9009
Then he saw the red-striped convict spring upon the garotter leap-frog fashion and entwine his legs about his neck while the knife went up and down with a pumping movement. He saw his nostrils, breathing joy as he stabbed, stabbed again, stabbed, stabbed; his eyes blazing joy. And he saw him lying on his back, his legs still entwined, looking up with his white face, now full of peace and of satiety———
When, the next morning after breakfast, the captain of the yard saw 9009 emerge from the dungeon, he noted that the convict’s eyes were bloodshot, and that heavy lines had sprung, overnight, from the ends of the nostrils to the corners of the mouth.
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