t it
would be extremely welcome this evening--well or ill; but the Captain does
not offer it, and I do not quite like to ask for it. So I vouchsafe the
information that I'm feeling better now and think I shall be all right in
a very short while.

The Captain takes his departure; and my next caller is Dickinson, who is
still radiant over the idea of leaving to-morrow. I give him the note I
have written, which will enable him to get his clothes; and, when he tells
me that owing to the late fine weather the authorities have refused to
give him an overcoat, I add that item to his list.

When the time comes to go back to work I am feeling refreshed by my brief
nap and the hour's rest after dinner. So I fall into line as usual with
the company--I wonder what would happen if I stayed behind in my cell--and
we march down the yard as usual. When I arrive at the shop, Jack is at my
side in an instant.

"How are you feeling, Tom?" he inquires, anxiously.

I tell him that I am doing fairly well, and we set to work. In a very
short time, however, the feeling of nausea returns; and Jack then gives me
a remedy of his own which he says is often taken in the prison, where
indigestion is only too common. It consists of bicarbonate of soda in
vinegar and water. To show me that it is quite safe Jack takes a dose
himself, I follow suit, and the result is satisfactory in both cases. I am
also provided with plenty of hot water by my young Greek friend, who is
apparently ready to take any amount of trouble for me.

While I am trying to do my fair share of the basket-making this afternoon
one of my shopmates passes behind me and then pauses in the shadow of the
post. "Say, Brown," he says, "you don't seem to realize that you are
violating one of the fundamental laws of this institution, you're working
too hard," and he goes off chuckling. I don't know that I am working too
hard, but I do know that there seems to be about as little incentive to do
a good, honest day's work as could well be devised. At a cent and a half a
day the financial result is farcical, and my surprise is great that the
state gets as good work as it does. Certainly it is far better than the
state deserves. Looking about the shop I see a great many men who are
doing their allotted tasks faithfully and well. Yet they have absolutely
nothing to gain by it except the satisfaction of work well done.

In the course of the afternoon Jack and I resume our discussion about
Sun