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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Two Days' Solitary Imprisonment + 1898 + +Author: Edward Bellamy + +Release Date: September 21, 2007 [EBook #22706] +Last Updated: December 17, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO DAYS' SOLITARY IMPRISONMENT *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + TWO DAYS' SOLITARY IMPRISONMENT + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Edward Bellamy <br /> <br /> 1898 + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + Mr. Joseph Kilgore was suffering from one of those spring influenzas which + make a man feel as if he were his own grandfather. His nose had acquired + the shape of a turnip and the complexion of a beet. All his bones ached as + if he had been soundly thrashed, and his eyes were weak and watery. Your + deadly disease is oftener than not a gentleman who takes your life without + mauling you, but the minor diseases are mere bruisers who just go in for + making one as uncomfortable and unpresentable as possible. Mr. Kilgore's + influenza had been coming on for several days, and when he woke up this + particular morning and heard the rain dripping on the piazza-roof just + under his bedroom-window, he concluded, like a sensible man, that he would + stay at home and nurse himself over the fire that day, instead of going to + the office. So he turned over and snoozed for an hour or two, luxuriating + in a sense of aches and pains just pronounced enough to make the warmth + and softness of the bed delightful. + </p> + <p> + Toward noon, the edge of this enjoyment becoming dulled, he got up, + dressed, and came downstairs to the parlor, where his brother's wife (he + was a bachelor, living with a married brother) had considerately kindled + up a coal-fire in the grate for his benefit. + </p> + <p> + After lying off in the rocking-chair till past dinner-time, he began to + feel better and consequently restless. Concluding that he would like to + read, he went rummaging about the bookcases for a likely-looking novel. At + length he found in the upper shelf of a closet a book called "Rôles of a + Detective," containing various thrilling accounts of crimes and the + entanglement of criminals in the meshes of law and evidence. + </p> + <p> + One story in particular made a strong impression on his mind. It was a + tale of circumstantial evidence, and about how it very nearly hung an + innocent man for a murder which he had no thought of committing. It struck + Joseph rather forcibly that this victim of circumstantial evidence was as + respectable and inoffensive a person as himself, and probably had never + any more thought of being in danger from the law. Circumstances had set + their trap for him while he was quite unconscious of peril, and he only + awoke to find himself in the toils. And from this he went on to reflect + upon the horrible but unquestionable fact that every year a certain + proportion, and perhaps a very considerable proportion, of those who + suffered the penalties of the law, and even the death-penalty, are + innocent men,—victims of false or mistaken evidence. No man, however + wise or virtuous, can be sure that he will not be taken in this fearful + conscription of victims to the blind deity of justice. "None can tell," + thought Joseph, with a shudder, "that the word he is saying, the road he + is turning, the appointment he is making, or whatever other innocent act + he is now engaged in, may not prove the last mesh in some self-woven + death-net, the closing link in some damning chain of evidence whose + devilish subtlety shall half convince him that he must be guilty as it + wholly convinces others." + </p> + <p> + Timidity is generally associated with imaginativeness, if not its result, + and Joseph, although he concealed the fact pretty well under the mask of + reticence, was constitutionally very timid. He had an unprofitable habit + of taking every incident of possible embarrassment or danger that occurred + to his mind as the suggestion for imaginary situations of inconvenience or + peril, which he would then work out, fancying how he would feel and what + he would do, with the utmost elaboration, and often with really more + nervous excitement than he would be likely to experience if the events + supposed should really occur. So now, and all the more because he was a + little out of sorts, the suggestions of this story began to take the form + in his mind of an imaginary case of circumstantial evidence of which he + was the victim. His fancy worked up the details of a fictitious case + against himself, which he, although perfectly innocent, could meet with + nothing more than his bare