It seems that the justice of this world is very unevenly dispensed when so much solicitude is shown for the life of such a man, and none at all for the much better men whom he assisted to destroy.

The official notice of the commutation of the sentence was not published until the day set for the execution, but the certain knowledge that it would be forthcoming enabled Davis to display a great deal of bravado on approaching what was supposed to be his end.  As the reader can readily imagine, from what I have heretofore said of him, Davis was the man to improve to the utmost every opportunity to strut his little hour, and he did it in this instance.  He posed, attitudinized and vapored, so that the camp and the country were filled with stories of the wonderful coolness with which he contemplated his approaching fate.

Among other things he said to his guard, as he washed himself elaborately the night before the day announced for the execution: 

“Well, you can be sure of one thing; to-morrow night there will certainly be one clean corpse on this Island.”

Unfortunately for his braggadocio, he let it leak out in some way that he had been well aware all the time that he would not be executed.

He was taken to Fort Delaware for confinement, and died there some time after.

Frank Beverstock went back to his regiment, and served with it until the close of the war.  He then returned home, and, after awhile became a banker at Bowling Green, O. He was a fine business man and became very prosperous.  But though naturally healthy and vigorous, his system carried in it the seeds of death, sown there by the hardships of captivity.  He had been one of the victims of the Rebels’ vaccination; the virus injected into his blood had caused a large part of his right temple to slough off, and when it healed it left a ghastly cicatrix.

Two years ago he was taken suddenly ill, and died before his friends had any idea that his condition was serious.

CHAPTER LIV.

Savannah proves to be A change for the better—­escape from the brats of
guards—­comparison between Wirz and Davis—­A brief interval of good
rations—­Winder, the man with the evil eye
—­the disloyal work of A shyster.

After all Savannah was a wonderful improvement on Andersonville.  We got away from the pestilential Swamp and that poisonous ground.  Every mouthful of air was not laden with disease germs, nor every cup of water polluted with the seeds of death.  The earth did not breed gangrene, nor the atmosphere promote fever.  As only the more vigorous had come away, we were freed from the depressing spectacle