular did he change his position, the slight
movement Of his pointing finger, the steady gleam
OF his eye, or the slow monotony Of his speech.
II had never witnessed any scene so dramatic
this, and yet all was absolutely simple and unin-
tentional. ] had been thrilled by the greatest
actors, with matchless skill they gave rein to
their genius in tragic situations; but how in
conceivably tawdry and cheap such pictures
nssd e,f
the music, the lights the posing, the wry faces,
the gasps, lunges, staggerings, rolling eyes-how
himsy and colorless, how mocking and grotesque,
they all appeared beside this simple uncouth, but
genuine expression Of immeasurable agony!
The stenographer held his pencil poised above
the paper, and wrote no more.
"And then the whip came down across my
back. The something inside of me twisted hard
and then broke wide open, and went pouring all
through me like melted iron. It was hard fight
to keep my head clear, but did it. And then
said to the warden this: You've struck me with
Ia whip, in cold blood. You've tied me UP hand
and foot, to whip me like dog. Well, whip
me, then, till you fill your belly with it. You are
la coward. You are lower, and neaner, and
cowardlier than the lowest and meanest dog
that ever yelped when his master kicked him.
You were born a coward. Cowards will lie and
steal and you the same a thief and a
liar No hound would you for a friend.
Whip me hard and long, you coward. Whip me,
/ say. See how good coward feels when he
ties up man and whips him like dog Whip
me till the last breath quits my body; if you
leave me alive I will kill you for this
His face got white. He asked me If I meant
that, and I said, Yes; before God, do Then
he took the whip in both hands and came down
with all his might"
"That was nearly two years ago." said the
chairman. "You would not kill him now, would
lyou?'
"Yes 1 will kill him if l get chance;, and
I feel it in me that the chance will come"
"Well, proceed"
''He kept on whipping me. He whipped m,
with all his strength of both hands. + coulc
feel the broken skin curl up my back, and
when my head got too heavy to hold it straight
it hung down. and / saw the blood on my leg:
and dripping off my toes into pool Of it on the
floor. Something straining and twisting in
side of me again. My back didn't hurt much
lit was the thing twisting inside of me that hurt
l. | counted the lashes, and when | counted to
twenty y-eight the twisting got so hard that it
choked me and blinded me; and when
lwoke up I was in the dungeon again, and the
doctor had my back all plastered up, and he was
kneeling beside me, feeling my pulse"
The prisoner had finished He looked around
vaguely as though he wanted to go.
"And you have been in the dungeon ever
since?"
'Yes, sir; but I don't mind that
GLOW long%
'Twenty y-three months"
"On bread and water?"
eyes; but that was all ] wanted"
"Have you reflected that so long as you harbol
a determination to kill the warden you may bt
kent in the dungeon? You can't live much Longer
there. and~i if you die there you will never fine
the chance you want If you say you will not
kill the warden he may return you to the cells u
'But that would be a lie, sir; I will get a
chance to kill him if I go to the cells. / would
rather die in the dungeon than be liar and
sneak If you send me to the cells I will Kill
him But will kill him without that. l will
kill him, sir. And he knows IT,"
Without concealment, but open, deliberate, anc
implacable thus in the wrecked frame of a man
SO close that we could have touched it, stood
Murder-not boastful. but relentless as death.