The four Matrons took the evening watch, alone in prison, in rotation.
It was a rule that one of them was to be always there, when the
prisoners were in. They were not to be left by themselves a moment.
The one who had charge was to be alone; the other three were at liberty,
one to go about the buildings or grounds, two to go out of the prison
confines, if they liked. It was my turn to be alone in prison.
Immediately after they had been locked into their cells, and the other
Matrons had left, Haggerton began to complain of her coffee.
"What is the matter with your coffee?" I asked.
"It is cold," she replied.
"I am sorry; but I can't help it now."
Upon that she began to fret. "I haven't eaten any breakfast, nor any
dinner, and I've worked hard all day, and staid an hour later,"--some of
them had staid till eight o'clock that night in the shop--"and now I
can't eat any supper because my coffee is cold. I'll tell the Master,
and he'll make an awful fuss."
Of course I could not allow such talk as that, and I told her to stop.
"I have done the best for you that I could. You had the same chance to
eat that the rest had, and the same breakfast and dinner provided for
you. I am not allowed to provide anything else. If you haven't eaten, it
is your own fault."
"I can't eat brown bread, and I can't eat soup, nor I can't drink cold
coffee. The Master will be awful mad, and make an awful fuss, for me to
have cold coffee."
"Not another word, Haggerton! If you don't like the fare, you ought not
to take board here," I said. I thought, if the Master would feel so bad
that your coffee is cold, why don't his compassion lead him to provide
something that you can eat.
Upon that she went on to cry and sob, and make a great disturbance in
the prison.
I told her she must stop; but she kept on. I had not the heart to scold
and threaten the girl. I had no doubt that she was tired and hungry, and
I pitied her. I went for the Deputy, to see what I should do. He was
out. I stepped into the officers' dining-room to find some one to direct
me.
Mrs. Hardhack, the Shop Matron, was eating her supper. The Supervisor
sat there, talking with her. I stated the case to her. Before I had got
half through with it, she motioned me away, and exclaimed, in great
agitation,--
"You mustn't leave the prison alone a moment! You mustn't leave the
prison alone a moment!"
Mrs. Hardhack rushed past me as though every prisoner had got loose, and
was running away.
I thought they would probably be safe if she arrived without accident,
and followed at my usual gait.
When I entered the prison she was leaving Haggerton's cell door, and
from the second division saluted me with,--
"It's no wonder the girl cries! her coffee is cold! I went to the kettle
and tasted it myself! She hasn't eaten a mouthful to-day; and now, to
have cold coffee given her for her supper, it's too bad! The Master
shall know it, and he'll make an awful fuss."
I made no reply to her; but the next morning, I had several questions to
ask the Deputy.
"It is a rule, is it, that the prisoners are not to be left alone a
moment at night, after they are locked in?"
"Yes."
"Then how am I to leave the prison, go across the kitchen, and pass out
my keys? Sometimes it will be ten or fifteen minutes before I can make
the prison officer hear my rap."
"Of course you must do that."
"Then I must leave the prison alone. Have the Board of Directors
approved both those rules?"
He smiled.
"The reason why I asked was, because the Supervisor and Shop Matron
thought I had committed a great violation of the rules, to leave the
prison a moment to find you, to ask you a question, when I was in
difficulty last night."
"Did you have any difficulty last night?"
I told him the story of Haggerton, and Mrs. Hardhack's management in the
case.
"You can judge that such conduct is calculated to produce disorder, and
it did. It was nearly half an hour before I got the women quiet again."
"Mrs. Hardhack has been here many years--she ought to know better than
to behave in that way. If she don't, I can teach her."
I did not tell him what followed. I had been studying the "Rules and
Regulations" of the Board of Directors, for myself, and intended to
abide by them. I remarked carelessly,--
"The Board direct that the convicts shall work from sunrise to sunset.
They were worked an hour later last night."
"They had some contract work that they wanted to finish."
