The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-24

The gaoler of the prison of Los Per
dido was a humane man, and, therefore
when those In his charge bought a lux
ury from without, TO supplement the
hard fare within. he never charged them
more than thrice its value. a stern man,
too, for all his humanity, as the keeper
of such place had need to be, else would
he never have borne for twenty years the
suilen gloom of fathomless sorrow of
Los Perdido. Further, with his stern
ness and humanity, he was man of
tender family ties. else he had never
endured such a weary burden so many
years; for to be gaoler of Los Perdido
one had TO be either debased beneath
mans common level or raised high above
IL by self-sacrifice.
Pedro Martoval was the latter and the
prisoners one and all, with the uncon-
scious tribute which vice pays TO vir-
tue. aided to compensate the victim.
Most things. except fresh air and free
dom. could be had in Los Perdido in ex-
change for certain coin. These two were
beyond purchase; the first, by reason Of
its non-existence; the second, by reason
OF its risk.
il takes even a humane man long
period Of apprenticeship to learn how to
>.
So much depends on the pocket of the
beneficiary. Therefore. though twenty
years had passed. Pcdro's scale of
charges was both incomplete and unset
tied Besides. cases arose occasionally
for which there was no precedent. and
then. naturally. the charge had to be
newly assessed.
Such a case had just arisen, and Pedro
Martoyal's official morality was in doubt
as TO the value Of the concession. To
claim too much would be extortionate;
worse. II would be unwise, since the pris-
oner, or rather prisoners-for there were
two to be considered-would be unable
to pay. and no gaoler who upholds the
honor Of his office will haggle with his
PRISONERS. II brings him down too near
their contemplate level, and destroys
their respect for his authority. They
begin to think they have rights where
they have only privileges.
On the other hand. to claim too little
would be grossly inhumane. where true
Charity should begin and foolish to boot,
since no wise man leaves behind him the
strippings Of his milch COW; and with
both of the prisoners it was a closing
OF accounts. Profit not made on this
occasion would never be made. and there
is no ghost harder to lay than the ghost
Of lost opportunity of doing good onto
oneself So Pedro Martoval was uneasy
in his mind.
Los Perdido was not n cheerful place.
No optimism. however opulent could ever
have so called it. Originally it had been
dedicated ITO All the Saints" possibly
in order that each individual Of the many
generations OF inhabitants might have u
fEfrF Of 41 ri.
protection was there. certainly, but it
was not sanity. and "Au the Saints"
speedily became Los Perdido.
Take the ilthiest Stun in the flthicst
town Of Old Spain. Build up in It a low
rooted. slit-windowed, thick-walIed. I'M
drained, stone-and-mortar mass of fifty
yards square. Crime II within and with
out with the undisturbed CRIME of 300
unsanitary years. not stinting your i'm
nsination in the griming. Block It all
round with houses twice fits height SO
that sunlight may be ungrudgingly ex-
cluded, and you have Los Perdido in
everything but the smell. Respect for
the Doliteness of society prevents a de-
scriDtion of the smell. Besides, there are
certain things which transcend words
and bcggar language. and the smell OF
Los Perdido was one of them. Yet as
everything has its uses. the governments
through succeeding centuries may have
found compensation for this unspeakable
vileness in the dcservedly high death
rate OF Los Perdido.
AS to the interior. we shall hnd three
rooms quite enough for our purpose. or
rather two cells. a passage, and a room.
In the passage is Pedro Martoval bit
ing his nails AZ he tries to calculate val
ues TO do sums I'm your head is always
tryiuG-lt is one OF the torments OF the