s. He
was tired, however, and throwing off his clothes, tucked himself in his
mediocre bed, and was soon fast asleep.

Chapter XLV

Say what one will about prison life in general, modify it ever so much
by special chambers, obsequious turnkeys, a general tendency to make one
as comfortable as possible, a jail is a jail, and there is no getting
away from that. Cowperwood, in a room which was not in any way inferior
to that of the ordinary boarding-house, was nevertheless conscious of
the character of that section of this real prison which was not yet his
portion. He knew that there were cells there, probably greasy and smelly
and vermin-infested, and that they were enclosed by heavy iron bars,
which would have as readily clanked on him as on those who were now
therein incarcerated if he had not had the price to pay for something
better. So much for the alleged equality of man, he thought, which gave
to one man, even within the grim confines of the machinery of justice,
such personal liberty as he himself was now enjoying, and to another,
because he chanced to lack wit or presence or friends or wealth, denied
the more comfortable things which money would buy.

The morning after the trial, on waking, he stirred curiously, and
then it suddenly came to him that he was no longer in the free and
comfortable atmosphere of his own bedroom, but in a jail-cell, or rather
its very comfortable substitute, a sheriff's rented bedroom. He got up
and looked out the window. The ground outside and Passayunk Avenue
were white with snow. Some wagons were silently lumbering by. A few
Philadelphians were visible here and there, going to and fro on morning
errands. He began to think at once what he must do, how he must act
to carry on his business, to rehabilitate himself; and as he did so he
dressed and pulled the bell-cord, which had been indicated to him, and
which would bring him an attendant who would build him a fire and later
bring him something to eat. A shabby prison attendant in a blue uniform,
conscious of Cowperwood's superiority because of the room he occupied,
laid wood and coal in the grate and started a fire, and later brought
him his breakfast, which was anything but prison fare, though poor
enough at that.

After that he was compelled to wait in patience several hours, in spite
of the sheriff's assumption of solicitous interest, before his brother
Edward was admitted with his clothes. An attendant, for a conside