The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1910-10-11
5 80 80 ue~epoe
THE SILENT CELL.
) = ~A4 ~u@AoAoe . .
BY Harp,ap carser.

@H% = 900 . o. o o o o q . o 600
!. 4; i 20 y BY Harota carser.
liwouldl;t advise you to try the en-
pertinent. sir" said the chief warden
of the State penitentiary.
Is But you say there Is no physical
gtorture, warden" said the member OF
the pardon board. Nothing but dark.
ness and solitude to tame refractory
prisoners. Why. my dear man, l can
spend a couple OF! hours there and
come out as fresh as a daisy I'm
sailing for Europe tomorrow % In
vestigate. the prison system cf differ.
ent countries, and want to add this
last experience to my Investigations
here n,
'.Letame put in comfortable couch
for: you, then" said the warden.
mo. sir. i shall go. as convicted
prisoner does.t And. by the way, to
heighten tthe illusion. I'll put OF
stripes 1}H -
:. very: well, sir. I. Youg desire. as J
understand, is that all your surround
ings shall be such as to create in you!
mind the illusion that you are q pris
oner.,under long sentence" -.
Quite so,.' said the member OF the
board.
The warden called. a: trusty, while
the member Was~ discarding .his
clothes. .,for the, stripes. ."Tahe this
gentleman to w s." he said, auc 1.-THE
con let. and visitor set of together
They descended gloomy stone stair
way and stopped at the door OF cell.
above which the light burned dimly
The trusty turned the. key upon the
visitor and extinguished the gas. The
visitor was left, in complete darkness.
Cautiously he felt his way around
The cell, as far as he could ascertain.
was about the size of a hall bedroom.
and absolutely empty. The walls were
perfectly smooth. There was not the;
faintest light or sound. The visitor
could not determine in which direc
tion the door lay, ::for 1t fitted com.
pletely into the, walls. ..s; ;'.s; :.
| !; He sank down upon; the, hard hoor;
9!and ;clesed his eyes, striving to busy
his mind with thoughts OF his work.
He had said farewell to; ;allHhis asso
aciates; on the morrow he would sbs
aboard the. ship: And suddenly tho
thought came to him; it, he were real.
.ly forgotten, he might languish there
for all eternity Nobody would know
of his whereabouts.
One hour, as he adjudgeS, slipped
by, and another. He grew impatient
He strained his .ears. to, catch the ap.
preaching steps Of the waruen. And
when they We're long overdue, he
heard them,. very faint IN the cor
ridor.. A trap door was let Gown from
somewhere. and in the pale light the
visitor perceived loaf OF coarse
bread upon an iron tray.
:. gHere's. your days food" said a
: voice, sruffly. =.
Excellent, warden" ,"esaid the Wis;
,tor;: Laughing. aeryously,a BUT isn't
my time up yet?" ,r1's;; =;
J, :;@Git OUT. %.;said. the voice. "Sir days
more hsre for yours, r 23."
s*%Say,let me OUT rrieds the. man IN
side. Il said two hours, and it's long
past that now. I've got my boat to
CATCH ,5y, :, :. ,....,.,... 80.
"Well I'm gol-darned." said the
voice admiringly. Pretending to be
the man from the pardon board. ain,
i. yer. Bill !Cantles. its agin the rules
to, talk to yer, though, so take yen
medicine And he was. goue.
Supplied, the man remained crouch
ed within. Had the trusty really walk
" ed out in his clothes and left him
there? Surely prison discipline was
more strict and intelligent. And yet,
would they play such trick upon
him, high official OF the state? He
waited. Then the hours began to roll
by. A terrible fear beset him, and he
began to shout, moderately at Htrst,
then more and more loudly. And at
last, thoroughly affrighted. he pound
ed the walls 'madly, raving and
screaming, until he sank into a stu.
por.
A day later, as he guessed, the loaf
was again flung into his cell. Then
or the first time he realized how 70
,enous be was. He leaped upon il,
and tore 1t eagerly.
For Gods sake. listen" he scream.
ed. I'm Robert Smythe, OF the par.
don board. Whom do you think 1
am? Call the warden
Good for you, Bill Castles" said
the attendant. slamming down tho
trap. door. And the. long. night de-
scended on him again.
So
Times not quite up, sir; It's only
an hour and hail." said the warden,
throwing open the door. 81 thought
it'd be- all you'd want. Won't you
come out? Why-why-"
Upon the floor OF the cell lay the
torn shreds OF the prison gar5. And
in a far corner man, nude to tho
skin, with bleeding hands. croucked
and gibbered and muttered vacantly