denial. + </p> + <p> + He imagined the first beginnings of suspicion; he saw it filming the eyes + of his acquaintances, then of his friends, and at last sicklying over the + face even of his brother Silas. In fancy he made frantic attempts to + regain the confidence of his friends, to break through the impalpable, + impenetrable barrier which the first stir of suspicion had put between + their minds and his. He cried, he begged, he pleaded. But in vain, all in + vain. Suspicion had made his appeals and adjurations sound even to his + friends as strange and meaningless as the Babel-builders' words of a + sudden became to each other. The yellow badge of suspicion once upon him, + all men kept afar, as if he were a fever-ship in quarantine. No solitary + imprisonment in a cell of stone could so utterly exclude him from the + fellowship of men as the invisible walls of this dungeon of suspicion. And + at last he saw himself giving up the hopeless struggle, yielding to his + fate in dumb despair, only praying that the end might come speedily, + perhaps even reduced to the abject-ness of confessing the crime he had not + committed, in order that he might at least have the pity of men, since he + could not regain their confidence. And so strongly had this vision taken + hold on him that his breath came irregularly, and his forehead was damp as + he drew his hand across it. + </p> + <p> + As has been intimated, it was Mr. Joseph Kil-gore's very bad habit to + waste his nervous tissue in the conscientiously minute elaboration of such + painful imaginary situations as that above described, and in his present + experience there was nothing particularly novel or extraordinary for him. + It was the occurrence of a singular coincidence between this internal + experience and a wholly independent course of actual events, which made + that waking nightmare the beginning of a somewhat remarkable comedy, or, + more properly, a tragedy, of errors. For, as Joseph lay back in his chair, + in a state of nervous exhaustion and moral collapse, the parlor-door was + thrown open, and Mrs. Silas Kilgore, his sister-in-law, burst into the + room. She was quite pale, and her black eyes were fixed on Joseph's with + the eager intensity, as if seeking moral support, noticeable in those who + communicate startling news which they have not had time to digest. + </p> + <p> + The effect of this apparition upon Joseph in his unstrung condition may be + readily imagined. He sprang up, much paler than Mrs. Kilgore, his lips + apart, and his eyes staring with the premonition of something shocking. + These symptoms of extraordinary excitement even before she had spoken, and + this air as if he had expected a shocking revelation, recurred to her mind + later, in connection with other circumstances, but just now she was too + full of her intelligence to dwell on anything else. + </p> + <p> + "A man was murdered in our barn last night. They 've found the body!" she + exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + As the meaning of her words broke on him, Joseph was filled with that sort + of mental confusion which one experiences when the scene or circumstances + of a dream recur in actual life. Was he still dreaming that ghostly vision + of suspicion and the death-trap of circumstances? Was this a mere + continuation of it? No, he was awake; his sister-in-law standing there, + with pallid face and staring eyes, was not an apparition. The horrid, + fatal reality which he had been imagining was actually upon him. + </p> + <p> + "I did not do it!" dropped from his ashen lips. + </p> + <p> + "You do it? Are you crazy? Who said anything about your doing it?" cried + the astounded woman. + </p> + <p> + The ring of genuine amazement in her voice was scarcely needed to recall + Joseph to the practical bearing of his surroundings, and break the spell + of superstitious dread. The sound of his own words had done it. With a + powerful effort he regained something like self-control, and said, with a + forced laugh:— + </p> + <p> + "What an absurd thing for me to say! I don't know what I could have been + thinking of. Very odd, was it not? But, dear me! a man murdered in our + barn? You don't tell me! How terrible!" + </p> + <p> + His constrained, overdone manner was not calculated to abate Mrs. + Kilgore's astonishment, and she continued to stare at him with an + expression in which a vague terror began to appear. There are few shorter + transitions than that from panic to anger. Seeing that her astonishment at + his reception of the news increased rather than diminished, he became + exasperated at the intolerable position in which he was placed. His face, + before so pale, flushed with anger. + </p> + <p> + "Damnation! What are you staring at me that way for?" he cried fiercely. