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Speaker 1: Shadow, a Christmas story by Harry Stillwell Edwards. A Negro convict, awake,

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lay on his back in the log barracks. Wearied forms

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stretched out in slumber in long lines. To the right

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and left of him, a chain ran from his shackles,

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as from theirs, to a stout beam, holding him prisoner.

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He was only a boy when the shackles were riveted

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on his ankles. His crime an error born of ignorance

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and lack of moral training. Six years had passed since,

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Dazed and terrified, he had been led from the court house,

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and at twenty he still owed the state of Alabama

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fourteen years of servitude. Life for him had been fierce

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and full of agony. Down in the black darkness of

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coal mines, he had labored until accident made him useless

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and gave him back to daylight and the great green

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world above. Life then settled into the dull routine of

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the camp and a hostler's duties. The darkness behind him

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a nightmare, the days of his lost freedom a dream.

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The freedom to come was too far away for his

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imagination to compass. From the right and left of him

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came the deep breathing of tired men sleep with the

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convict is rest in the full and perfect significance of

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the word, and he plunges into it after his coarse

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evening meal, as into a tide. That which kept the

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boy awake was necessarily something novel. It was not pain,

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had he not felt the lash and the crush of

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falling coal, nor sorrow. For behind him, among the far

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away Georgia hills was a cabin about which, as a

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child he had played as all children play, and the sad,

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undying memory of it shut out all other sorrows. Nor

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was it a mere yearning for freedom that had long

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since given place to dull, unlifting despair. All these sorrow,

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pain and despair had been the companions of his solitude

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in many a night of gloom, keeping watch as he slept.

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The strange new companion of his solitude, from whose divine

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presence this night all others withdrew was hope. As he lay,

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the darkness fell away beyond the radiance of his visitor,

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and three faces shone out as clearly as the white

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cloudlets in the blue of summer skies. Sunshine, moonbeam, and

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starlight stood by his side. Sunshine, moonbeam, and starlight, when

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all the branches and departments of the state government. Refugee

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into the highlands, away from the fever and beyond the

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vexations of quarantine. The convicts came to Watumpka, and on

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days when the prison commissioner came to inspect the camp

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with him were the three, each less than a dozen

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years of age, and Sunshine was the youngest of them all.

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Take care of them, shadow, he said to the hostler

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convict and the black boy, with the memory of his

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own white folks far away, filling his heart with joy,

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took care of them proudly and gratefully. Six years had

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passed since he had looked on childhood. Take care of them. Ay,

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if necessary, he would lay down his life for them. Instead,

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he rigged up swings of plow lines marked off hopscotch

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diagrams for their little feet, and taught them how to

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ride on the back of a superannuated mule. He filled

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their hours with excitement and pleasure, and when they wearied

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of exercise, lying in the shade of a great oak,

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he touched their hearts with the story of his misfortunes.

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He drew for them graphic pictures of his terrible life

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in the coal mines, of the men who work where

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eternal darkness reigns, and the accidents in which lives go

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out like the light of snuffed gandals. And looking over

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the hills, he told too, of that cabin where he

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was born, of his mammy at the wash tub, singing

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hymns that linger now as the voices of dead slaves

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on old plantations, And of the little miss and her

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child friends who came down to the big white house

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in the summer, and thence to the gin house to

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play in the heaped up cotton. Not a line of

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it all was gone from his memory, not a picture

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was blurred. And sunshine, moonbeam and starlight, touched by the

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divine pity which is eloquent in the hearts of women

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old and young, looked into the sad black face of

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their friend. Good Bye, Shadow, they said, when the quarantine

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was lifted and they had come for the last time.

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Good Bye. We are going to get you out by Christmas.

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Only you must promise to be good always, will you?

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And Shadow, with tears on his cheeks from eyes long dry,

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pledged himself before the Good God, looking down on them

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his messengers, to be perfect forever and forever and the

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memory of it all filled the darkness with a flood

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of beauty, as though sunshine, moonbeam, and starlight were indeed

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by his side. Not for a moment had he doubted them.

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So Hope furled her wings above him on Christmas Eve,

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and he lay waiting with wide opened eyes. Sunshine, moonbeam,

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and starlight, where were they? The floor vibrated under the

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convict's head, a lantern flashed, and a guard stood over him.

