Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-20
The Gates of Silence
BY Meta Snmmfns, Anthor Of "Hu5hed Up"

out OF the gaunt face Of A44? he asked
/ himself.
! His fingers trembled on his breast and
| his lips moved. In all his life he had
| never felt such heart sickness as he felt
now, when he thought Of the manner of
! his parting from the misera Bile convict
who had cast his fugitive tag of Omar
! Khayyam at him in a moment Of chagrin.
! What on earth had made him lose his
| temper; he whose watchword was
Blessed are the merciful?"
A Dash for Freedom.
The fortnight he had been forced to
spend in the prison inirmary had been
a godsend to Rimington, the relaxation
Of discipline. the improved food and en-
| forced rest, made almost a new man Of
him. More than once the thought &C
CURED to him that he owed his deten-
ton more to kindly impulse on the part
OF the doctor than to the actual state of
his health; the man, after his kind, was
rough tongued and more than inclined to
cynicism, but Rimington had a feeling
that his disposition toward him was not
unfavorable.
Whether or not that feeling was true
mattered little enough to Rinington. He
| felt warm gratitude toward the doctor
and when, on the morning OF his dis
charge from the infrmary he certified
him as nj for work with the outdoor
gang, his eyes lighted up with fash that
drew a shrewd glance from the medical
officer
THAT suits your book. eh?'
AS the doctor put the question, Rim
ington felt culver run over him. Could
1t be possible that this man suspected
that thought which had never been spoken
did his secret cry aloud from his eyes?
He felt a mask drop over his features.
every muscle stiffened.
Yes sir More healthy than the in
door work, SIR" he said. and could have
imagined that the doctor winked
Better than the tailor's shop and The
Blmouth Bulletin? What" and Rim
ington drew breath OF relief The doc
tor attributed his anxiety to get back TO
the harder outdoor labor to his dislike
to the close ASSOCIATION OF the workshops
and the ugly talk that circulated there.
Yes, sir" he said again. in a stolid
and nonCommittal manner, and with an
other sharp look at him the doctor went
out. He was not quite sure in his own
mind regarding A A. There were times
when he believed him to he entirely in
nocent Of the charge brought against him
and others when his belief wavered To-
day was one of them-for the first time
1t seemed to him, there was shifty look
in the mans eyes, Then, since he was
an eminently Just man, this prison doc
tor, he gave the prisoner the benefit OF
the doubt and dismissed him from his
mind. Life at Bimouth and kindred in
situations did not tend to foster straight
forwardness. and he had only too keen a
mt ,Nf h1t
man can descend during long term Of
imprisonment
Making Plans.
The snow had disappeared and the
earth was sopping with the moisture OF
thaw, following a weeks frost, on this
first day with the gang; all the natural
conditions were favorable to an attempt
to escape. Remington thought, as he
worked. He would be the better able to
sustain the exposure and hunger that
would be inevitable. Every day as he
went out he examined the ground and
his surroundings eagerly, surveying them
with the care of a general testing their
strategic possibilities, and every night as
he lay in his bed in the darkness and felt
the chill of the prison wrap about him
like shroud, RiminRton calculated the
chances of escape narrowed them down
ana WelBhcd them. ana every night and
every morning, with something of the di-
rect simplicity OF child, he prayed for
the browning mercy of fog
There was something of madness in his
orooding, since surely sane reflection
must have shown him the hopeless folly
of the thing he meditated with friends
and accomplices at hand to provide money
and change OF raiment. even then the
chances of permanent esCape vera almost
Enthusiastically problematical; but playing a
lone hand, as he did-without money.
without a goal-what earthly chance did
he stand?
To Be Continued in Next Issue.