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kilgore gave a little cry, half of indignation, half of fright, and + went out of the room, shutting the door after her. + </p> + <p> + Joseph had ample opportunity to review the situation before he was again + disturbed, which, indeed, was not till some hours later, at dusk, when + Silas came home, and the tea-table was set. Silas had been promptly + summoned from his shop when the discovery of the body was made, and had + been busy all the afternoon with the police, the coroner, and the crowds + of visitors to the scene of the tragedy. + </p> + <p> + The conversation at the tea-table ran entirely upon the various incidents + of the discovery, the inquest, and the measures of the police for the + apprehension of the criminal. Mrs. Kilgore was so full of questions that + she scarcely gave Silas time to answer, and Joseph flattered himself that + his comparative silence was not noticeable. Nevertheless, as they rose + from the table, Silas remarked:— + </p> + <p> + "You don't seem much interested in our murder, Joseph; you have n't asked + the first question about it." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kilgore was just leaving the room, and she turned her head to see how + he would answer. But he, too, turned off the matter by saying something + about Maria's loquaciousness having left him no chance. After tea the + little family circle was gathered in the parlor. Mrs. Kilgore was sewing; + Silas read the newspaper, and Joseph sat up by the fire. From time to + time, as he glanced around, he caught Mrs. Kilgore's eyes studying him + very intently. Her manner indicated that her indignation at his behavior + and language earlier in the afternoon had been quite neutralized by her + curiosity as to its cause. + </p> + <p> + "There 's nothing in the paper to-night but the murder, and I know that + already," exclaimed Silas, finally. "Maria, where's there something to + read? Hullo! what's this?" + </p> + <p> + He had taken up from the table the story of circumstantial evidence which + Joseph had been reading that morning. + </p> + <p> + "Why, Maria, here's that murder-book you wouldn't let me finish last + summer for fear I'd murder you some night. Who on earth hunted up that + book of all books, to-day of all days?" + </p> + <p> + "I did," replied Joseph, clearing his throat, in order to speak with a + natural inflection. + </p> + <p> + "You did?" exclaimed Silas. + </p> + <p> + "You must have looked the house over to find it, for I hid it carefully," + said Mrs. Kilgore, looking sharply at him. "What made you so anxious to + get it?" + </p> + <p> + "I was not particularly anxious. I was merely looking for something to + read," said Joseph, making a pretense of yawning, as if the matter was a + very trivial one. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose the murder brought it to his mind," said Silas. + </p> + <p> + "Why, no!" exclaimed Mrs. Kilgore quickly. "You must have been reading it + before the murder. Now that I remember, I saw it in your hands." + </p> + <p> + "Before the murder, were you, Joseph? Why, that's almost enough to make + one feel superstitious," said Silas, turning around in his chair, so as to + look fairly at him. + </p> + <p> + Joseph had half a mind to make a clean breast of the matter then and + there, and explain to them how curiously the reading of that book had + affected him. But he reflected that Silas was rather unimaginative, and + would probably be more mystified than enlightened by his explanation. + </p> + <p> + "I do believe it was reading that book which made you act so queerly when + I brought you in the news of the murder," pursued Mrs. Kilgore. + </p> + <p> + "How is that? How did he act queerly?" asked Silas. + </p> + <p> + "I am not aware that I acted queerly at all," said Joseph doggedly. + </p> + <p> + He knew well enough he had acted queerly, and did not mean to deny that; + but, as children and confused persons often do, he answered to the + underlying motive rather than the language. He only thought of denying the + inference of suspicion that her words seemed to him to suggest. But to + Mrs. Kilgore he very naturally seemed to be prevaricating. + </p> + <p> + "Why, Joseph!" said she, in a raised voice, and with a slight asperity; + "you know how you jumped up, looking like a ghost, the moment I opened the + door, and the first thing you said after I 'd told you that they 'd found + a murdered man in the barn, was—Why, Joseph, what's the matter?" + </p> + <p> + But I must go back a little. When the conversation turned on the book and + Joseph's connection with it, a minute or so previous, Silas