have used his influence to secure for me
my liberty. That I was sent to prison is wholly due to politics. It is
unnecessary, therefore, for me to inform the reader that I am now
"out of politics." Having served out my term I returned to my home in
Atchison. As to the ring that sent me to prison, some of them are dead,
others have left Atchison to make their homes in other places, others
have failed financially, and still others have fallen so low that they
have scarcely friends enough to bury them should they happen to die.

The big wheel of life keeps on revolving. Those who are up to-day may
be down to-morrow, and vice versa. But to continue my narrative.
Immediately after my conviction and sentence I was taken to the
Leavenworth County jail. Here I remained until the following Tuesday
in the company of a dozen or more prisoners who were awaiting trial. On
Sunday, while in this jail, my wife, who died during my imprisonment
of a broken heart, and an account of which is given in a subsequent
chapter, came to see me. I can never forget this visit. She remained
with me during the entire day. During the conversation of the day I said
to her that, it seemed that the future appeared very gloomy. That it
would be a miracle if I ever was able to survive the disgrace that had
been so cruelly placed upon me. That all ambition and hope as to the
future had fled, and that I could not blame her if she should now free
herself by means of divorce, as my conviction of crime was a legal
ground for divorce in Kansas. In reply to this, the noble little woman,
her face aglow with the radiance of womanly devotion, said, that for
twenty years of married life our home had been one of sunshine; that I
had been kind to her and made her life one of happiness, and that now,
when misfortune came, it was not only a duty, but the highest pleasure,
to prove her fidelity. She kept her word. She was true to the last. When
dying, her last words were a petition for the blessings of God upon
her husband who was far away behind frowning prison walls. On Tuesday
morning a deputy United States marshal came to the jail and gave me
notice that in a few moments we would leave for the penitentiary. This
officer was a gentleman, and did not seek to further humiliate me by
placing irons on my person. I have often thought of this act of kindness
on the part of this humane official. We took the train at Leavenworth,
and in a very few moments were at my future place