hat he feared to encounter
me single-handed. And on this particular occasion well might he, for,
during the night, I had woven a spider-web net in which I intended to
enmesh him. Had I succeeded, there would have been a lively hour for
him in the violent ward--had I failed, there would have been a lively
hour for me. There were several comparatively sane patients (especially
my elated neighbor) whose willing assistance I could have secured. Then
the regular attendants could have been held prisoners in their own
room, if, indeed, we had not in turn overpowered them and transferred
them to the Bull Pen, where the several victims of their abuse might
have given them a deserved dose of their own medicine. This scheme of
mine was a prank rather than a plot. I had an inordinate desire to
prove that one _could_ escape if he had a mind to do so. Later I
boasted to the assistant physician of my unsuccessful attempt. This
boast he evidently tucked away in his memory.

My punishment for harmless antics of this sort was prompt in coming.
The attendants seemed to think their whole duty to their closely
confined charges consisted in delivering three meals a day. Between
meals he was a rash patient who interfered with their leisure. Now one
of my greatest crosses was their continued refusal to give me a drink
when I asked for it. Except at meal time, or on those rare occasions
when I was permitted to go to the wash room, I had to get along as best
I might with no water to drink, and that too at a time when I was in a
fever of excitement. My polite requests were ignored; impolite demands
were answered with threats and curses. And this war of requests,
demands, threats, and curses continued until the night of the fourth
day of my banishment. Then the attendants made good their threats of
assault. That they had been trying to goad me into a fighting mood I
well knew, and often accused them of their mean purpose. They brazenly
admitted that they were simply waiting for a chance to "slug" me, and
promised to punish me well as soon as I should give them a slight
excuse for doing so.

On the night of November 25th, 1902, the head attendant and one of his
assistants passed my door. They were returning from one of the dances
which, at intervals during the winter, the management provides for the
nurses and attendants. While they were within hearing, I asked for a
drink of water. It was a carefully worded request. But they were in a
hurry to g