Visiting day, which came every fourth Wednesday, was a great occasion in
the institution.
For two weeks before it was due, the question was continually asked
me,--
"Is it next Wednesday, or a week from next Wednesday, that is visiting
day? I wonder if my husband will come! I wonder if anybody will come to
see me! I want to see the old man so much! I want to hear from the
childer so much!"
For a day or two it was my constant care to repress the talk occasioned
by the overflowing of their expectations, or fears, so as to get their
work done by the women.
The Doctor, when he came to make his visits, passed the kitchen door.
That door was made of small panes of ground glass. There was a wooden
one inside, to slide over it at night. When he announced his arrival, he
had knocked upon one of the panes, with the head of his cane, and broken
it. It had been done apparently for mischief; but I thought it was to
give the prisoners a glimpse of the blue sky, and the green trees, and
the bright flowers that were in front of the prison.
The windows of the kitchen were of the same ground glass, cut into small
panes of six by seven. They were made fifty or a hundred years ago, no
doubt, with the utilitarian notion of producing greater diligence in the
inmates by shutting out all attractive sights which might decoy them
from their work. The Matron was taken into the account; her attention
must not be drawn from the care of her maidens.
If that were a good rule for the inferior officers and prisoners, why
might it not apply with propriety to the Head Matron and Master? The
city or state might be saved the large item of expense, in "supporting
the institution," of cultivating handsome grounds exclusively for their
benefit?
It was a deed of mercy to break that window pane. Many a time when I
have seen the lowering brow, or heard the angry remark, I have saved a
war of words, perhaps of hands, by sending one of the belligerents to
that broken pane to see if the Doctor were on his way to the hospital,
or if the bread or meat were coming round.