had quite + naturally glanced over at his brother, and, as the talk went on, his + glance had become a somewhat concentrated gaze, although expressive of + nothing but the curiosity and slight wonder which the circumstances + suggested. It would not do to have Silas think that he avoided his eyes, + and so Joseph had, as soon as he felt this gaze, turned his own face + rather sharply toward it. He had meant merely to meet his brother's look + in a natural and unaffected manner. But, although never more sensible of + just what such a manner would be, he was utterly unable to compass it. He + was perfectly aware that the expression of his eyes was much too serious + and challenging,—and yet he could not, for the soul of him, modify + it. Nor did he dare to withdraw his gaze after it had once met his + brother's, although knowing that it was fast becoming a fierce stare, and + perceiving that Silas had already noticed something peculiar in it. For to + drop his eyes would be utter discomfiture and rout. As Mrs. Kilgore + alluded to his queer demeanor when she told him the news, his face began + to flush with the anticipation of the revelation that was coming at this + most unfavorable moment, even while his eyes were locked with the already + startled ones of Silas. As she went on, the flush covered the lower part + of his face, and rose like a spring-tide up his cheeks, and lent a fierce, + congested glare to his eyes. He felt how woeful and irretrievable a thing + it would be for him just then to lose his countenance, and at the thought + the flush burned deeper and merged higher. It overspread his high, bald, + intellectual forehead, and incarnadined his sconce up to the very top of + it. At this moment it was that Mrs. Kilgore broke off her narrative with + the exclamation, "Why, Joseph, what's the matter?" + </p> + <p> + At her words it seemed as if every drop of blood in his body poured into + his face. He could endure it no longer. He rose abruptly, strode out of + the parlor, and went to his room, although it was but eight o'clock, and + he had no fire there. If he had staid another moment he must have brained + Silas and his wife with the poker, such an ungovernable anger boiled up in + him with the sense of his causeless, shameful discomfiture. + </p> + <p> + As Joseph left the parlor the eyes of Silas and his wife met each other, + —his dull with bewilderment and terror at a spectral fear; hers keen + with a definite suspicion. But even her loquacity was subdued by a real + fright. She had nothing to say. Her sensation was like that of one who, + hunting a hare, stumbles upon a wolf. She had been both offended and made + curious by Joseph's demeanor that afternoon, but the horrid idea that + within a moment had been suggested to both their minds had so little + occurred to her as a serious possibility that she was even on the point of + rallying Joseph on it before her husband. Some time after he had left the + parlor Silas asked, with averted face:— + </p> + <p> + "What was it that he said when you told him the news?" and then she + repeated his words. + </p> + <p> + And Joseph, sitting wild-eyed upon his bed in the darkness in the room + above, red no longer, but pale as death, heard the murmur of the voices, + and knew that she was telling him. No one of the household slept much that + night, except Mrs. Kil-gore. Whenever she awoke she heard her husband + tossing restlessly, but she dared not ask him what was the matter. In vain + did Silas rehearse to himself all through the night-hours how petty were + the trifles in Joseph's demeanor which had disturbed him. They were of the + sort of trifles which create that species of certainty known as moral + certainty,—the strongest of all in the mind it occupies, although so + incapable of being communicated to others. It mattered little how much + evidence there was, if it sufficed to lodge the faintest trace of + suspicion in his mind. For, like some poisons, an atom of suspicion is as + fatal as the largest quantity, Nay, perhaps, even more surely so, for + against great suspicion the mind often takes arms and makes valiant head; + but a little doubt, by its timid and hesitant demeanor, disarms + opposition, and is readily entertained. And all that night, lying awake, + and knowing that Silas was sleepless just the other side of the partition, + and that the fungus of suspicion was moment by moment overgrowing his + mind, he could hardly wait for morning, but would fain have rushed, even + now in the darkness, to his bedside to cry: "I did not do it! Believe me, + brother, I did not do it!" + </p> + <p> + In the morning, however, the sun shone brightly into his room, and last + night's events and