Part 56 (1/2)
Every day Russell is called to the office, causing lance at the returning prisoner, sly as he passes er is past for the day With a deep pang, I observe the increasing pallor of his face, the growing restlessness in his eyes, the languid step The continuous inquisition is breaking hi voice he whispers as he passes, ”Aleck, I'm afraid of them” The Warden has threatened hinorance of the tunnel His friendshi+p for me is well known, the Warden reasons; we have often been seen together in the cell-house and yard; I must surely have confided to Russellto a shadow under the terrible strain Dear, faithful friend! How guilty I feel toward you, how torn in my inmost heart to have suspected your devotion, even for that brief instant when, in a panic of fear, you had denied to the Warden all knowledge of the slip of paper found in your cell It cast suspicion upon e Jewish scrawl The Warden scorned my explanation that Russell's desire to learn Hebreas the sole reason forthe alphabet for him The mutual denial seemed to point to some secret; the scraas si Street house, the Warden insisted How strange that I should have so successfully confounded the Inspectors with the contradictory testi the tunnel, that they returned nificant incident of Russell's hieroglyphic iiven the Warden a pretext to order me into solitary! How distracted and bitter I e the boy with treachery! His very reticence strengthened my suspicion, and all the while the tears welled into his throat, choking the innocent lad beyond speech How little I suspected the terrible wound my hasty imputation had caused my devoted friend! In silence he suffered for months, without opportunity to explain, when at last, by mere accident, I learned the fatal hts into different channels Mypersistence; the unjust accusation torhts It was a ed his pardon to-day, when I met him in the Captain's office A deep sense of relief, al, ”Oh, never ht; ere both excited” I was overcome by thankfulness and adht of his wan face, his wasted form, pierced me as with a knife-thrust With the earnest conviction of strong faith I sought to explain to the Board of Inspectors the unfortunate error regarding the Jeriting But they smiled doubtfully It was too late: their opinion of a prearranged agreement with Russell was settled But the testimony of assistant Deputy Hopkins that he had seen and conversed with Nold a feeeks before the discovery of the tunnel, and that he saw him enter the ”criminal” house, affordedthe Inspectors I experienced little difficulty in convincing two members of the Board that Nold could not possibly have been connected with the tunnel, because for almost a year previously, and since, he had been in the employ of a St Louis firm They accepted my offer to prove by the official time-tables of the company that Nold was in St Louis on the very day that Hopkins claimed to have spoken with him The fortunate and very natural error of Hopkins inthe similar appearance of Tony for that of Carl, enabledviews of the police officials of the twin cities still further confounded the Inspectors, and I was gravely inforainst me had not been conclusively substantiated They orderedthe verdict, at once chargeda secret correspondence with Russell On the pretext of the alleged Hebrew note, the Inspectors confirment, and I was sentenced to the solitary and i
CHAPTER xxxVIII
”HOW MEN THEIR BROTHERS MAIM”
I
The solitary is stifling with the August heat The hall s, high above the floor, cast a sickly light, shrouding the bottoazewhite of the walls, in spots yelloith dae echoes uid footsteps ht, torn fro
The failure of the tunnel forever excludes the hope of liberty
Terrified by the possibilities of the planned escape, the Warden's determination dooms my fate I shall end my days in strictest seclusion, he has infor to converse with me; even officers are forbidden to pause at uard, is afraid even to answer , since he was disciplined with the loss of ten days' pay for being seen at ht was sultry; the sashes of the hallopposite htly closed Al Evans to raise theIt had been ordered shut by the Warden, he informed me As he turned to leave, three sharp raps on the bars of the upper rotunda almost rooted him to the spot with amazeht ”Conized the curt tones of the Warden ”What business have you at thatthe stillness of the night In vain the frightened officer sought to explain: he had merely answered a question, he had stopped but ayou there for half an hour,” the irate Warden insisted ”Report to uards on their rounds lance between the bars, and pass on in silence I have been re Captain, and around floor, Range Y The stringent orders of exceptional surveillance have so terrorized my friends that they do not venture to look in ned to the vicinity of my door, his sole duty to keep me under observation I feel buried alive Communication withes curtailed If only I had ive me consolation But they have been taken frouards have killed them Deprived of work and exercise I pass the days in the solitary, rees anxiety over my friends is allayed The mystery of the tunnel remains unsolved The Warden reiterates his e was intended for the liberation of the Anarchist prisoner The views of the police and detective officials of the twin cities are hopelessly divergent Each side asserts thorough fa the guilty parties But the alleged clews proving , the e has been filled with ceation is terht into the darkness ofto reflect that, disastrous as the failure is tofor liberty At no time since the discovery of the tunnel has suspicion been directed to the right persons The narrow official horizon does not extend beyond the familiar names of the Girl, Nold, and Bauer These have been pointed at by the accusing finger repeatedly, but the men actually concerned in the secret atteer threatens them from the failure of my plans In a communication to a local newspaper, Nold has incontrovertibly proved his continuous residence in St Louis for a period covering a year previous to the tunnel and afterwards Bauer has recently norance of his whereabouts, and they are aware that my former fellow-prisoner is to be discounted as a participator in the attempted escape Indeed, the prison officials arded by my friends as an ex-comrade merely But the suspicion of the authorities directed toward the Girl--with a pang of bitterness, I think of her unfortunate absence froround work
With resentht now be at liberty!