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One word broke the silence, one word, his own name. Shadow.

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It was the day before Christmas, and nothing had been accomplished.

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For Shadow. Freeing a convict was not the trivial matter imagined.

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The commissioner besieged and wearied, out of discretion, after many

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laughing refusals, referred the little petitioners to the governor. They

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knew the governor almost daily. They saw him pass on

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their block, and sometimes he laid a hand on a

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curly head in passing. But he never transacted business outside

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his office, he said, never, And always he smiled and

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passed along. They must come and see him, he said,

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But the governor was never in when they called timidly,

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at least he was never in sight. Then their last

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day of grace arrived, and they charged Capital Hill once more.

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Terrace and Portico fell quickly before their assault. The historic

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spot where Jefferson Davis delivered his inaugural over the cradle

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of the Great Confederacy and launched the war which was

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to end in freedom for all the Black people, was

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simply space to be crossed, and they crossed it. They

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carried their advance into the Governor's room. They came without ceremony,

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and with the red of their country's flag on their cheeks,

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its blue within their eager eyes, and within their parted lips,

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its gleaming white. They stormed his great chair, planted their

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victorious arms about him, and demanded an unconditional surrender. The

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seemed to yield. They made a transient summer in the

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still cold room, and awoke a youth that long had

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slept within his heart, a youth full of romance and

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of love. Romance, love are not these born? Ever? Under

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the sunshine and moonbeams and starlight. The governor seemed to yield.

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He stroked each curly head and learned each name. He

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remembered when their respective parents were married. He knew more

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about them than did the little ones. Themselves. Then the

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crash came. Pardon a convict. No, the man had not surrendered.

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The smiling face faded into a grave, cold face. The

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governor they knew, had vanished, and a new governor, grave,

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courteous and firm, but not nearly so nice, had taken

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his place. But in the sunshine the ice is melted

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at last, and in the moonbeams and the light of

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the stars, love finds a way. Reason was powerless, refusal impotent.

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The illogical trinity sat on his knees and the arms

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of his chair and admitted all that he urged to

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be true. They agreed with him in his conception of

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a governor's duty. They even recognized the claims of good

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public policy to be against them. And when he had finished,

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they put their arms about him and asked mercy for

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their friend Shadow. It would not be so bad, said Sunshine,

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if we hadn't promised, And the governor laughed. How potent

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is innocence, How weak at times is wisdom? Driven from

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his positions. One by one, the beleaguered governor took refuge

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behind the judicial Ermine. Shadow had been placed in prison

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by the judge. The judge was really the man to

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be seen. It would never do for the governor arbitrarily

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to reverse the action of the judge. And then he

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sighed a great sigh of relief. Why had he not

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thought of that before? Give us a letter to the judge, then,

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said Sunshine sturdily, and she handed him his pen point

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reversed good, said the governor. Yes, he is the man

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you should see. Do you know the judge? Yes? They

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knew the judge Almost daily they saw him pass on

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their block, and sometimes he too laid a hand on

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their heads in passing. But they had never thought of

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asking his help and getting Shadow out. If the judge says,

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you may let him go, said Sunshine, with a tremulous

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little note in her voice. Will you do it? Aha,

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exclaimed the governor, with apparent irrelevancy, And yet it was

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pertinent and relevant. It meant this little Aha spoken to

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himself and the thoughts within him that the logic of

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the situation had hemmed him in. He must say yes,

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or admit that he had been insincere. Then he remembered

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that a great murder trial was on and approaching its clothes,

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and that even a telephone message could hardly make its

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way into the court house. So dense was the crowd. Yes,

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he answered guardedly. If the judge says I may, I

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shall have to do something foreshadow But he added, pitying

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their situation. You cannot see the judge to day. He

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is engaged in trying a man for his life and

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hopes to get through before Christmas. The three answered not serenely.

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They went forth. A friendly iron wishman in a police

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uniform was at the foot of the steps, dreaming day dreams,

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perhaps of the childer at home. His smiling face was

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an invitation, and they asked him the way to the

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court house. Cout house, he said, cout house. And why

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should the likes ye babies that ye air be huntin

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for the court house? They are trying a man for

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his life, said Sunshine, getting her logic mixed. And we

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have a message to the judge from the governor. The

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Irishman glanced at the official envelope and whistled, and is

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it departen? He said. It may get a man out

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of prison, said Sunshine, if we can get there in time.

