pen again. The
rule is always, 'Eyes front.'"

"Thank you, sir."

The Captain then gives instructions regarding my next moves. It seems that
I am soon to put on coat and cap and march to the shop, taking my bucket
if I desire to empty it. The Captain explains that he will first pass
along the gallery, unlocking the levers; then almost immediately return,
pushing them down, and that when he pushes down my lever I must be ready
to press heavily against the door so as to get it open quickly; then
follow after the others, and take my place in line. He also gives
instructions as to my conduct in the shop. "I call all my men by their
first names, so I shall call you Thomas. I allow my company to have some
talk in the shop. It is not strictly according to rule; but my men have
the reputation of being a little hard to manage, and I find they get along
better if I give them some leeway. So you may converse about your work;
but you must be careful not to talk loud or create any disorder, and you
must shut up at once in case another officer or a visitor comes into the
shop. Also you must not leave your place of work without permission."

I again thank the Captain, and say that I will try to mind my own business
and not make any more trouble than I can help. He smiles rather a grim
smile, and replies dryly that he doesn't think there will be any trouble,
and goes away. My time for writing must be nearly up for the present.

Yes! I hear a clicking, beginning at the far-distant end of the gallery
around the corner to my left. It draws rapidly nearer and I can hear the
key turning in the locks. I have put on my coat and cap. The Captain
unlocks my lever and passes along the gallery to the right. He will soon
be back, so this writing must be put away in the locker; then I can stand
ready and waiting at the door. It would be as well not to expose myself to
another reprimand.

* * * * *

There is of course another side to the foregoing story, and that is the
advent of Thomas Brown as viewed, not by himself, but by his new
companions--the regular inmates of the prison. What did the convicts think
of it all?

As it happens, two of them were moved to record their impressions, and
their accounts have come to my hands in a roundabout way. I can not do
better than supplement my own story by extracts from these papers. I do
not know the writers, I do not even know their names, and the stories were
written