escorted into the room occupied by
Williams and Porter. All the little portable articles we possessed,
which might tempt the cupidity of the rebs, were hastily gathered up and
our change of quarters soon effected. There was no more sleep for us. So
much excitement in one night was too much for our delicate systems.

In the morning Captain Sennes concluded to confine the navy and army
officers on the second floor. That part of the building was the "bull
pen" for the conscripts. Every part of South Carolina was thoroughly
searched for shirkers from military duty. The "poor whites," as they
were called, would be taken from their families, manacled two together,
and brought to the jail. When a squad of fifty was obtained, they would
be sent to the front and distributed among different regiments. As a
class they were very ignorant, but few of them knowing what the war was
about.

"What do you 'uns want to come down here and whip we 'uns for?" was
their only argument. But at the same time they would fight--there was
no mistaking that fact.

Our new quarters were very uncomfortable in many respects: there were
dirt and filth everywhere. An old box-stove in a small room was our
fire-place. The conscripts had no firewood, so they had used the doors
and frames for fuel, then the window-sashes and casings were utilized,
and next was the lath from the partitions. That floor had plenty of
ventilation. No difference which way the wind would come from, we got
the full benefit of it. The rooms were divided between us, the army
taking one side of the building, the naval officers the other, the
hall-way being used as a promenade by all the tenants. No attempt was
made to keep us separate as in the past, for the reason that the doors
and partitions were lacking. The view of the city in our locality was
very good. When we got tired of looking from one side of the building we
could cross over and take a view in the opposite direction. The
newspapers had blood-curdling articles in regard to our attempt at
escaping. We were alluded to as "Yankee hirelings," and other pet names
were bestowed upon us. Even poor Mrs. Crane got a roasting because her
house happened to be over the exit of the tunnel. Quite a number of
visitors came to the jail to view our work, but finally the whole affair
became stale and forgotten. Then it occurred to Captain Sennes that it
would be quite proper to plug the hole up. He was very anxious to know
who engineered