hards. "Listen and you will hear the shouts and
disorder that always come when the lights go out."

Dimmer and dimmer grow the lights, while Richards and I listen intently at
the window in the great iron door which opens onto the gallery of the
north wing.

Not a sound.

The lights go entirely out, and still not a sound. Not even a cough comes
from the cells to disturb the perfect silence.

We remain about half a minute in the dark, listening at the door. Then the
lights begin to show color, waver, grow lighter, go out altogether for a
second, and then burn with a steady brightness.

I look at Richards. He is paler than usual, but there is a bright gleam
in his eyes. "I would not have believed it possible," he says
impressively, "such a thing has never happened in this prison before. The
men always yell when the lights go out. In all my experience I have never
known anything equal to that. I don't understand it.

"If anyone had told me the League could do such a thing," he continues, "I
would have laughed at them. Yet there it is. I have no further doubts now
about our success."

As I leave the prison again, there ring in my ears the questions: What has
happened? What does it all mean?

It means just one thing--my friend--for it is you now, you individually,
to whom I am speaking; it means that these prisoners are men--real
men--your brethren--and mine.

It means that as they are men they should be treated like men.

It means that if you treat them like beasts it will be hard for them to
keep from degenerating into beasts. If you treat them like men you can
help them to rise.

It means that if you trust them they will show themselves worthy of trust.

It means that if you place responsibility upon them they will rise to it.

Perhaps some may think that I am leaving out of consideration the direct
religious appeal that can be made to the prisoners. By no means. I have no
intention of underrating the religious appeal. Under the old depressing
conditions it is about the only appeal that can be made. But the religious
appeal, to be really effective, must be based upon a treatment of the
prisoner somewhat in accordance with the precepts of religion. Preaching a
religion of brotherly love to convicts while you are treating them upon a
basis of diabolical hatred is a discouraging performance.

Give the prisoner fair treatment; discard your System based upon revenge;
build up a new System based upon a temporary