Abutting out from this were several small rooms with baths in them, and Peace was told to perform the customary ablution.
This he knew from former experience to be the usual course of procedure; so he undressed without a moment’s hesitation, whereupon his clothes were taken by his attendant and carefully examined, and all prohibited articles were removed from the pockets.
An inventory of these things was taken, and our hero was informed that it was against the prison rules for him to retain possession of them; but that his wife or any of his friends, when they paid him a visit, might take them away, and “should you be fortunate enough to be acquitted,” observed the warder, “you can have them when you are discharged.”
Peace nodded significantly.
“Should I be fortunate enough,” he murmured to himself; “I fear there is not much chance of that. Well, you see, young man,” he said, aloud, “I don’t think there is much chance of my pulling through, ’cause, you see, the case is ugly against me.”
“I have nothing to do with that; you are sent here to await your trial, and are, of course, innocent till you are proved guilty,” observed the warder, who was evidently a kindly-disposed person.
Peace was informed that he could have the prison allowance of food, or order in what he required, under certain restrictions, from an eating-house on the opposite side of the Old Bailey, and that the money found upon him could be given to his relatives, who would be thereby enabled to pay for the choicest viands from the aforesaid cook-shop.
All this information was conveyed to him in the set phraseology invariably adopted by wardens when addressing prisoners in similar cases.
Peace was never at any time in his life a gourmand, and paid but little attention to the pleasures of the table. Nevertheless, he directed to have his meals furnished by the proprietor of the elegant restaurant outside the walls of the prison.
But this only lasted a few days. From what he could see of the prison fare it was sufficiently good for his purpose, being wholesome and passably good in flavour, so he dropped the Old Bailey restaurant, and contented with the food supplied by the City authorities.