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"Steve," began the deputy, "we have had you under a suspicious eye for seven years. You have been pretty roughly handled, but to be fair, do you know that you brought it all on yourself?"
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The Eye of Suspicion 
Illustrated by Walter Boyce

The Story of a Man Who Reclaims Himself Behind Prison Walls

By JAMES HOGAN

"It is El Ojo de Sospecha," said Steve Ramsey, better known as the Spanish speaking Kid, to Fred Jones, his temporary colleague and considered one of the prison's "best guys," "it seems always to haunt me."
"The suspicious eye, eh!" said Fred, with a deep puff from a cigarette and a slight inclination of his head. "Well, how did it happen to spot you?"
Ramsey began: "Stiff Finger and Candy were killed by the police. There were three of us," he replied.
"But you ain't beefing righteous, are you?" interrupted Fred, with sarcasm. 
"Cut the comedy," replied Ramsey, then continued: "You see, Stiff and Candy made it necessary for the Smith brothers to draw a large sum of money from the bank to close a deal,"
"The confidence game, eh!" interjected Fred, a suspicious smile coming between his cat-like eyes.
"Something like that," Ramsey remarked, dryly.
"How much did you get?"
"The newspapers stated there were forty-one hundred dollars and four bolts of cloth taken."
"Then it was a burglary?"
"Yes, plain burglary"
At this point three other fellows who had seen Jones talking with "The Rat," as Ramsey was called came over.

for May, 1931

"Wait a minute," Fred said to them as though there was something else he wanted to know, then turning to Ramsey he added: "Go ahead, what happened next?"

RAMSEY continued: "We found only eleven seeds and four bolts of cloth. A fellow drove the car for us. We gave him two seeds and a bolt. He was well satisfied, and should have been. But he is the one who did the snitchin'."

"How?" asked another.
"You see, the next morning Stiff and Candy left my house to go down to Robert's, but stopped in Joe's café. They saw the police and started shooting immediately. In the battle they both got killed, and the police officers and another person were killed also. This made the detectives more eager to find the third man."
"How did they know?"
"Well, the detectives traced the dead boys' identity and trailed all of the associates. And doing so they ran across the driver for us, who told them Stiff and Candy were two of the burglars who did the job, and that he knew the other one. So they finally found me."
"Why didn't you leave after you found out they were killed?" asked one who had been silent.

"I thought I was safer then than ever, because the only evidence was the cloth, and I had taken it to a safe place where it is now. But being a first timer I though I was lost, after I had been handcuffed, and because two were slain I pleaded guilty. 

"The newspapers carried the news that the third man had been caught and would turn state's evidence against the driver of the car, who was the fourth man on the job. They guys read it at its face value, and that s why I am under El Ojo De Sospecha (The Eye of Suspicion.) But I didn't testify. The driver pleaded guilty to grand larceny. At first he thought he was just giving a tip that would gain him his freedom."
"Let's go!" snapped Fred, insultingly.

And thus Steve Ramsey was left alone. The only thing that appeared to save him from a nervous breakdown right there was the big whistle which sounded, signaling the prisoners to return to their cells from the yard. He could see the gloom for which the prison walls are noted, in entering his cell. He could see also poison on every face for him, and what appeared to make his life more miserable was that he had no friends on the officer's side. Because of his peculiar ways, difference from other prisoners, candidness of expression, the officers hated him. There was a special place to keep unruly prisoner, wherein Ramsey practically stayed. He was an outcast.

"Dios Mio!" he exclaimed one night, sitting on the edge of his little bed, smoking a cigarette while writing a poem. "What have I done?" he asked himself, over and over again, "to always have the eyes of suspicion on me."

AND so it was that after seven long years the truth finally came to light. The officers began to treat Steve Ramsey kindly. The "good guys" began to reason that something was wrong somewhere, but that Steve probably was right. And, having won their respect, he had no difficulty in winning the respect of the "chumps." Hence it appeared to Steve that the walls around the prison had been lowered; that the various smokestacks of factories had been polished with an expression of friendliness; that the rising smoke therefrom was blacker - the atmosphere more pure: in a word a new world was made for him.

During leisure hours he taught some of the less educated inmates arithmetic, helped others to get a better grasp on education, and taught some to speak Spanish. Thus he soon became the most popular man in prison.

His three most intimate pals were in prison for long terms, and their only hope seemed in an escape. Having been under pressure for so long, Steve's object in life was to meet the requirements of his fellow prisoners, and ask no questions, which is typical of a convict. In a short time the four had armed themselves and specified a certain day on which to attempt to escape. All the plot required was a little incentive on the one hand and a small amount of imbecility on the other. The prison had endowed them with both.

Sunday afternoon was the time set to make the dash for liberty.

THE subject between prison officers is always of inmates, so on this particular morning the deputy and his assistant were sitting in their office talking about Steve. Being human they were subjected to the mistakes of other humans. But they had finally come to a conclusion that Steve was right.
"He is just different," spoke the deputy, crossing his legs.
"He is not a bad fellow," affirmed the assistant, standing, with a smile on his face.
"Step out there and bring him in. We will give him that library job. You will have to hurry. In thirty minutes the whistle blows," ordered the deputy, knocking the ashes from his cigar, and the assistant stepped out with an air of pleasure.

Steve and his companions, that is, one of his partners in the intended break, and three others who didn't know


YOU MIGHT STUMBLE TOO
Author Unknown

Don't censure a man that is locked in a cell
Unless your own slate is clear;
Don't condemn him just because he is down,
It might be your turn next year.

You might think him weak because he went wrong
But if in his place, "it was you"
How do you know you wouldn't have fallen?
Yes, you might have fallen too.

So wait a bit, stranger, don't sneer or revile
But consider some things you have done,
There's none of us perfect and temptation falls
On all of us, one by one.

So how do you know that the burden he bears
would not have been heavy for you?
How do you know if tempted like him
You wouldn't have stumbled too?

So don't censure a man because he is down;
What do you know of his sorrow?
Although he may be in prison today,
You might be there tomorrow.