e
of this shop, and Mr. Knowles, the contractor for the labor employed in
the brush business, was present. Both of these gentlemen took pains to
instruct me in the work I was to begin upon, and were very kind in their
manner towards me. I went to work in a bungling way and with a sad and
heavy heart. At 12 o'clock we were marched from the shop to our
cells, each man taking from a trap in the wall, as he went by, his pan
containing his dinner, which consisted, that day, of boiled beef and
potatoes. It was probably the worst dinner I had ever eaten, but I had
yet to learn what prison fare was. From one o'clock to six I was in the
shop again; then came Supper--mush and molasses that evening which was
varied, as I learned afterwards, on different days by rye bread,
or Indian bread and rye coffee. These things were also served for
breakfast, and the dinners were varied on different days in the week.
The fare was very coarse, always, but abundant and wholesome. After
supper prisoners were expected to go to bed, as they were called out at
six o'clock in the morning.

I stayed in the brush shop three or four months, but I made very little
progress in learning the trade. I was willing enough to learn and did my
best. From the day I entered the prison I made up my mind to behave as
well as I could; to be docile and obedient, and to comply with every
rule and order. Consequently I had no trouble, and the officers all
treated me kindly. Warden Robinson was a model man for his position. He
believed that prisoners could be reformed more easily by mild than by
harsh measures--at least they would be more contented with their lot and
would be subordinate. Every now and then he would ask prisoners if they
were well treated by the officers; how they were getting on; if they had
enough to eat, and so on. The officers seemed imbued with the warden's
spirit; the chaplain of the prison, who conducted the Sunday, services
and also held a Sunday school, was one of the finest men in the world,
and took a personal interest in every prisoner. Altogether, it was
a model institution. But in spite of good treatment I was intensely
miserable; my mind was morbid; I was nearly, if not quite, insane; and
one day during the dinner hour, I opened a vein in each arm in hopes
that I should bleed to death. Bleed I did, till I fainted away, and as
I did not come out when the other prisoners did, the officer came to
my cell and discovered my condition. He at on