Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-11-20
A FAMILY AFFAIR
BY HUGH CONW AY.
Aatho, Of Gated H,.c:,' a.,,i Dark Days.
CHAPTER VIII-CoSTrSUKl.

'ate1 VIE notices requesting visitors 20 n
5'.soa not 10 ofscr tie waayierg any noney
G>'st deposit such donations Is they ttiShed Il
MIKE IL boxes that were hung against the wal
Tor the benefit of discharged prisoners and th,
OBJECTS schools respectively. after whit
the so@i-laSucei laIitor returned He tolS
Mrs. Miller that tho convict Lad not seen 4
Trend fer many months, 50 upon his return
fro1a work he would be asked = he would liS,
to sec her. She must give her name
She wrote it down. then waited patiently
by and by there WIS a measured tramp Of
many heavy feet, and she knew the convict.
were returning to dinner. After the TRAMP
had died away a warI!er made his appearance
and told her TO fellow him.
1t was but sep. He opened door ii tbs
rear of the wa6ting room, and Mis-. Aillel
found herself in place which could suggest
nothing else than u dec at q geological gar.
dc.i, one side Of the room being formed OF
iron bars about six inches apart, end oppo
site waj a similar den with its front tu-ncc
towards it AMI entered by another door, anc
between the two was a space, o narrow den.
entered by another door and Containing s
stool
Presently the door OF the middle den opened
and warlier entered ana seated himself upUr
the stool; then the fu-tnes1 door opened and
one of the blue-habited convicts walked uI
to the bars and gave his visitor mol of care
less recognition.
As a rule, when n female friend is per.
united TO see a convict there IS weeping and
wailing. Hands are stretched out through
the bars across the open space, and if the
two persons are Of ordinary stature. finger.
tips may just meet. This is better thar
nothing. Time was when no open space
divided the friends; they could kiss and 81.
most embrace through one set of bars BCi
1t was found that the visitors Kiss often
Transferred a hslf-sovereign from her mouth
to the convict's. A kindly action, no doubt,
but one which when discovered led the mar
into trouble, knocked OF good-conduct marks
and heightened his time of imprisonment.
So now there is a space of something like five
feet between the visitor and the visited
With these two there was no weeping, DC
stretching out of hands. In fact, as Mrs.
Miller looked at the Gagged creature in front
of her an expression very nearly akin to
hatred settled Gu her strongly-marked fca-
lures. Net, in spite of his cloSe-clipped
crown, shavcu checks and ugly attire the
convict was b. no r1canS Unlocking. His fea.
lures were straight, and might even have
been called refined He was above the mid
die height, bread shouldcred and healthy
looking. His teeth We're good, and his hands,
although rough and hardened with toll, were
not the hands of one who has labored from
his childhood. His eyes had cruel, crafty
look in them; but this look might have been
acquired since his incarceration. Indeed,
Mrs. Miller had noticed tic same expression
in the eyes Of every convict whom shs had
met on the road to the prison.
Mrs. Miller looked through her bars at the
convict; the convict looked through his bars