Carthage College - Driftwood / Crimson Rambler Yearbook (Kenosha, WI)

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ll THE COLLEGIAN He Dian? Want To . . . By ALFR ED STONE ' yanRDEN Dawes paced restlessly across his oHice nervously smoking '! a cigarette. He was a small manebut what he lacked in size he bal- - -t anced in his relentless, driving ambition as was evidenced by his rise from poverty and ignorance to his present position-- wellvbuilt. nearing fifty. Greyvblue eyes set below a pair of dark bushy eye-brows indicated a stern and irrevocable nature; small pug nose. narrow thin lips and a Hrmvset jaw were indicative of forcefulness and confidence. When he smiled, which was only on the rarest occasions, his sympathetic and kind nature shone through the hard. cold exterior which eleven years as warden of Newgate Penitentiary had given him. Usually the warden was neat in dress but to-night his clothes were in wild disarray-Arumpled hair, shirt wrinkled and opened at the neck, neck-tie rumpled and knotted. Stopping before the broad. high. barred window he Hicked the half-smoked cigarette out into the night. He saw its red tip streak rapidly through the night, saw it light and emit a shower of bright sparks, then saw it fade and die in the darkness. I' wish I didn't have to do this . he was mutteringias he returned to his swivel chair. Morbid thoughts were surging and ebbing thr0ugh the mind of the warden threatening to dominate hi5 otherwise steady sure- mindedness. 'lHe has to go lcause he didn't have a lawyer crooked enough to cheat for him. but they give guys like Cardozzi fourteen years. That's Justice. He laughed bitterly and ironically I wish to Hell I were governor. Kids like Daegert would never see the inside of the death chamber and guys like Cardozzi would get more than fourteen years. Dawes lit another cigarette and again walked to the window. Almost like a feudal lord Dawes stood surveying his domain. From the Hood- lamps in the court he could see the walls which enclosed Newrgate Peni- tentary. a tomb for the living dead. Work shops. stoterhouses, cell blocks, Hagged stone recreation yard spread themselves in meagre pano- rama within the narrow confines of the forbidding, all-enclosing. allvex- eluding walls. They cast deep shadows in whose sable depths the warden could visualize the legal murder he was about to administer. Will midnight ever come? he asked the silent walls. Too many nights like this would drive me nuts! His soliloquy was interrupted by Father Groetie. an old. grey-headed man who had been connected with the prison for almost forty years. He wanted to be alone. Warden. so I left. He told me eVerything before I left. You mean the true story? Yes. He said there was no point in keeping it a secret any longer. You know Daegert told. the court that he owed a huge debt to Stuart, and that he killed him because he was being pressed for the money. That. Page 27

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THE COLLEGIAN Warden. was just a story Quite logical. Father. Yes. but the court didn't know that Miss Bancroft was Daegert's fiancee. t'So that's it, eh! At that hunting lodge Daegert caught Stuart trying to force hi5 at- tentions upon Miss Bancroft. Words led to blows and in the scramble Daegert shot Stuart. Because he didn't want to embarrass her in public. Daegert neglected to tell this story. He asked again about reprieve. Have you had any news? None at all. Father. Does he have any chance? I'm afraid he doesn't His case was carried to the higher courts and even there his deed was considered worthy of death. Yes. but with what we know nowe But it isn't within my jurisdiction to postpone an execution. IE I could I'd give him both liie and freedom. Are you going to visit him before he goes in, Warden? Yes. He only has thirtyvhve minutes. All right. lefs 90. Through the cold silent corriders the two men walked silently. each plunged in thought. News? cried Daegert as the two reached the cell door, opened it. and entered. Not yet, son. Keep up courage. There was something about the death cells which instantly lowered the hopes of the inmates. Nine ceIIs. built in a semi-circle, faced the door Which lead to the death chamber. the door through which the condemned took their last walk. The cells themselves were as naked as the souls that waited an inevitable death and that writhed in the agony of that waita ing. Bare wooden bench. one chair, and a small table comprised the furnishings of each cell. It was conducive to fear and despair not un- Hinching courage. Some had waited, justly paying for their deeds; others. victims of uncontrollable circumstance, waited to pay far in excess E0: the deeds they had committed. n I'm not afraid. but I understand. Son. I thought he got what he deserved. I avenged myself of the in- justice he dealt to me and for the dishonor he showed to my fiancee. I