misunderstandings seemed like a bad dream. He went + downstairs almost cheery. He did not find Silas, but Mrs. Kilgore was + about. He was rather startled to observe the entire change in her + demeanor. Yesterday she was constantly following him up with her sharp + black eyes and brisk questions and exclamations, but now she seemed + frightened, acted in a constrained manner, and avoided his eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Where is Silas?" he asked, as they sat down to table. + </p> + <p> + "He said that there was something he must see to at the shop before work + began, so he had an early breakfast," replied Mrs. Kilgore, with her eyes + on her plate. + </p> + <p> + Had she been looking up, she would have seen a piteous constriction in the + muscles of Joseph's face. His heart was sick, and all his regained courage + sank away. It was no bad dream. Silas was afraid to meet him. He left his + meal untasted, and went to the office. A dozen acquaintances stopped him + on his way down-street to ask about the murder; and all day long somebody + was dropping in to pester him on the same subject. He told them with a + dull, abstracted air all the fresh details he knew, but felt all the time + as if he cheated each auditor of the vital part of the matter, in that he + failed to shout after him:— + </p> + <p> + "Silas suspects me of it!" + </p> + <p> + Silas had, indeed, left the house early for the purpose of avoiding his + brother. He was in a condition of mind and nerve in which he did not dare + to meet him. At tea the brothers met for the first time since the night + previous. There was a constraint between them like that between strangers, + but stronger and more chilling far than ever that is. There is no chill + like that which comes between friends, and the nearer the friends the more + deathly the cold. Silas made a little effort to speak of business-matters, + but could not keep it up, and soon a silence settled over the party, only + broken by the words of table-service. Mrs. Kilgore sat pale and frightened + all through the meal without venturing a single phrase, and scarcely + looking up from her plate. + </p> + <p> + The silence was of that kind which all felt to be more expressive than the + loudest, most explicit language could be,—more merciless than any + form of verbal accusation. Such silence is a terribly perfect medium, in + which souls are compelled to touch each other, resent as they may the + contact. Several times Joseph was on the point of rising and rushing from + the table. How many more such meals could he stand or could they stand? + All of them recognized that the situation had become perceptibly more + serious and more pronounced on account of that silent tea-table. + </p> + <p> + There was in particular not the slightest allusion made by any one to the + murder, which, seeing that it had happened but yesterday, and would + naturally still have been an engrossing topic, was an omission so pointed + as to be an open charge of guilt. There is such a thing as emphasizing a + topic by suppressing it, as letters are sunk into stone. The omission + impressed Silas as it did Joseph, but, regarding it from his point of + view, it did not occur to him but that Joseph was the one solely + responsible for it. He, Silas, had refrained from reference to it because + his suspicions in regard to Joseph made the topic unendurable. But he + could not imagine that Joseph could have had any other motive for his + silence on the subject but a guilty conscience,—some secret + knowledge of the crime. Thus regarded, it was a terrible confirmation. + That a perception that he was suspected might cause an innocent man to act + very much as if he were conscious of guilt did not occur to Silas, as, + perhaps, it would have failed to occur to most persons in just his + position. + </p> + <p> + After leaving the tea-table the brothers went together into the parlor, + according to the family custom. They took their accustomed seats on + opposite sides of the fireplace, but there was no conversation. A veil was + between them. Both were thinking of the same thing,—thinking of it + intensely,—and each knew that the other was thinking of it, and yet + neither for worlds could have commanded the courage to speak of it. The + suspicion had grown definite in Silas's mind, and yet, whenever he brought + himself to the point of putting it in words, it suddenly seemed + impossible, cruel, and absurd. But if Silas found it impossible to speak, + far more so it seemed to Joseph. + </p> + <p> + To charge another with suspecting us is half to confess ourselves worthy + of suspicion. It is demoralizing,—it is to abandon the pride of + conscious rectitude. To deny an accusation