The Washington herald., 1914-09-20

HOAAO lCAANN AAAN 7NAAANAA~N ~ AAANSA
years, because he could not believe a
young man with my kind and sympa-
thetic face could be a dangerous ielon.
The governor of the State paused in
his reading and wiped his glasses. From
the halls and ante-rooms he could hear
the buzz-buzz-buzz OF the takers,
swsrning outside as though anxious
to enter and sting him to death. He
sighed and continued to read:
So they took me to Ansen Peniten-
tisry, dressed me in stripes. shaved my
hair and proceeded to punish me.
And. Mr.. Governor, you can't imagine
how blissfuI it was! For the first time
in my life | was in an atmosphere OF
peace, Of silence. OF common sense.
The place was heaven to me. Dur
ing the long. unbroken hours in my
solitary cell, or working in the shops
at some monotonous labor. | got
chance TO grow acquainted with myself.
You cannot imagine what a delightful
fellow | found myself to be-a fellow
OF infinite Jest, a racanteur, a poet,
cut-up. | had learned a great deal OF
philosophy, seen an infinite number OF
interesting things here and there which
I had never been able to speak OF be-
fore during my life among the egoists.'
Now | told them to myself with i'm
mense understanding. 1t was rare
companionship we enjoyed, myself
and |.
But my prison life was not all pleas
ure. On certain set days we prisoners
were permitted to exercise in the yard,
ningling together with more or less
freedom and conversing in low tones.
My fellow-convicts, quick to note the
sympathetic expression OF my counten-
ance, singled me out with the old, IA
miliar light in their faded eyes. | shud-
dered They had discovered in me
good listener.
Another discordant fact broke the
even tenor of my dream. After twenty
months sojourn in Ansen Penitentiary,
the superintendent began taking notice
OF my good behavior and chose me,
among others, TO serve as ''trusty." Due
to my superior mentality, was given
job among the convict clerks in the
prison office. | served as an account
ant. and on the stool next mine sat
talkative forger who had been an actor
in his day. For weeks | listened with
my weak. martyred smile. till one day
fancisi I could trace in his pasty
features a distinct resemblance to Lo-
renzo McNulty. With a scream l
seized my ledger and smote him brisk
ly in the chest.
As punishment, l was restored to my
stripes and spent a blissful month in
solitary confinement. The authorities
thought TO disgrace me further by again
reducing me to the rank and file. I was
permitted to exercise in the yard under
strict surveillance, not being allowed a
word with any one. Nothing could
have suited me better.
My years few all too swiftly. and
the time drew near when must be
free Nearer and nearer approached
the dreaded day. 1t was now but four
months of. My head began to ache
with anticipation, my ears, long used TO
the sweets of cloIstered quietude,
buzzed already with imagined voices
prating emptily OF baseball. politics,
theories, dressmaking, automobiles. Tire
world out there seemed populated with
ogre shapes OF Lorenzo McNulys and
Aunt Esthers. training their voices to
overwhelm me, banished forever from
my happy Jail.
l lost sleep and appetite; I began
failing in weight. For hours l tossed
upon my coarse prison bed, trying to
devise some plan which would prolong
my stay in this sanctuary.
A means OF gaining my end was Of
fered me in a strange way, entirely by
accident There was tough old con-
vict. life termer. known among the
inmates as Pat the Pill. He was the
type OF criminal you see caricatured in
the comic papers-ape-like skull. pig
eyes, bulldog jaw. One day during
our promenade in the prison yard l
saw Pat drop a chip OF wood in at
tempting to pass it to a companion. !
picked it up and smuggled it under my
blouse. That night in my cell I exam
ined the fragment and found scratched
upon one side the date April g." 1t at
once scented the plot-jail delivery.
Pat the Pill had always yearned to
draw me into conversation, so the next
time l passed him in the yard l per-
mitted him to approach.
Yer on" he grunted, speaking out
of the corner of his mouth. q seen v
pick it up. If ye snitch on us, I'll
croak yez."
81 won't snitch," l assured him, think
ing meanwhile OF my plan. I'm with
you-what's the game?
In his prison patois he explained