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Show - - - - . 1 r '. L .. Ey j..;.;3 i-LACX " ... i,, !-, U csic: II c v, japer L'u:,ja.) i ' Kyunili a tree man, ;tt-.j. The Luciuur i.u. 1 ...a .led uu." 'lue trowel leu ilu.u tue uid cuu- vivfs hand. TUe wurUtfb'a luce v a erea bcure his us. iiis liupes ul thirty years ce;ne true at '. Thirty years had passed aince his semeiice ul deaili had been cuiuinuLed to one of la'e iMpriMimuciit. lie had killed in hot blood over tiie woman he had married, w ho had proved faithless faith-less to lino. That was why they commuted com-muted his sentence. And ior thirty years he hud drcuiaed of this day. For ten years past lie had been a trusty, in charge of the penitentiary greenhouse. He had done wonders with it, made it au asset to the penitentiary. peni-tentiary. He had forgotten it now. "I don't know who'll look after the greenhouse, Blake," suid the warden. "Blake!" Yes, lie was Blake, lie had almost forgotten that. "What are you going to do?" "Get a job, I suppose.'' What difference differ-ence did it muke to him? He had no one left now no one. On the following day Blake, attired at-tired in a new blue suit, with a considerable con-siderable sum in his pocket, departed tor his old town. But it had changed beyond recognition, recogni-tion, the whole quarter where he had lived had been pulled down, everything every-thing was different. He stared in astonishment as-tonishment at the high buildings. And the motor cars they went so fast ! They went so fast that the end of the day found him an inmate of the town hospital, with a crushed rib and dislocated shoulder. As he had money, he was given a private room. A month later, when he was discharged, he found he had just nine dollars in the world. All the rest had gone for the room and attendance. With the Dine dollars he took a ticket hack to the penitentiary town. That was more like home to him. For three nights and days he roamed the streets. Who would give work to an old man with wild eyes and disjointed speech? And then the great resolve was born in him. The penitentiary greenhouse, which was barred on the inside at night, projected out of a corner of the grim building, so as to catch the sunlight. And Blake knew all about that structure of steel and glass. It was only to get a foothold on the brick base and pull up the catch of the side window that admitted air. The next night found him inside the place. The moon was shining brightly. He uttered a cry. It was ali going to ruin. Nobody had watered any of his Bowers since his departure. The begonias were shedding their leaves, those poinsettias which he had been raising for the warden's wife were all drooping. The ferns were dying in the i dried pots. And ruthless hands had cut away all the flowering African lilies that he had prized so much. Forgetful of everything else, Blake set to work. He attached the hose, he sent streams of water over all the pots. He made cuttings and planted them in a little of that fine, soft sand that still remained. He pruned, he gathered dead leaves and piled them in a corner to make compost. The sun came up and found the old man hard at work. He labored on, forgetful of the passage of time. Now those peonies, in which he had taken such p'rlde The warden and the chief keeper found bun kneeling in a pool of muddy water, busy at work. A glance at the open window told them all. The warden stepped forward and touched the old man on the shoulder. Blake looked up and uttered a startled cry. "For God's sake don't send me away ! I couldn't get work. I felt like committing com-mitting another murder to get back here !" "Blake, this Is lucky for both of us," the warden said. "The commissioners commis-sioners were talking of trying to get a man from outside to take charge of the greenhouse. None of our men are able to. How would you like the ! Job?" . ! A slow smile dawned over old Blake's face. "Like it?" he stammered. "Warden. 1 believe I'll have some better poin-settius poin-settius for your wife than ever." |