is to concede to it a + possibility, a color of reason; and Joseph shrank with unutterable + repugnance from that. He felt that he could be torn limb from limb sooner + than betray by a word that he recognized the existence of suspicion so + abominable. Besides, of what avail would be a denial without evidence to + disprove a suspicion which had arisen without evidence? It was a thing too + impalpable to contend with. As well fight a fog as seek to destroy by mere + denial suspicion so vague, unsubstantial, and subtile, as that which + enveloped him. Silas would, of course, eagerly accept his denial; he well + knew how he would spring to his side, how warm and firm would be his + hand-clasp, and how great, perhaps, his momentary relief. But he was, + after all, but human, and no man can control his doubts. Silas would still + be unable, when he thought the matter over, to help the feeling that there + was, after all, something very strange about his conduct from first to + last. It is the subtiler nature of doubt to penetrate the heart more + profoundly than confidence, and to underlie it. No generous St. George of + faith can reach the nether den where it lurks. Or, rather, is it like the + ineradicable witch-grass which, though it be hewed off at the surface, + still lives at the root, and springs forth luxuriantly again at the first + favoring season? + </p> + <p> + Moreover, Joseph hoped that some circumstance, the detection of the + murderer, or a healthier moral tone, might dissipate the cloud of + suspicion between them, and then it would be far better not to have + spoken, for, once put in words, the hateful thing would ever remain a + mutual memory, never again to be denied, and which might come up to their + minds whenever they looked each other in the eye thereafter. And so the + brothers sat opposite each other in silence, their faces growing grayer as + the clock ticked. + </p> + <p> + "The weather is growing cooler again," said Joseph, at last, rising to go + to his room. + </p> + <p> + It was at least two hours before his usual bedtime, but he could sit there + no longer. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I think we shall have a frost," replied Silas, and the brothers + parted. + </p> + <p> + After Joseph had gone, Mrs. Kilgore came into the parlor and sat down with + some sewing. She waited for her husband to speak and tell her if Joseph + had said anything. But he sat there staring at the wall, and took no + notice of her. Although she knew so well what had been preying upon his + mind since last evening, yet he had not once referred to the matter, and + she had not dared to do so. It was hard for a talkative little lady like + her to understand this reticence about a matter so deeply felt. She could + not comprehend that there may be griefs so ghastly that we dare not lift + from them the veil of silence. She wanted to "talk it over" a little. She + felt that would do Silas good, because she knew it would be a relief to + her. Nor was she insensible to the gratification it would afford her + vanity to discuss so serious a matter with her husband, whose general tone + with her was one of jest and pleasantry, to the disparagement of her + intellectual powers, as she thought. So, after glancing up several times + timidly at Silas's still set profile, she said, in a weighty little voice:— + </p> + <p> + "Don't you think Joseph behaves very strangely about the murder?" Her + words seemed to be several seconds in making an impression on Silas's + mind, and then he slowly turned his face full upon her. It was a terrible + look. The squared jaw, the drawn lips, the dull, distant stare, repulsed + her as one might repulse a stranger intermeddling with a bitter private + grief. Who was she, to come between him and his brother? He did not seem + to think it worth while to say anything to explain so eloquent a glance, + but immediately faced about again, as if dismissing the interruption from + his mind. Mrs. Kilgore did not try to make any more conversation, but went + to her bedroom and cried herself to sleep. + </p> + <p> + But Silas sat in his chair in the parlor, and took no note of the hours + till the lamp spluttered and went out. All through the evening, in + Joseph's room, which was directly above, he had heard him walking to and + fro, to and fro, sitting down awhile, and then starting again; and if the + pacing had not finally come to an end, Silas could not have gone to bed, + for his heart went out to his brother wrestling there alone with his + dreadful secret, and he could not rest till he thought that he, too, was + at rest. