Arrived in the Warden's rooms--he himself is unfortunately still away--I lose no time in getting into a tub. After a most refreshing bath, I dress in my ordinary citizen's clothes and am served with eggs and bacon and a cup of coffee. It is real coffee, not bootleg.
I do full justice to the food and drink, and feel very sorry for any one who has not had the experience of a first meal out of prison. I envy the Warden his cook and his devoted attendants.
After being thus invigorated, I gird up my loins for the next duty, and go to measure arguments with the Principal Keeper in his private office. I begin by shaking hands with him warmly, for I wish to atone for any rudeness of last night and make him understand that I have no hard feelings toward him personally. Then I plunge at once into the subject.
"P. K., I don't wish to be unpleasant, nor do or say anything I am not fully justified in doing or saying, but I must tell you plainly that I can not go from this place, leaving that poor sick boy down in that second cell in jail. There are others who, in my opinion, ought not to be there, but his is the worst case. He should be in the hospital, not in such a damnable hole as that. He's sick, and you are driving him crazy with your absurd rules about water. And I shall not--I can not--leave the prison unless something is to be done about it."
This and much more I pour into the patient ears of the P. K. It is written in the veracious "Bab Ballads," concerning Sir Macklin, a clergyman "severe in conduct and in conversation," that:
"He argued high, he argued low, He also argued round about him."
It is much the same in this case. My arguments are many, and some are based on high moral ground and others on mere motives of self-interest. My words flow easily enough now.
The P. K. takes refuge behind the official policies. He disclaims any personal motives--almost any personal responsibility. He seems to think that there is little or no occasion for the exercise of any judgment on his part. A complaint comes from an officer about a prisoner. There is apparently nothing for the P. K. to do but accept the complaint, take the word of the officer as a matter of course, and punish the prisoner. I also get the impression that sending every offender to the jail is the most desirable form of punishment, as it involves no troublesome discrimination or attempt at careful adjustment; it makes the thing so simple and easy.
