I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang Page #5

shoot him!

Escape? I'm supposed to be a trustee here.

Haven't you had orders

from the Prison Commission?

Sure, I got orders...

that if you get away from here this time,

I lose my job.

And that goes for all of you. Get me?

- Now take him out of here.

- Come on.

Go on. Find yourself a bunk.

Go on down the line.

How did you get

to this little bit of heaven, kid?

It's a long story.

Sit down, make yourself at home.

If you can.

Boy, if you think

those other chain gangs are tough...

wait till you get a load of this joint.

These are the guys that were too tough

for the chain gangs.

Now give us the story.

How'd they snatch you back?

They didn't. I came back.

He just got lonesome.

They promised me a pardon

if I'd come back for 90 days.

What's a pardon?

These boys up here

ain't never heard that word.

Neither has the Prison Commission.

What'd you do

to get sent up here, Bomber?

I decided to hang it on the limb,

so I socked a guard with a sledge.

I aimed at the rat's head, but I missed.

I can't figure

a guy walking back into this...

just because they promised to spring him

in 90 days.

They just wanna make it tough on me,

I guess.

But I'll get the pardon, all right...

Listen, kid, they ain't thinking of handing

out pardons when you land in here.

This is the last word.

You might say it's ''it.''

Come on, get to work down there!

The case of James Allen.

- Is Mr. Ramsey present?

- Ready, Your Honor.

Please be brief. We have a great many

of these cases this afternoon.

I should first like to introduce...

the convict's brother,

the Rev. Robert Allen.

Your Honor...

I shall leave the legal technicalities

of the case to Mr. Ramsey...

and shall present the story of James Allen

as a human being.

A man of essential fineness

and integrity of character.

A man who was decorated for bravery

in the World War.

A man who committed a crime...

but only when forced to

at the point of a gun.

His first and only offence.

A man who showed his true character

by rising from less than nothing...

to become a prominent

and honored citizen.

...and in conclusion,

I need not remind you...

that James Allen has kept

his part of the bargain.

He has returned voluntarily to this state...

and has paid

all the expenses demanded of him.

I cannot believe,

in the light of all this evidence...

and in the name of justice...

that you will bring yourselves

even to consider any other alternative.

First, I feel it is my duty...

to answer the malicious and unwarranted

attack upon the chain-gang system...

which we have heard here this afternoon.

Crime must be punished.

The men who commit crime

are hard men...

and their punishments must be hard.

But the brutality of which we hear

is a gross exaggeration...

born of the fancy of the misinformed.

The life of a convict in a chain gang

is one of hard labor.

The discipline is strict...

but there is no brutality.

The purpose of prison

is not only to punish crime...

but to discourage it.

And there is less crime in this state...

in proportion to her population...

than in 40 other states in this Union.

Finally, as evidence

of the chain gang's value...

as a character-builder,

I have but to present to you...

the very case that has been presented

to us here today...

the case of James Allen...

who entered the chain gang

as a worthless tramp...

and who left it

to become one of a great city's...

most worthy and respected citizens.

The Commission will take the case

of James Allen under consideration.

Five minutes, Allen.

They refused to pardon you.

They refused?

The state's promise didn't mean anything.

It was all lies!

They just wanted to get me back...

so they can have their revenge.

To keep me here nine more years!

Why, their crimes are worse than mine.

Worse than anybody here!

They're the ones that should be in chains,

not me!

You don't have to stay here nine years.

The Commission voted that if you were

a model prisoner for one year...

they would concede that you had paid

your obligations in full.

It's only nine months, Jim.

Nine months of this torture?

I won't do it!

I won't do it, I tell you!

I'll get out of here!

Even if they kill me for it!

It's still better to be honorably free.

And in those nine months,

we'll be working for you night and day.

But you've been working night and day!

It didn't do any good.

But, Jim, we'll have the whole country

behind you then...

and the state will be forced to release you.

All right.

I'll wait nine more months.

I'll be a model prisoner...

if it kills me.

Finally, not only has James Allen

been a model prisoner...

patient and uncomplaining

for a whole year...

but we have presented letters

from countless organizations...

and prominent individuals...

beseeching you to recommend his pardon.

I think it only just, Your Honors...

that he be given his freedom

while there is still time...

for him to regain

his former position in society...

of prominence and universal respect.

We've just had a final report

on your new hearing.

Well?

They've suspended decision. Indefinitely.

- Which one did you say it was?

- This one here.

Get up, you lazy skunk!

- Driver!

- What's on your mind?

- You better come take a look back here.

- I gotta get to the quarry.

You'll never make the quarry in this truck.

Your spring's broken.

Spring's broken?

- Where?

- There it is.

Thief! He's stealing my truck!

Stay where you are!

Keep driving, boy.

Throw that box out.

Nix, it's full of my favorite candy.

We're making it, Jim.

We'll make it yet.

Rip it, boy. Go on.

Keep going, kid.

That's once I didn't miss.

Getting out here.

Helen.

Jim!

- Why haven't you come before?

- I couldn't.

- I was afraid to.

- But you could have written.

It's been almost a year since you escaped.

But I haven't escaped.

They're still after me.

They'll always be after me.

I've had jobs, but I can't keep them.

Something happens, someone turns up.

I hide in rooms all day and travel by night.

No friends, no rest, no peace.

- Oh, Jim!

- Keep moving, that's all that's left for me.

Forgive me, Helen.

I had to take a chance to see you tonight.

Just to say goodbye.

- It was all going to be so different.

- It is different.

They've made it different.

I've got to go.

I can't let you go like this.

Can't you tell me where you're going?

Will you write? Do you need any money?

But you must, Jim. How do you live?

I steal.

English

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