“To the Penitentiary,” was the guarded response.
“Going to lock us up there?”
“Yes, sir; the last one of you.”
“What for?”
“To punish you for shooting at the mob last night.”
“They’ll give us plenty to eat, I suppose?”
“Oh, yes; all you want.”
“Do they look for any trouble among the prisoners?”
“I think so; at any rate you are sent up there at the mayor’s request. He said he wanted men there who were not afraid to shoot, and such men he wanted well fed.”
This was a compliment to the company, and a decided indorsement of the manner in which they had conducted themselves during the fight with the mob. To quote from some of the members, they had a “soft thing” while they remained at the Penitentiary. There were about four hundred convicts there, but they knew better than to attempt an outbreak, and all the boys had to do was to keep themselves clean, eat, sleep, and stand guard. Having made themselves famous they received many calls during their two days’ stay at the prison, and these visitors did not come empty-handed. The stockings, handkerchiefs, collars, lemons and other needful things they were thoughtful enough to bring with them, were gratefully accepted by the young soldiers, who begged for papers, and wanted to know all that was going on outside. They were gratified to learn that the back-bone of the riot was broken; that the strikers were anxious to go to work; that trains were running on some of the roads; and that the hour of their release was close at hand.