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, for the very reason that Joseph was so dear to him, and he felt + nothing could change that, he actually hesitated the less to admit these + horrible suspicions. Love is impatient of uncertainly, and would rather + presume the guilt of a friend from its longing to pour itself out in pity + and tenderness, than restrain itself while judgment scrutinizes evidence + and decides by a straw's weight. + </p> + <p> + A practical reflection, moreover, had occurred to Silas. + </p> + <p> + If Joseph had really—he did not dare to say to himself what—then + it was of the utmost importance that they should quickly understand each + other, so as to take steps to place him in safety. His desire to share + Joseph's horrible secret was like the feeling with which one would fain + uncover a friend's loathsome disease in order to help him. Before he went + to sleep that night he resolved, therefore, that he would win his + confidence by letting him see in every possible way, short of actual + words, that he suspected the true state of things, and that Joseph might + still confide in him as a faithful brother who would stand by him in the + worst emergency. + </p> + <p> + On first meeting him the following morning he began to carry out this + project so worthy of fraternal devotion. He sought occasion to shake hands + with Joseph, and gave a meaning pressure to his clasp. At breakfast he was + the only one who talked, and endeavored by his manner to let Joseph + understand that he perfectly comprehended the situation, and was talking + to cover his embarrassment and prevent Mrs. Kilgore from suspecting + anything. Several times also he managed to catch his brother's eye, and + give him a glance implying sympathy and mutual understanding. This + demeanor added the last touch to Joseph's exasperation. + </p> + <p> + Evading Silas's evident intention of walking down-street, he got away + alone, and took both dinner and tea at a restaurant, to put off meeting + his brother and sister-in-law as long as possible. He lingered long over + his tea in the darkest, loneliest corner of the eating-house, for the + prospect, no longer to be avoided, of returning home to confront his + sister-in-law's frightened face and Silas's pathetic glances appeared + intolerable. Wild ideas of flying from the city and returning never, or + not until the truth about the murder had come to light, occurred to him. + He even began to arrange what sort of a letter he should write to Silas. + But men of forty, especially of Joseph's temperament, who have moved in + the same business and domestic ruts all their lives, do not readily make + up their minds to bold steps of this sort. To endure suffering or + inconvenience is more natural than to change their settled habits. So it + all ended in his going home at about eight o'clock, and being greatly + relieved to find some callers there. + </p> + <p> + All three of this strangely stricken family, indeed, shared that feeling. + It was such a rest from the nervous strain whenever either or both were + left alone with Joseph! The earnestness with which Mrs. Kilgore pressed + her guests to stay a little longer was so unusual and apparently uncalled + for that I fancy Mr. and Mrs. Smith had a vague suspicion that they were + being made game of. But they would have been disabused of that impression + could they have appreciated the sinking of heart with which their hosts + heard the frontdoor close, and realized that they were again left to + themselves. Only one thing had occurred to mar the relief which the call + had afforded. The topic of the murder had been exhausted before Joseph + entered, but, just as she was leaving, Mrs. Smith made a return to it, + saying:— + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. Kilgore, I was telling my husband I should think you must be scared + to be in the house, for fear the murderer might still be hanging around." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kilgore shuddered, and cast an instantaneous, wholly involuntary + glance at Joseph. Her husband intercepted it, and, catching his eye, she + saw an expression in it as if he could strangle her for what was really + only the fault of her nerves. She stammered something, and the bustle of + the retiring guests covered her confusion well enough. