Part 37 (1/2)
”Plaster hell!” the prisoner breaks out in a fury, his face growing livid ”Look at this, will you?” With a quick motion he pulls his shi+rt up to his head His chest and back are entirely covered with porous plasters; not an inch of skin is visible ”daot no more room for plasters I'm putty near dyin', an' you won't do nothin' ferhim into the rotunda
One by one the sick prisoners approach the doctor He stands, head bent, penciling, rarely glancing up The elongated ascetic face wears a preoccupied look; he drawls mechanically, in monosyllables, ”Next!
Nulances at his watch; his brows knit closer, the heavy furrow deepens, and the austere face grows id Now and then he turns his eyes upon the Deputy Warden, sitting opposite, his jaws incessantly working, a thin strea the gray beard Cheeks protruding, ently, turns to expectorate, suddenly shouts ”Next!”
and gives two quick knocks on the desk, signaling to the physician to order the man to work Only the withered and the la the desk thrice to convey the permission to the doctor
Dejected and forlorn, the sick line is conducted to the shops, coughing, wheezing, and
Quite often, breaking down at theat the task, the men are carried on a stretcher to the hospital, to receive a respite fro toil,--a short intermission, or a happier, eternal reprieve
The lame and the feeble, too withered to be useful in the shops, are sent back to their quarters, and locked up for the day Only these, the permitted delinquents, the insane, the men in solitary, and the sweepers, re hours The pall of silence descends upon the House of Death
IV
The guards creep stealthily along the tiers Officer George Dean, lank and tall, tiptoes past the cells, his sharply hooked nose in advance, his evil-looking eyes peering through the bars, scrutinizing every inmate Suddenly the heavy jaws snap ”Hey, you, Eleven-thirty-nine! On the bed again! Wha-at? Sick, hell! No dinner!” Noisily he pretends to return to the desk ”in front,” quietly steals into the niche of a cell door, and standsA suppressed uard advances, hastily passes several cells, pauses a moment, and then quickly steps into the center of the hall, shouting: ”Cells forty-seven K, I, H!
Talking through the pipe! Got you this tirins broadly as he returns to the desk, and reports to the Block Captain The guards ascend the galleries Levers are pulled, doors opened with a bang, and the three prisoners are marched to the office For days their cells reeon
Gaunt and cadaverous, Guard Hughes makes the rounds of the tiers, on a tour of inspection With bleary eyes, sunk deep in his head, he gazes intently through the bars Thefroathering a few scraps of paper As I pass along the hall, he slaallery His pockets bulge with confiscated goods He glances around, as the Deputy enters frouard calls The colored trusty scampers up the stairs ”Take this to the front” The officer hands hiazine, two pieces of cornbread, a little square of cheese, and several candles that so in the dark for weeks ”Show 't to the Deputy,” the officer says, in an undertone ”I'hs boisterously, ”Yassah, yassah, dat yo sure a a quick look to the front
The Deputy is disappearing through the rotunda door The officer casts his eye about the cell The table is littered with , stolen from the shops, is on the floor On the bed are souard steps back to the gallery, a faint smile on his thin lips He reaches for the heart-shaped wooden block hanging above the cell It bears the legend, painted in black, A 480 On the reverse side the officer reads, ”Collins Hamilton, dated----” His watery eyes strain to decipher the penciled marks paled by the damp, ashed wall ”Jasper!” he calls, ”come up here” The trusty hastens to hihty”
”Ah sure knows Dat a?”
”Wat _he_ wan' teh work foh? He aht, Jasper” The guard carefully closes the clerk's door, and enters the adjoining cell It looks clean and orderly The stone floor is bare, the bedding sed on the table The officer ransacks the bed, throws the blankets on the floor, and stamps his feet upon the pillow in search of secreted contraband He reaches up to the wooden shelf on the wall, and takes down the little bag of scrap tobacco,--the weekly allowance of the prisoners He eoodly part into his hand, shakes it up, and thrusts it into his ” from his pocket, bites off a piece, spits in the direction of the privy, and yawns; looks at his watch, deliberates a moment, spurts a streaallery He surveys the field, leans over the railing, and squints at the front The chairs at the officers' desk are vacant The guard retreats into the cell, yawns and stretches, and looks at his watch again It is only nine o'clock He picks up the library book, listlessly exaustedly, then takes another chew, and sprawls down on the bed
V
At the head of the hall, Senior Officer Woods and assistant Deputy Hopkins sit at the desk Of superb physique and glowing vitality, Mr
Woods wears his new honors as Captain of the Block with aggressive self-importance He has recently been pro, on theshi+ft, from 5 A M to 1 P M
Every now and then he leaves his chair, walks majestically down the hallway, crosses the open centre, and returns past the opposite cell-row
With studied dignity he resumes his seat and addresses his superior, the assistant Deputy, in htly bent, his sharp gray eyes restless above the heavy-riular and stoop-shouldered, rises to expectorate into the nearby sink, he espies the shi+ning face of Jasper on an upper gallery The assistant Deputy s it up to view, asks:
”How does this strike you, Jasper?”