t will be seen from the foregoing that very much is expected from them,
and in order to fulfill the very hard terms of their contract with the
Government, and keep their places, they are forced to resort to
trickery, deception and perjury, until these, in their attitude toward
their employer, the Government, become second nature, readily resorting
to lies to clear themselves from blame, even in trivial matters, to save
themselves from a sixpence fine. There are jealousies among themselves,
but when it is a question of deceiving or keeping any neglect of duties
or violences against prisoners from the superior authorities they all
unite as one man and affirm or swear to anything they think the position
requires.

A real pleasure was derived from those prisoners' friends, the rats and
mice, which I easily tamed and taught to be my companions.

[Illustration: "COME ON. YOU ARE FREE."--Page 480.]

Not long after my arrival a prisoner gave me a young rat which became
the solace of an otherwise miserable existence. Nothing could he cleaner
in its habits or more affectionate in disposition than this pet member
of a despised race of rodents. It passed all its leisure time in
preening its fur, and after eating always most scrupulously cleaned
its hands and face. It was easily taught, and in course of time it could
perform many surprising feats. I made a small trapeze, the bar being a
slate pencil about four inches long, which was wound with yarn and hung
from strings of the same; and on this the rat would perform like an
acrobat, appearing to enjoy the exercise as much as the performance
always delighted me. I made a long cord out of yarn, on which it would
climb exactly in the manner in which a sailor shins up a rope; and when
the cord was stretched horizontally it would let its body sway under and
travel along the cord, clinging by its hands and feet like a human
performer.

A rat's natural position when eating a piece of bread is to sit on its
haunches, but I had trained this rat to stand upright on its feet, with
its head up like a soldier. Placing it in front of me on the bed, I
would hand it a piece of bread, which it would hold up to its mouth with
its hands while standing erect. Keeping one sharp eye on me and the
other on its food, the moment it noticed that I was not looking it would
gradually settle down upon its haunches. When my eyes turned on it it
would instantly straighten itself up like a schoolboy caught in s