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, Joseph, too, had caught that sudden, terrified glance of + his sister-in-law's at him, and it affected him more than anything that + had occurred in either of the two days since the murder. As the guests + took their leave, his head dropped on his breast, and his arms fell by the + sides of his chair. Mr. Kilgore wanted to send his wife from the room, but + his voice stuck in his throat, his tongue refused to move. They waited a + moment, and then Joseph said:— + </p> + <p> + "Send for the police! For God's sake, take me out of this! I can't stand + it any longer!" + </p> + <p> + It was not yet nine o'clock, and a boy came by in the street crying:— + </p> + <p> + "Extra! The Kilgore barn murderer captured! Full confession!" + </p> + <p> + Although the words were perfectly audible through the lowered windows to + all in the room, Mrs. Kilgore was the only one who took any mental + cognizance of them. Nor did either of the men, who sat there like stones, + take note of her as she left the room. A minute later they heard her + scream, and she ran back with the open paper in her hands. + </p> + <p> + "He did not do it! He is crazy! They have found the murderer!" + </p> + <p> + Silas fixed an incredulous, questioning stare upon his wife, and then + turned quickly toward his brother. As for Joseph, at first and for several + moments, he gave no sign that he had heard at all. Then he slowly raised + his eyes to his brother's face with a deliberate, cruel gaze of + contemptuous sarcasm and cold aversion. The first effect of this great + relief was to flood his mind with bitter wrath at those who had done him + the great wrong from which, no thanks to them, he had been rescued. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kilgore hastily read aloud, in a breathless voice, the newspaper + account It seemed that two tramps had taken refuge in the barn from the + storm that had raged the night of the murder, and getting into some + quarrel before morning, one had stabbed the other and fled, only to be + captured two days later and confess everything. When Mrs. Kilgore ceased + reading, Joseph said:— + </p> + <p> + "It must be a great disappointment for you that they are not going to hang + me for it. I sincerely condole with you." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kilgore cried, "Oh, don't!" and Silas made a gesture of deprecation, + but both felt that Joseph had a right to revile them as he chose, and they + had no right to complain. But he, even while he could not deny himself the + gratification of a little cruel reproach, knew that they were not to be + blamed, that they had been as much the victims of a fatality as himself, + and that this was one of those peculiarly exasperating wrongs which do not + leave the sufferer even the satisfaction of being angry. Soon he got up + and walked across the room, stretched himself, drew his hand over his + forehead, and said:— + </p> + <p> + "I feel as if I had just been dug up after being buried alive." + </p> + <p> + At this sign of returning equanimity, Silas took courage and ventured to + say:— + </p> + <p> + "I know we 've been a pair of crazy fools, Joe, but you 're a little to + blame. What's made you act so queerly? You won't deny that you have acted + so?" + </p> + <p> + Joseph smiled,—one does n't appreciate the pure luxury of a smile + until he has been deprived of it for a while,—lit a cigar, sat down + with his legs over the arm of his arm-chair,—he had not indulged in + an unconstrained posture for two days,—and told his side of the + story. He explained how, thanks to that tale he was reading, and the + ghastly reverie it suggested, his nerves were all on edge when Mrs. + Kilgore burst in with a piece of news whose extraordinary coincidence with + his train of thought had momentarily thrown him off his balance; and he + tried to make them see that, after that first scene, all the rest was a + logical sequence. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kilgore, by virtue of her finer feminine nervous organization, + understood him so readily that he saw he had made a mistake in not + unbosoming himself to her at first. But Silas evidently did not so easily + take his idea. + </p> + <p> + "But why did n't you just tell us that you had n't done it, and end the + misunderstanding at one blow?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "Why, don't you see," replied Joseph, "that to deny a thing before you are + distinctly suspected of it is to suggest suspicion; while to deny it + afterward, unless you have proof to offer, is useless?" + </p> + <p> + "What should we have come to but for the capture of the real murderer?" + cried Mrs. Kilgore, with a shudder. cried Mrs. Kilgore, with a shudder. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Two Days' Solitary Imprisonment, by Edward Bellamy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO DAYS' SOLITARY IMPRISONMENT *** + +***** This file should be named 22706-h.htm or 22706-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/7/0/22706/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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