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It's get there in time, ye will, said the Irishman.

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If I have to carry the last darlin of ye

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in the arms and ammiade, come along with me. Every corridor,

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every foot of court room space was occupied with excited men,

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and the way was blocked over. The murmur of their

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voices rang the voice of the defendant's attorney as he

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pleaded for his client's life. A whisper ran through the crowd.

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The irishman started it. They looked with wonder on the

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three dainty messengers and opened a path for them. Message

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from the Governor. What could it mean? The tension was

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at its highest pitch. The sheriff, lifting his hand at

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the entrance to the bar, waited until the judge's gavel fell,

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and repeated the whisper aloud, A message from the Governor,

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your honor, And up the aisle trudged the children, while

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a strange silence settled over the great throng, and in

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open contempt of court, they climbed up to the judge

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and presented their credentials, all talking while the bewildered official

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read the message. A smile dawned on his stern face,

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which echoed in silence from the crowd. If so such

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things can be? While he wiped his glasses, suspend for

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five minutes, he said to the lawyer who had been speaking.

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The lawyer suspended willingly, and his unchanging gaze fixed on

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the children kept the eyes of every juror riveted there

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with the children by his side. The judge examined a

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record handed up by the clerk. And did the governor

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send you to me with the note? He asked as

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he turned the pages. Yes, sir, said sunshine. And he

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laughed too. Oh he laughed, did he? The judge laughed too,

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I see, m I see. And then he read from

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the record twenty years for robbery. And he was a

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boy when it occurred. He shook his head. Yes, the

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sentence was too severe, too severe when his youth is considered.

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His pen swept across the governor's note a few times.

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He smiled grimly. A path opened up through the throng,

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and sunshine, moonbeam and starlight fading from the scene left

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justice at work in the chill and gloom. The state

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lost its case when the Council for the Defense resumed

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with the words, children like those my friends await their

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father's homecoming this Christmas eve, But they knew nothing of this.

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Thirty minutes after leaving the Governor's room, they entered stormily, gleefully,

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and planted their victorious scholars over the citadel and its

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vanquished custodian. He learned their story in amazement and looked

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with comic gravity on their flushed faces. The Republican form

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of government is a failure, he said at length. The

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infantry has usurped the executive and suspended the judiciary. And

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may we tell Shadow he is free? Asked Sunshine, Yes,

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let freedom be his Christmas present. The child's eyes swam

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in softer light. Write it down for me, please again.

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She handed him the pen, this time point foremost, the

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little hand trembling with excitement, and taking his pen, the

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Chief Executive wrote this the strangest, sweetest, gentlest public document

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that ever issued from Alabama's capital. Dear Sunshine, I have

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looked into the case of your friend Shadow from Crinshaw

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County and am inclined to think that his sentence is

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too severe. His term is twenty years from September twenty three,

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eighteen ninety three. I have about made up my mind

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to cut his sentence to less than one third. You

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can let Shadow know this and save this letter to

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show if needed. He had three mighty nice girls to

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beg for him, and you see, I am giving him

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off more than four years for each girl, your friend,

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the governor. Late that night, Sunshine's father succeeded in getting

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connection by telephone with Wetumka, and Shadow was brought into

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the Superintendent's office. Do you know who this is? Shadow?

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The child's voice annihilated space as it annihilated opposition. Miss Sunshine, Well, Shadow,

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The Governor says, you will be free in the morning,

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and I am so glad. Back over the wires came

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a great voice shouting. It was the wordless expression of

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a soul whose chains had been broken asunder, and to

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whom the whole beautiful world came back as a Christmas gift?

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Was there ever such a gift? One other sound came

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to the listening child, the sound of a falling telephone receiver.

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Sunshine turned away with her eyes full of tears. The

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city clock rang out clearly through the night upon the

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first stroke of twelve. Clapping her hands, she cried aloud,

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it is Christmas. Shadow is free. End of Shadow, a

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Christmas story by Harry Stillwell Edwards