, Mr. Wheeler and my wife, saw me occasionally;
either in the ordinary way, at the end of every three months, or by
special order from the Home Office. I saw my visitors in the prison
cages, only our faces being visible to each other through a narrow
slit. We stood about six feet apart, with a warder between us to stop
"improper conversation." I could not shake a friend's hand or kiss
my wife. The interviews lasted only half an hour. In the middle of a
sentence "Time!" was shouted, the keys rattled, and the little oasis had
to be left for another journey over the desert sand.

Every three months I wrote a letter on a prison sheet. Two sides were
printed on, and the others ruled wide, with a notice that nothing was to
be written between the lines. No doubt the authorities were anxious to
save the prisoners the pain of too much mental exertion. I foiled them
by writing small, and abbreviating nearly every word. My letters were of
course read before they were sent out, and the answers read before they
reached me. No respect being shown for the privacies of affection,
I addressed my letters to Dr. Aveling for publication in the
_Freethinker_.

One of these documents lies before me as I write. It was the extra
letter I sent to my wife before leaving, and contains directions as
to clothes and other domestic matters. I venture to reproduce the
advertisement, which occupies the whole front page:

"A prisoner is permitted to write and receive a Letter after
three months of his sentence have expired, provided his
conduct and industry have been satisfactory during that time,
and the same privilege will be continued afterwards on the same
conditions and at the same intervals.

"All Letters of an improper or idle tendency, either to or
from Prisoners, or containing slang or other objectionable
expressions, will be suppressed. The permission to write and
receive letters is given to the Prisoners for the purpose of
enabling them to keep up a connexion with their respectable
friends, and not that they may hear the news of the day.

"All Letters are read by the Authorities of the Prison,
and must be legibly written, and not crossed.

"Neither clothes, money, nor any other articles, are allowed
to be received by any Officers of the Prison for the use of
Prisoners; all parcels containing such articles intended for
Prisoners on discharge must bear