Her skill as an organizer, her growing influence in the y and devotion, would have assured the success of the undertaking
But Tony's unaccountable delay had resulted in her departure without learning of my plans It is to him, to his obstinacy and conceit, that the failure of the project is h he is
In turn I lay the responsibility at the door of this friend and that, lashi+ng ade who had appropriated a considerable suround work Yet the outbursts of passion spent, I strive to find consolation in the correctness of the intuitive judgment that prompted the selection of my ”lawyers,” the devoted comrades who so heroically toiled for my sake in the bowels of the earth Half-naked they had labored through the weary days and nights, stretched at full length in the narrow passage, their bodies perspiring and chilled in turn, their hands bleeding with the terrible toil And through the weeks andwork and confinement in the tunnel, of constant dread of detection and anxiety over the result, my comrades had uttered no word of doubt or fear, in full reliance upon their invisible friend
What self-sacrifice in behalf of one whom some of you had never even known! Dear, beloved comrades, had you succeeded, my life could never repay your almost superhuman efforts and love Only the future years of active devotion to our great common Cause could in a measure express my thankfulness and pride in you, whoever, wherever you are Nor were your heroism, your skill and indoiven an invaluable demonstration of the eleth and courage born of solidaric purpose, of the heights devotion to a great Cause can ascend And the lesson has not been lost Almost unanimous is the voice of the press--only Anarchists could have achieved the wonderful feat!
The subject of the tunnel fascinates iven to round, in the anxious days ofvividness I visualize their trepidation, the constant fear of discovery, the herculean efforts in spite of ever-present danger How terrible must have been _their_ despair at the inability to continue the work to a successful terth I must live! I must live to meet those heroic men, to take them by the hand, and with silent lips pour my heart into their eyes I shall be proud of their comradeshi+p, and strive to be worthy of it
III
The lines form in the hallway, and silently ht of a fas cheer, and the e Many friends, unseen for years, pass byJack has wasted! The deep chest is sunk in, the face drawn and yelloith reddish spots about the cheekbones Poor Jack, so strong and energetic, how languid and weak his step is now! And Jimmy is all broken up with rheunize Harry Fisher The two years have coanza boy He looks old at seventeen, the rosy cheeks a ghastly white, the delicate features ilassy Vividly th of their first arrival How changed their appearance! My poor chuation efforts, recks the torture of hell has made of you! I recall with sadness the first years of my imprisonment, and my coldly ied burglar, s furtively at me from the line Far in the distance seeazine article I sent hi the stupendous cost of crime I had felt quite piqued at the flippancy of his coh, but they must have us” With the severe intellectuality of revolutionary tradition, I thought of hirowths, the rotten fruit of a decaying society Unfortunate derelicts, indeed, yet parasites, almost devoid of humanity But the threads of comradeshi+p have slowly been woven by common misery The touch of sympathy has discovered the man beneath the criminal; the crust of sullen suspicion hasinto view the palpitating hu and pain e bitterness! And the resurrection trenorance, that forever condeed by its own blind fury! And these uilty,--orse punishment could society inflict upon itself, than the loss of their latent nobility which it had killed? Not entirely in vain are the years of suffering that have wakened my kinshi+p with the humanity of _les miserables_, whom social stupidity has cast into the valley of death
CHAPTER xxxIX