the other
hand, had I been a regular convict I should have been much more heavily
fined, and my punishment would not have ended with a single night.

This is of course the highly humorous aspect of my particular case. To a
prisoner who sometimes loses several years' pay for the privilege of
spending a few days in these cells, there is precious little humor about
it. At the mere whim of a bad-tempered keeper he may lose the acquisition
of months of patient toil. And against the keeper there is no practicable
appeal whatever, for the P. K. simply registers the action of the
officers, on the theory that "discipline must be maintained." Experience
has taught the convict that there is no use in kicking--that would only be
to get into deeper trouble; so he takes his medicine as the shortest and
quickest way out. But we may be quite sure that the convict does not
forget his grievance, and ultimately Society pays the penalty.

But let us go on with the other punishments involved in this jail
sentence.

Third: The disc upon your sleeve is bulls-eyed--that is, changed to a
circle--or taken off altogether, as a mark of disgrace. And you never can
regain your disc, no matter how perfect your future conduct. Your sleeve
shows to every observer that you have been punished; that you are or have
been a disturbing, if not dangerous, character. It is astonishing how much
the prisoners get to care about this disc, and how deeply they feel the
disgrace implied in the loss of it. But however strange it seems, there
can be no doubt as to the fact.

Fourth: If you have been fortunate enough to earn by a year's perfect
record a good conduct bar upon your sleeve, that bar is taken away, or
whatever credits you have gained toward a bar; and you have to begin your
struggle all over again. Here also, however odd it may seem to us, the
prisoners treasure greatly these evidences of a good record, and resent
their loss.

Fifth: Some portion, if not all, of the commutation time which you may
have gained by previous good conduct is also forfeited, so that you may
have to serve out your full term.

Of course one can easily comprehend how this avalanche of punishments, all
for the same offense, no matter how trivial, is admirably calculated to
inspire in the prisoner respect for authority, loyalty to the state, and
love for its officials. Its admirable reformatory influence must be
apparent upon the slightest consideration.

Such were my compani