e warden for an extra or special letter.

[8] On this point Jack Murphy writes: "We are allowed one box of matches a
month. The men split each match into two parts, so as to make this one box
last as long as possible. Each box contains 62 matches. After they are
split up into two the prisoner has 124 matches. These will last him about
10 days; then he must use his flint and steel. This is the most
intelligent thing the convicts are taught, for it teaches them the art of
economy, which, if lived up to, will help them to overcome their
extravagance when freed." I believe our friend B. intimated that Jack is
something of a joker.

Since my week in prison the inmates are allowed to buy a dozen boxes of
matches a month. Why they should not always have been allowed to do so is
beyond my comprehension.

[9] This, of course, is the same incident that has already been given in
the supplementary pages of the previous chapter, but I insert it again as
a part of my journal. It illustrates the way news circulates about the
prison.

[10] There were some small inaccuracies in Jack's tale, especially this
account of the trusty and the P. K. The facts are as stated in the last
chapter. I have let this passage remain, however, as it represents what I
heard and understood at the time.

[11] There had been no runaways from the road camps at the time Jack was
speaking. Before the camps were broken up at the end of the season, and
the road work was suspended for the winter, there were four. Two were
recovered and brought back; one returned of his own accord; and one made
his getaway. The lives of the two who were brought back were made
miserable by the abuse heaped upon them by their fellow prisoners for
having violated the confidence placed in them. They finally petitioned the
Warden to be transferred to some other prison.

[12] Both Stuhlmiller and Laflam were elected on the original committee
which prepared the organization of the Mutual Welfare League, and have
worked enthusiastically for its success.

[13] The mystery has been explained by one of my fellow-prisoners. "On the
roof of the bucket-house and on the walls are some grape vines from which
the sickly looking grapes are picked by the bucket-house man and given to
friends. I tried them, but they were too much for me, and it's lucky you
did not tackle them."

[14] As a matter of fact I was testing the Captain's mettle far more than
I supposed, for Grant's warning to be on