ral interviews with him as to my pardon, and other business matters,
and I suppose he thought he was going to get something more along the
same line. "Go ahead, John," he said, "and let me know what it is." I
then told him of my intentions and plans. He made no reply until I had
gone over the whole subject. Then he said. "You are certainly on the
safe side, for you can lose nothing. I always thought," continued he,
"that it was practical to engage in any enterprise where all was gain
and nothing to lose. And, furthermore, knowing your standing at home,
it would not surprise me very much if you would receive more votes than
your competitors."

This was encouraging. I then asked permission to write letters to a
number of my friends, and also to receive letters from them. He informed
me he could not do this, as it would be a violation of the rules of
the prison, but if any of my friends should come down I could send out
anything by them I wished. I then wired a personal friend, A. S. Hall,
Esq., of Atchison, who called at the prison, to whom I gave my letter of
announcement, and several letters I had written to political friends.

The news spread rapidly, and in a few days I was squarely before the
people as an independent candidate. Shortly after this announcement
I wrote an article for the papers, stating my reasons for making the
senatorial race. When writing this communication I forgot I was a
prisoner, and said some things that reflected seriously upon some of
the warden's personal friends. Here, I made a mistake. The warden, on
reading this article, became enraged, and took away my writing material.
At this juncture the senatorial outlook was rather discouraging. My
friends championed my cause. Being an independent candidate, and my name
not printed on any ticket, I received no accidental votes. An elector
voting for me had to erase the name of my competitor and insert mine.
There were four candidates in the field. While I was not elected, I was
far from coming in last in the race. I received twice as many votes
as one of my competitors. He is one of the best men in the senatorial
district, one of the old settlers, and a gentleman highly esteemed. To
receive twice as many votes as this man was highly complimentary to me,
I certainly felt flattered. When the vote was made known I received an
official copy of the returns, and forwarded it to President Cleveland.
My term was then almost ended, and I felt confident that