The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1868-02-21

|
after this uncalled for assertion. AT all
events, | kept my temper outwardly,
though the remark chung to me all day,
and made my blood simmer with a gen
tie heat till bedtime
The officers on duty on the visiting
days were generally well behaved
enough, l must add, and in many cases
were courteous TO those friends who
| came to see me, and to cheerme by their
welcome faces but | doubt if in their
minds there is ever any distinction
drawn between those who are prisoners
serving out their time and those who
! drift prisOnwards on mere SUSPICION
! And that such a distinction should be
more marked than it is, it surely needs
no words Of mine to prove.
In the airingground of Newgate an
opportunity was presented 10 me Of
meeting on large scale the men who
were on remand for various oifenses.-
We were allowed an hours exercise
once a day in a yard, on the several
walls of which were painted SILENCE in
/ large letters-a significant hint enough,
/ which was only respected when the eyes
/ of the officers We're upon that Indian file
! of incOngruOus humanity. | cannot as
/ sert that my contemporaries, were pre-
/ possessing lot Of men and boys; the ma
/ iOrity appeared to me 10 be doomed TO
/ pass 10 penal wards and convict dresses,
! and carried their professions IN their
/ countenances; but here and there faces
/ which puzzled an observer-thoughtful
| educated faces, that led me tOmake wild
! guesses at the charges that had set them
/ in that place The lads were principally
| Of the street-boy class, ragged and for
! lOrn enough, full ofanimal spirits, which
no confinement could check, and totally
reckless of the present and the future
| Let one by accident get at the head of
1 our regiment round the yard, and he
would march away at q great pace, ren
| dering it necessary for the rest of Us to
! keep time with him, the officers allow
| ing no gaps or unequal distances in our
ranks.
\ boy next to me on one occasion adj
| dressed me thus:
- | say, my covey, when's your next
| turn afore the peak?'
90 up next Friday
Manshun 'Ouse ?n
d" No; Guildhall"
Mines Manshun 'Ouse. Won't !
check the ok block too, when | git
there
The old block in this case referred to
was the Right Honorable Lord Mayor
| Of London
On another occasion, and this was on
the first day Of my appearance in the
airing ground, the man in advance
found an opportunity to ask me a few
questions, and to very frankly offer me
an insight into his own character. He
had been interested in my general APP
pearance for some time, and had east
more than enc furtive glance in my Ill
rectiOn.
" Are you a fully" he asked at last.
what ~
fully
What's a fully ~ l inquired.
4 fully committed. Don't you
know"'
was not aware Of il before; but no.
I was not fully committed, simply on
remand,
"What are you in for?" was his next
question.
1t was not worth while entering into
long statement of my ease with this
man, and ! preferred laconism rs much
as the authorities. Therefore i respOil
ded:
90 Umbrellas"
Umbrellas, ell B.? That's an odd lot to
be fetched up for. How many ~
Only few
An, mine was box-a beautiful
seaman's box, - he added, with q sigh,
and | know there was eight or nine
pounds worth Of clOthes,in it. ] should
have got nicely off with it too if could
have moved a little faster, but il was
corner, would YOU believe it, but the
Peeler nabbed me on the back. I've
been orful unlucky lately
80 had ia a different WAY I thpuphf
though I kept my own lamentations ov-
er my ill-luck fer the dark night in my
cell, when the prison was still
once an opportunity presented itself
to speak 10 one Of the Messengers, by
whose side | found myself. This was
the only time ! ever exchanged a word
with the men implicated i'm the same
grave charge, or that they attempted in
any way 70 speak to me. There were
other Opportunities but | evadcd them.
You might have spared me this dis
grace" l said TO the elder Messenger
How ~ was the short, sharp ques-
ton put in his turn.
You could have toldthem that / was
no acquaintance of yours-had never
said more than good day to you in my
life"
q" I'm not called upon to say anything.
1 III ~ liilApttlt stN Nbu ART W AT ii4i
the right man Is caught, and we shall
20 clear enough"
This was not cOnsOlatory to me, for
that catching operation might take a
long while; the Fright man might be
a myth or in Australia, and | was assur-
ed by friends without that next Friday
would set me above all the miserable
suspicious which had TINS reduced me.
But the Friday seemed never to come,
although, when arrived, as | have al
reader said, | would have preferred to
remain in my cell stirring my oatmeal
pOrridge to facing a ease which, might
throw no further light upon my innO-
cence. | do not know how ! should
have acted had the chance been offered
me; probably, at the last moment, have
leaped towards the life beyond those
dark stone walls, if il were even with
the certainty of a return to them when
the examination was over.
1t was a long, miserable, sOul-depress-
ing week, and yet not devoid of interest
and incident to keep ones mind from
wholly giving way.
There was the great incident of the
dinner hour, the sudden waking up of
the prison ward, the unlocking and
banging-to of doors, the opening of the
lleiDf tlAN appearance VI w NAi
ner-can-with its extraordinary dinner
knife, consisting of flat piece of tin,
bent double in one part for the convent
ence of handling it-and the equally
sudden closing of the trap again, which
resulted in sending my dinner on to the
floor if | were not quick enough to
seize it before the trap was closed. One
is compelled to be sprightly against
ones will in NeWgate at times, and the
warders there are quick and ener-
getic men.
Very quick-eyed men, too; for, tax
ing the liberty of closing one out of
three ventilatOrs with which my cell
was furnished and which let in be
tween them the most thorough draught
had ever encountered in my life, the
officer in his next round perceived 1t on
the instant.
open that again, will you?" he
roared. You have no business to tOuch
it."
| ventured to call his attention TO the
fact that the power of opening and shut
ting the ventilators was on my side OF
the cell, and was probably thus arrang-
ed so that the prisoner should suit his
own convenience as to draughts.
" You let 'em alone" he said, cor it
will be the wust for you"
And let them alone from the mo-
mont of that warming.