Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-11-28
Tie OUTER GATE
By OCTAVUS 0 COHEN
cHAPrrR

CHAPTER
Sunshine poured bravely in
through the barred windows and
traced . sinister pattern or parallel
PACK lines on the concrete floor. IL
brought into sharp relief two faces
~--strikin1ly similar in their express
sion Of stark knowledge, yet craven
with lines which marked an age diff
ference Of 30 wears.
Robert Gordon Terry-prisoner No.
z5l79-stood facing the warden. In
nis right hand was the official docu-
Hent which had come 10 free him,
yet his face exhibited no citation.
Tire ear in the penitentfary Rad
taught him the lesson Of repression.
he stood silent, m~ctiorless, agate
eyes focused on the corner Of the
wardcn's desk. He seemed shorter
than his height. thanks TO the slight
stoop developed BY three years Of
penal servitude. and his white prison
clothes were III fitting and hung
Q his slender frame in gro
tesque folds.
From outside the office came pris-
on sounds: the incessant, madden
INK whirr Of looms and spindles in
the cotton mill. the iangle Of IRON
wheeled barrows, the clank Of ma
chincry and tools. ard now and then
the punctuation Of a harsh-voiced
urder. For three years Bob Terry
had known no other sound save the
CHASTITY repressed laughter Of Sunday
when all work ceased and the pris-
oners had nothing 70 do but sit
around the prison yard and try 70
stare through the grim gray walls
into the rich, yerdant world beyond,
Bob Terry was free. The miracle
had occurred. The paper which the
warden had given him was not a
pardon. IL was far more than that
lit was an acknowledgement from
the state that the crime for which he
had been tried and convicted had
been committed by another man,
The state was very rcgretful OF the
error which had swept the young
man into the penitentiary for three
young and formative years, and the
state now granted him the liberty
which il should never have taken
from him. The soul Of Robert Cor
don Terry was twisted into an ironit
laugh. but he had learned 10 keen
such emotions from rejecting in his
face.
The warden was p~uzzled-and not
a triflc disappointed. In all Of Sim
con Mason's twenty-odd years Of
prison experience he had never seen
a mar who accepted freedom this
way. Some men wcpt. some grew
frankly hysterical. And some were
openly bitter. The tall. wiry. gray.
haired official could not understand
Terry's utter indifference. Instead OF
exultation-or even bitterness-the
young man displayed no emotion
whatever. The warden leaned for
ward and tapped on the desk tor
with long tapering fingers.
You understand what that means
Terry"
The dead eyes looked up slowly
~Yes, sir
The warden spoke softly.
Don't you care any more than
you seem to-"
Il suppose so, sir"
"You are not sure."
"No sir"
Simeon Mason shook his head
Here was something new-and more
than n little disturbing. But Mason
was interested. In his simple. IN
tutcred way he was n keen student
OF psychology and he had a thousand
human subjects In his laboratory.
His mind flashed back over Terry's
record. Crime. embezzlement: sen
tence, five years; department in
prison. fair: visiting friends. none,
letters, none. From n prison stand,
RENT a most excellent inmate-yei
the warden knew that In the three
years since the iron doors hat
awung open 10 admit this prisoner
there had been a slow ccrrosior
taking place in the young man.
heart.
Three years taken from his iife'
Three years Of association in termi
OF equality with convicted criminals
Three eternities during which ghast
IN impressions and fierce bitterness
had been scared into the very sou
o. him-the more 40 because he was