CHAPTER XVI
THE OLD SKIPPER’S DESPAIR
Meanwhile, Capt. Grandiere, having obtained his pass, got into a crowded street car, en route for the Old Capitol prison. After toiling up the long hill on the north side of the Capitol grounds, the car turned into East Capitol Street.
There the old skipper got off and inquired his way to the “Old Capitol”—a large pile of brick buildings, looking not unlike a warehouse, but which in its time, before the present beautiful edifice had been raised, was used for the councils of the National Congress, and now was turned into a military prison.
Capt. Grandiere found the place—though it looked very much like a Baltimore tobacco depot—and then went up to the main floor, at which a sentry stood on guard.
He showed his pass. The sentinel scrutinized it, returned it to him, and let him in.
He entered a broad passage, with doors on either side, and a staircase in the midst. These doors were all closed, and a sentry stood at every one.
“I wish to see young Ro—Mr. Craven Cloud,” said the captain, correcting himself—“one of the officers taken prisoner on the blockade runner Argente.”
The sentry to whom he addressed these words looked at his pass, and said, laconically:
“Upstairs.”
The old man climbed the stairs, and found himself in an upper passage, with other doors on each side, and another staircase in the midst. These doors were also closed and guarded by sentries.