A little tug3 puffed4 up and drew alongside the steamer. She took off Alexander H. Stephens, General Joseph Wheeler and Burton Harrison. Stephens and Wheeler were sent to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor.
The next, day the tug returned.
Little Jeff ran to his mother trembling and sobbing5:
"They say they've come for father—beg them to let us go with him!"
Davis stepped quickly forward and returned with an officer.
"It's true," he whispered. "They have come for Clay and me. Try not to weep. These people will gloat over your grief."
Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Clay stood close holding each other's hands in silent sympathy and grim determination to control their emotions. They parted with their husbands in dumb anguish6.
As the tug bore the fallen Chieftain from the ship, he bared his head, drew his tall figure to its full height, and, standing7 between the files of soldiers, gazed on his wife and weeping children until the mists drew their curtain over the solemn scene.
Mrs. Davis' stateroom was entered now by a raiding party headed by Captain Hudson. Her trunks were again forced open and everything taken which the Captain or his men desired—among them all her children's clothes. Jeff seized his little soldier uniform of Confederate gray and ran with it. He managed to hide and save it.
Captain Hudson then demanded the shawl which Davis had thrown over his shoulders on the damp morning when he was captured.
"You have no right to steal my property," his wife replied indignantly. "Peace has been declared. The war is over. This is plain robbery."
Hudson called in another file of soldiers.
"Hand out that shawl or I'll take the last rag you have on earth. I'll pay you for it, if you wish. But I'm going to have it."
Mrs. Davis took the shawl from Mrs. Clay's shoulders and handed it to the brute8.
"At least I may get rid of your odious9 presence," she cried, "by complying with your demand."
Hudson took the shawl with a grin and led his men away. Two of his officers returned in a few minutes and thrust their heads in the stateroom of Mrs. Davis' sister with whom Mrs. Clay was sitting.
"Gentlemen, this is a ladies' stateroom," said the Senator's wife.
One of them threw the door open violently and growled10:
"There are no ladies here!"
"I am quite sure," was the sweet reply, "that there are no gentlemen present!"
With an oath they passed on. Little tugs12 filled with vulgar sightseers steamed around the ship and shouted a continuous stream of insults when one of the Davis party could be seen.
General Nelson A. Miles, the young officer who had been appointed jailer of Jefferson Davis and Clement14 C. Clay boarded the ship and proceeded without ceremony to give his orders to their wives.
"Will you tell me, General," Mrs. Davis asked, "where my husband is imprisoned15 and what his treatment is to be?"
"Not a word," was the short reply.
His manner was so abrupt16 and boorish17 she did not press for further news.
Miles ventured some on his own account.
"Jeff Davis announced the assassination18 of Abraham Lincoln the day before it happened. I guess he knew all about it—"
The wife bit her lips and suppressed a sharp answer. Her husband's life was now in this man's hands.
"You are forbidden to buy or read a newspaper," he added curtly19, "and your ship will leave this port under sealed orders."
In vain Davis pleaded that his wife and children might be allowed to go to Washington or Richmond where they had acquaintances and friends.
"They will return to Savannah," Miles answered, "by the same ship in which they came and remain in Savannah under military guard."
Jefferson Davis was imprisoned in a casemate of Fortress Monroe, the embrasure of which was closed with a heavy iron grating. The two doors which communicated with the gunner's room were closed with heavy double shutters20 fastened with crossbars and padlocks. The side openings were sealed with fresh masonry21.
Two sentinels with loaded muskets22 paced the floor without a moment's pause day or night. Two other sentinels and a commissioned officer occupied the gunner's room, the door and window of which were securely fastened. Sentinels were stationed on the parapet overhead whose steady tramp day and night made sleep impossible.
The embrasure opened on the big ditch which surrounds the fort—sixty feet wide and ten feet deep in salt water. Beyond the ditch, on the glacis, was a double line of sentinels and in the casemate rooms on either side of his prison were quartered that part of the guard which was not on post.
To render rest or comfort impossible a lighted lamp was placed within three feet of the prisoner's eyes and kept burning brightly all night. His jailer knew he had but one eye whose sight remained and that he was a chronic24 sufferer from neuralgia.
His escape from Fortress Monroe was a physical impossibility without one of the extraordinary precautions taken. The purpose of these arrangements could have only been to inflict25 pain, humiliation26 and possibly to take his life. He had never been robust27 since the breakdown28 of his health on the Western plains. Worn by privation and exposure, approaching sixty years of age, he was in no condition physically29 to resist disease.
