Part 2 (2/2)

The armory, on his left just beyond the entrance, a room as long as the med-staff's, but unlike the other--and who had the brains to do this--locked.

Across from the armory, a big room for the rest of the administrative staff, but no one on duty.

The supply room, corresponding in size and location to the Message Center on the other end, unlocked and no one in it; with everything the prison received on open shelves, available to any reaching hand.

Bennington went back the hall, through his secretary's room into his own office.

One sleepy clerk and himself on duty--he looked at his watch--0815.

_... There were going to be some changes made...._

He spun his chair around and looked out the big window directly behind his desk. He noted the fact that about twenty feet away the land dropped into a very deep slant to the western arm of the moat, but the fact recorded itself only because he always made subconscious notes of the military aspects of terrain.

Consciously, he was wondering why the vast expanse of good, rich earth, north, west and south of the prison, acres of fine land that had been and still were a part of this former military post, had never been put to productive use.

How easily Duncannon could become more self-supporting--and even though Giles and Culpepper wanted to make a racket of the idea, there was much to be said for a trusty system.

_Hold it_, he told himself, _those ideas and where we'll set up a laundry--it's utterly ridiculous that we have to send everything into Harrisburg!--can come later. Right now let's think about an appointment list ... and the first name is my good a.s.sistant warden's, Dr. Thornberry._

Still looking out the window, he leaned back in his chair and felt again the slow boil of anger.

A gentle rap on his office door, the one opening from his secretary's office.

Bennington swung around to face his desk again. ”Come in.”

The Message Center clerk, with a neat stack of papers. ”Sir, this is your copy of the report received last night. The original is on file in Message Center and other copies are on the desks of the people who will need them.”

”Thank you,” Bennington said. ”I am sure that this procedure will be followed in the future.”

”Yes, sir!”

It will be in your case, Bennington decided, then turned his attention to the report.

The distribution list in the upper righthand corner was--h-m-m-m, good. Himself, Chief Psychologist, Chief Guard, Kitchen, Supply.

Probably set up by the same man who had designed Message Center itself.

The report was not good.

The first paragraph was a summary and it was almost all bad news.

Total: 35. No women, no juveniles, the only good reading. But they were coming from all six states and all but one of them Barracks Two and Three cases. a.s.sembled at Philadelphia, by train to Harrisburg, by truck to here, but not arriving until 1530.

Two and Three were overcrowded now. With their communications so good, why couldn't they move the processed men out faster?

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