"Yah. A nip of plug, too."
"Ya.s.sah, ya.s.sah, immejitly."
"What are you men doing here?" the Deputy bl.u.s.ters at the two subordinates.
Woods frowns, squares his shoulders, glances at the Deputy, and then relaxes into a dignified smile. a.s.sistant Hopkins looks sternly at the Deputy Warden from above his gla.s.ses. "That"s all right, Greaves," he says, familiarly, a touch of scorn in his voice. "Say, you should have seen that n.i.g.g.e.r Jasper swallow a great, big apple in two bites; as big as your head, I"ll swear."
"That sho?" the Deputy nods sleepily.
The negro comes running up with a paper of sc.r.a.p in one hand, a plug in the other. The Deputy slowly opens his eyes. He walks unsteadily to the cell, remains there a few minutes, and returns with both hands fumbling at his hip pocket. He spits viciously at the sink, sits down, fills his mouth with tobacco, glances at the floor, and demands, hoa.r.s.ely:
"Where"s all them spittoons, eh, you men?"
"Just being cleaned, Mr. Greaves," Woods replies.
"Cleaned, always th" shame shtory. I ordered--ya--ordered--hey, bring shpittoon, Jasper." He wags his head drowsily.
"He means he ordered spittoons by the wagonload," Hopkins says, with a wink at Woods. "It was the very first order he gave when he became Deputy after Jimmie McPane died. I tell you, Scot, we won"t see soon another Deputy like old Jimmie. He was Deputy all right, every inch of him. Wouldn"t stand for the old man, the Warden, interfering with him, either. Not like this here," he points contemptuously at the snoring Greaves. "Here, Benny," he raises his voice and slaps the deputy on the knee, "here"s Jasper with your spittoon."
Greaves wakes with a start, and gazes stupidly about; presently, noticing the trusty with the large cuspidor, and spurts a long jet at it.
"Say, Jasper," Hopkins calls to the retiring negro, "the deputy wants to hear that story you told us a while ago, about you got the left hind foot of a she-rabbit, on a moonlit night in a graveyard."
"Who shaid I want to hear "t?" the Deputy bristles, suddenly wide awake.
"Yes, you do, Greaves," Hopkins a.s.serts. "The rabbit foot brings good luck, you know. This c.o.o.n here wears it on his neck. Show it to the Deputy, Jasper."
Prisoner Wilson, the Warden"s favorite messenger, enters from the yard.
With quick, energetic step he pa.s.ses the officers at the desk, entirely ignoring their presence, and walks nonchalantly down the hall, his unnaturally large head set close upon the heavy, almost neckless shoulders.
"Hey, you, Wilson, what are you after?" the Deputy shouts after him.
Without replying, Wilson continues on his way.
"Dep"ty Wilson," the negro jeers, with a look of hatred and envy.
a.s.sistant Deputy Hopkins rises in his seat. "Wilson," he calls with quiet sternness, "Mr. Greaves is speaking to you. Come back at once."
His face purple with anger, Wilson retraces his steps. "What do you want, Deputy?" he demands, savagely.
The Deputy looks uneasy and fidgets in his chair, but catching the severe eye of Hopkins, he shouts vehemently: "What do you want in the block?"
"On Captain Edward S. Wright"s business," Wilson replies with a sneer.
"Well, go ahead. But next time I call you, you better come back."
"The Warden told me to hurry. I"ll report to him that you detained me with an idle question," Wilson snarls back.
"That"ll do, Wilson," the a.s.sistant Deputy warns him.
"Wait till I see the Captain," Wilson growls, as he departs.
"If I had my way, I"d knock his d.a.m.n block off," the a.s.sistant mutters.
"Such impudence in a convict cannot be tolerated," Woods comments.
"The Cap"n won"t hear a word against Wilson," the Deputy says meekly.
Hopkins frowns. They sit in silence. The negro busies himself, wiping the yellow-stained floor around the cuspidor. The Deputy ambles stiffly to the open cell. Woods rises, steps back to the wall, and looks up to the top galleries. No one is about. He crosses to the other side, and scans the bottom range. Long and dismal stretches the hall, in melancholy white and gray, the gloomy cell-building brooding in the centre, like some monstrous hunchback, without life or motion. Woods resumes his seat.
"Quiet as a church," he remarks with evident satisfaction.
"You"re doing well, Scot," the Deputy mumbles. "Doing well."
A faint metallic sound breaks upon the stillness. The officers p.r.i.c.k up their ears. The rasping continues and grows louder. The negro trusty tiptoes up the tiers.
"It"s somebody with his spoon on the door," the a.s.sistant Deputy remarks, indifferently.
The Block Captain motions to me. "See who"s rapping there, will you?"
I walk quickly along the hall. By keeping close to the wall, I can see up to the doors of the third gallery. Here and there a nose protrudes in the air, the bleached face glued to the bars, the eyes gla.s.sy. The rapping grows louder as I advance.
"Who is it?" I call.
"Up here, 18 C."
"Is that you, Ed?"
"Yes. Got a bad hemorrhage. Tell th" screw I must see the doctor."
I run to the desk. "Mr. Woods," I report, "18 C got a hemorrhage. Can"t stop it. He needs the doctor."
"Let him wait," the Deputy growls.
"Doctor hour is over. He should have reported in the morning," the a.s.sistant Deputy flares up.
"What shall I tell him. Mr. Woods?" I ask.
"Nothing! Get back to your cell."
"Perhaps you"d better go up and take a look, Scot," the Deputy suggests.
Mr. Woods strides along the gallery, pauses a moment at 18 C, and returns.
"Nothing much. A bit of blood. I ordered him to report on sick list in the morning."