The damp walls, the coarse food, the loss of sleep caused by the tramp of sentinels inside his room, outside and on the roof over his head and the steady blaze of a lamp in his eyes at night within forty-eight hours had completed his prostration30.
But his jailers were not content.
On May twenty-third, Captain Titlow entered his cell with two blacksmiths bearing a pair of heavy leg irons coupled together by a ponderous31 chain.
"I am sorry to inform you, sir," the polite young officer began, "that I have been ordered to put you in irons."
"Has General Miles given that order?"
"He has."
"I wish to see him at once, please."
"General Miles has just left the fort, sir."
"You can postpone32 the execution of your order until I see him?"
"I have been warned against delay."
"No soldier ever gave such an order," was the stern reply; "no soldier should receive or execute it—"
"His orders are from Washington—mine are from him."
"But he can telegraph—there must be some mistake—no such outrage33 is on record in the history of nations—"
"My orders are peremptory34."
"You shall not inflict on me and on my people through me this insult worse than death. I will not submit to it!"
"I sincerely trust, sir," the Captain urged kindly35, "that you will not compel me to use force."
"I am a gentleman and a soldier, Captain Titlow," was the stern answer. "I know how to die—" he paused and pointed13 to the sentinel who stood ready. "Let your men shoot me at once—I will not submit to this outrage!"
The prisoner backed away with his hand on a chair and stood waiting.
The Captain turned to his blacksmiths:
"Do your duty—put them on him!"
"'Do your duty—put them on him'" "'Do your duty—put them on him'"
As the workman bent36 with his chain Davis hurled37 him to the other side of the cell and lifted his chair.
The sentinel cocked and lowered his musket23 advancing on the prisoner who met him defiantly38 with bared breast.
The Captain sprang between them:
"Put down your gun. I'll give you orders to fire when necessary."
He turned to the officer at the door:
"Bring in four of your strongest men—unarmed—you understand?"
"Yes, sir—"
The men entered, sprang on their helpless victim, bore him to the floor, pinned him down with their heavy bodies and held him securely while the blacksmiths riveted39 the chains on one leg and fastened the clasp on the other with a heavy padlock.
He had resented this cowardly insult for himself and his people. He had resisted with the hope that he might be killed before it was accomplished40. He saw now with clear vision that the purpose of his jailer was to torture him to death. His proud spirit rose in fierce rebellion. He would cheat them of their prey41. They might take his life but it should be done under the forms of law in open day. He would live. His will would defy death. He would learn to sleep with the tramp of three sets of sentinels in his ears. He would eat their coarse food at whatever cost to his feelings. He would learn to bury his face in his bedding to avoid the rays of the lamp with which they were trying to blind him.
He had need of all his fierce resolution.
He had resolved to ask no favors, but his suffering had been so acute, his determination melted at the doctor's kind expressions.
The physician found him stretched on his pallet, horribly emaciated42 and breathing with difficulty, his whole body a mere43 fascine of raw and tremulous nerves, his eyes restless and fevered, his head continually shifting from side to side searching instinctively44 for a cool spot on the hot coarse hair pillow.
"Tell me," Dr. Craven said kindly, "what I can do to add to your comfort?"
The question was asked with such genuine sympathy it was impossible to resist it.
A smile flickered45 about his thin mouth, "This camp mattress46, Doctor," he slowly replied, "I find a little thin. The slats beneath chafe47 my poor bones. I've a frail48 body—though in my youth and young manhood, while soldiering in the West, I have done some rough camping and campaigning. There was flesh then to cover my nerves and bones."
The doctor called an attendant:
"Bring this prisoner another mattress and a softer pillow."
"Thank you," Davis responded cordially.
"You are a smoker49?" the doctor asked.
"I have been all my life, until General Miles took my pipe and tobacco."
The doctor wrote to the Adjutant General and asked that his patient be given the use of his pipe.
On his visit two days later the doctor said:
"You must spend as little time in bed as possible. Exercise will be your best medicine."
The prisoner drew back the cover and showed the lacerated ankles.
