“I have brought you your dinner,” said he. “They only gave me some bread and water for you, but I stole a nice piece of boiled beef from the cook-house. Here it is.”
“Thank you,” I said, gladly accepting the repast. “What did Kinsley say?”
“O, he’s as mad as a hornet! He said you threw the water in his face.”
“So I did.”
“Served him right,” said the guard, laughing. “He’s an overbearing young puppy, who never heard a bullet whistle in his life. I knocked him down one day, and he has been civil towards me ever since. Not very comfortable down here, is it?”
“Not very.”
“Well, you’ll soon be out. I heard the Doctor say he would let you out this evening. He told me not to tell you, and I said I wouldn’t. I meant, I wouldn’t till I’d see you.”
I eat my dinner with a relish and, after he had gone, I worked away at my new window—merely for pastime. I did not make it much larger that afternoon, but I trimmed it up around the edges, and got it into some shape, thinking it might do to put a pane of glass into, some day.
That evening I was released, and informed by the Doctor that my name should go on the “Black List,” for the space of one week. The “black list” was a list of the names of those who, for misdemeanor, were denied passes for a certain time. And on this roll was the noble name of John Smith, to be placed for seven days! I thought the Doctor would relent by Monday morning, so I called on him at his office and said:
“Doctor, I should be most happy to visit the city to-day, and if you will have the kindness to favor me with——”