"The order of the Board is to work from sunrise to sunset. There is no
provision made for finishing contract work. The order to work over hours
was submitted to the Board for approval last night, was it not?"
"You are sharp. I see you wish to do your own duty, and you wish others
to do the same."
"Yes, I like to do my duty if I can find out what it is. In this
particular case, I am indifferent whether others do theirs or not. But,
if I find them following me up to make me perform mine accurately, when
they are involved in the same, it is perfectly natural for me to turn
and observe their manner of doing theirs."
"I am trying to do mine."
"I see that you are, and I am glad that you have a better opportunity to
find out what it is, than I do."
The moment that Mrs. Hardhack was out of the prison, that night, the
convicts commenced hooting and whistling. If she did not put Haggerton
up, directly, to play off on me, which I strongly suspected, her
behavior was calculated to encourage their conduct.
I was a new Matron, this was my first night alone, and they would try
me, to see what stuff I was made of.
If Mrs. Hardhack had instigated their conduct, the punishment would come
upon them, not her. It was my business to suppress the noise, and to
detect those who were engaged in making it.
I drew my feet from my slippers, and commenced my search for the
culprits.
It was made a short one by the assistance of one of the sweeps who hated
Mrs. Hardhack, and would do anything to thwart her--even betray a
fellow-prisoner.
She pointed me to one of the doors from whence the whistling came. I
crept softly along, in the shade, and stood by the next door a moment.
The girl, unconscious that I was near, gave another shrill call.
"That is you, is it, Kate Connolly?" I said, close to her ear.
She burst into tears at the sound of my voice. Her imagination at once
brought before her the long aching induced by solitary confinement. It
was far from an agreeable prospect to look forward to.
"I'm sorry! indeed I am!"
"Sorry for what,--that you made disturbance, or that I found you out?"
"For both. Indeed I am; I knew better--I knew the rules; I've been here
before, and it'll go hard with me."
"You thought I was a stranger and wouldn't know them, did you?"
"Yes, ma'am; but I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry for you, Kate, that you should be so ill-disposed as to make
a noise, purposely to disturb me; and that you should be so mean as to
try to impose upon a stranger. In future it will be well for you to know
who you are playing off on before you begin. Now, Kate Connolly,
remember--if ever I catch you in another such a trick, I shall have you
punished!"
"And you won't now? I thank you! I never will trouble you so again!"
I never had occasion to reprove her afterwards for any bad conduct while
she was in the prison.
She thought it was through my kindness that she escaped punishment. I
had been reading the "Rules and Regulations," which directed me to
"admonish" once; and then, report for punishment. By following those
Rules, I had silenced the noise, and restored order without resorting
to punishment. I had also secured the future good behavior of the girl.
When one was detected, the others became quiet.
There are good and noble qualities still existing in those prisoners, if
the right management only be applied to rouse, and bring them into
action. The rule to admonish was a wise one, and was adopted to that
end. That the officers did not follow out the rule was wherein the fault
lay. And that they overlooked it, or failed to obey it, caused untold
suffering to the prisoners.
No instance came under my observation where the offense was repeated,
after a prisoner had been admonished.
After quiet was restored, I sat down to think, and rest. I was tired of
the ceaseless surveillance, the turning of keys, the grating of bars,
the driving of the prisoners at their tasks, the compelling to pleasant
manners while under such severe exactions of toil.
I sat thinking it over and asking myself if it would be possible for me,
driven, urged to work with no alternative but the solitary cell, and the
bread and water diet, with no motive but fear of punishment, to be
gentle and patient.
The exhausted flesh and the wearied spirit would express their agony in
some form of complaint. Human nature might restrain its indignation at
such a dreary lot from breaking forth, in fear of a greater punishment.
The prisoner might work on in silence till she fell, and was carried to
the Hospital. I was told that it had been so, and I could not doubt it.
My orders verified the statement. I was to keep them at work. If they
complained they were to see the Doctor, and he was to decide whether
they were unfit for labor. In that case they were to go into the
Hospital.