Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-05-30

In his absorbed 1ntentneSS upon
Noel, he was quite of how
the pause that ensued. the prison
seemed very still; only the stir of in
sect life troubled the damp, foul air,
and the occasional ring or stamp Of a
horse waiting outside the gate. Bruce
gasped, breathless with the tension of
waiting upon the event. Surely, he
thought, there must be an event
no more. They were both white men,
in a country where white men were
in the minority. He did not expect
Noel to free him., of course; but ii
he could have a cell from which he
could see out! Or, If he could AVE
some occupation!
"In the prisons in the South Of the
United States of America, convicts
sometimes are hired to outside men in
need of laborers, or paroled In custody
Of their employers" Noel finally
spoke. do you know that custom?",
Eyes" ~,
Noel's penetrating grey eyes con-
s~iderately looked away from the
strained face before him.
II understand you are a mechanical
engineer, Mr.. Bruce. A college grad
uate?"
pennsylvania, yes"
/. would you like to airy the mo-
notony of your sentence by working
outside on ,%parole?" E
Bruce caught his breath. All the
evils attendant on peonage of which
he had rea at home, rose before
him. He knew absolutely nothing of
Brazilian custom in such matters. He
had a panoramic vision of convict
camps, of himself in subsection to a
native overseer, of toll and abuse; yet,
better anything than dry-rot and
- <lsr
seething den. Al. least he would be
outdoors sometimes; sometimes
breathe imprisoned air.
YES" he made laco1ic reply.
He had hardly know4h,what he ex-
pected from Noel's visit, but he was
conscious of renewed detection and
vague disappointment.
Good! You are on parole, then,
with the understanding that any at
tempt to escape means your retu TO
this place." s.
YES" said Bruce again. g.
He wondered II he could ever be SO
supremely wretched as to grasp at
that alternative of return here as a
relief. Perhaps! He knew not at all
what he must expect from this future.
Noel looked at him c%uriously, as II
wondering at his attitude. but he
made no comment on the absence of
enthusiasm concerning the PROPOSE
ton. He dropped the grey riding
whip with a decided movement, let
ting it swing from his wrist by its
braided loop. His smile was infre-
quent, and Illuminating as an unex-
pected light.
"Good!" he repeated his approval.
Someone will come for you. Just al
low yourself to be guided, please. l
will bid you farewell; Mr.. Bruce"
The Latin formality- of the leave-.
taking aroused Corey Bruce to a sense
of his own lack Of graciousness. He
could not doubt that Noel meant
kindly by him in offering this ameli-
Grafton of his sentence, however
dubious it's prospect of comfort.
"I-I-thank you, General Noel"
he stammered, raising his hand to his
eyes in a mechanical effort to adjust
his missing sp%ectacles, an old habit Of
his when in moments of embarrass-
ment. lawfully good of o to trou-
Bile over my affairs! I am-grateful.
Before you go may I ask what 1 am
to be turned over to? For whom !
am to work, l mean?"
Noel. turned back with an air of
surprise; standing in the narrow cor
ridor, which his broad shoulders
seemed to fill, he leaned to survey the
prisoner across the wooden bars.
II thought you understood. For
me, of course"
The black spider ran across Bruce's
foot in its hasty retreat from the ring
of the retiring visitors footsteps. The
cell presently Quivered with a faint
shock in response to the crash of the
closing doors at the end of the cor
ridor. Bruce continued to stand in
ert in the grip of his utter astonish-
ment. :
Yet, why should he be so astonish-
ed, he later asked himself? The first
bewilderment Of the brief visit over,
he sat on his three-legged stool, try
ing to steady and quiet himself. Noel
had asked II the prisoner was a grad
uate engineer; no doubt, then he had
occasion to employ such a man. Per-
haps engineers were not SO common
here as at home. It was not surpris-
ing, after all, that Noel. should utilize
the convict skilled labor at his COM
mand. Bruce a grimly accustom-
ed himself to acknowledge his status
as a convict. He did not feel like a
murderer. But he knew that he
ranked. as one; officially at least. Noel
had made it very clear that the light
in which he intended to consider the
prisoner vas that of a sort of ticket
~of-leave man. Bruce thought. 1t gave
him a sharp twinge to recall that Noel
had not offered his hand, nor any tx
; preston of sympathy for the other
toned, listened to the replies, and de-
s1parted. Now what? Would he be
employed under Noel personally, and
frequently see him. he ~}speculated, or
I would he be- shipped of to some re-
mote place where engineering work
: was to BE done? Bruce scarcely knew
for which he hoped. Noel had in
in that one interview, following sd
oddlv upon sthe Little Raid Ones