"Impossible you see—the pain is so intense I can't stand erect50. These shackles51 are very heavy. If I stand, the weight of them cuts into my flesh—they have already torn broad patches of skin from the places they touch. If you can pad a cushion there, I will gladly try to drag them about—"
Dr. Craven sought the jailer:
"General Miles," he began respectfully, "in my opinion the condition of state-prisoner Davis requires the removal of those shackles until such time as his health shall be established on a firmer basis. Exercise he must have."
"You believe that is a medical necessity?"
"I do, most earnestly."
About the same time General Miles had heard from the country. The incident had already aroused sharp criticism of the Government. Stanton had come down to Fortress Monroe and peeped through the bars at the victim he was torturing, and had extracted all the comfort possible from the incident. The shackles were removed.
His jailer persisted in denying him the most innocent books to read. He asked the doctor to get for him if possible the geology or the botany of the South. General Miles thought them dangerous subjects. At least the names sounded treasonable. He denied the request.
The prisoner asked for his trunk and clothes. Miles decided52 to keep them in his own office and dole53 out the linen54 by his own standards of need.
Davis turned to his physician with a flash of anger.
"It's contemptible55 that they should thus dole out my clothes as if I were a convict in some penitentiary56. They mean to degrade me. It can't be done. No man can be degraded by unmerited insult heaped upon the helpless. Such acts can only degrade their perpetrators. The day will come when the people will blush at the memory of such treatment—"
At last the loss of sleep proved beyond his endurance. He had tried to fight it out but gave up in a burst of passionate57 protest to Dr. Craven. The sight of his eye was failing. The horror of blindness chilled his soul.
"My treatment here," he began with an effort at restraint, "is killing58 me by inches. Let them make shorter work of it. I can't sleep. No man can live without sleep. My jailers know this. I am never alone a moment—always the eye of a guard staring at me day and night. If I doze59 a feverish60 moment the noise of the relieving guard each two hours wakes me and the blazing lamp pours its glare into my aching throbbing61 eyes. There must be a change or I shall go mad or blind or both."
He paused a moment and lifted his hollow face to the physician pathetically.
"Have you ever been conscious of being watched? Of having an eye fixed62 on you every moment, scrutinizing63 your smallest act, the change of the muscles of your face or the pose of your body? To have a human eye riveted on you every moment, waking, sleeping, sitting, walking, is a refinement64 of torture never dreamed of by a Comanche Indian—it is the eye of a spy or an enemy gloating over the pain and humiliation which it creates. The lamp burning in my eyes is a form of torment65 devised by someone who knew my habit of life never to sleep except in total darkness. When I took old Black Hawk66 the Indian Chief a captive to our barracks at St. Louis I shielded him from the vulgar gaze of the curious. I have lived too long in the woods to be frightened by an owl11 and I've seen Death too often to flinch67 at any form of pain—but this torture of being forever watched is beginning to prey on my reason."
The doctor's report that day was written in plain English:
"I find Mr. Davis in a very critical state, his nervous debility extreme, his mind despondent68, his appetite gone, complexion69 livid, and pulse denoting deep prostration of all vital energies. I am alarmed and anxious over the responsibility of my position. If he should die in prison without trial, subject to such severities as have been inflicted70 on his attenuated71 frame the world will form conclusions and with enough color to pass them into history."
Dr. Craven was getting too troublesome. General Miles dismissed him, and called in Dr. George Cooper, a physician whose political opinions were supposed to be sounder.
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1
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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7
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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10
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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11
owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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tugs
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| n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 )；猛拖；拖船v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
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13
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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14
clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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15
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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17
boorish
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| adj.粗野的，乡巴佬的 | |
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assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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19
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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20
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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21
masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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22
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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23
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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24
chronic
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| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
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25
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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26
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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27
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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28
breakdown
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| n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌 | |
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29
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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30
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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31
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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32
postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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33
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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34
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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35
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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36
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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37
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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38
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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39
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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40
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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41
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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42
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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43
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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44
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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45
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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47
chafe
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| v.擦伤；冲洗；惹怒 | |
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48
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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49
smoker
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| n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室 | |
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50
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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51
shackles
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| 手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊 | |
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52
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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53
dole
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| n.救济，（失业）救济金；vt.（out）发放，发给 | |
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54
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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55
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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56
penitentiary
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| n.感化院；监狱 | |
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57
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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58
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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59
doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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60
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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61
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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62
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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63
scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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64
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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65
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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66
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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67
flinch
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| v.畏缩，退缩 | |
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68
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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69
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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70
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
attenuated
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| v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
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