seemed to be felt at the jail, lest we might be rescued; and we were subject, during the night, to frequent examinations, to see that all was safe.  Great was the terror, as well as the rage, which the abolitionists appeared to inspire.  They seemed to be thought capable, if not very narrowly watched, of taking us off through the roof, or the stone floor, or out of the iron-barred doors; and, from the half-frightened looks which the keepers gave me from time to time, I could plainly enough read their thoughts,—­that a fellow who had ventured on such an enterprise as that of the Pearl was desperate and daring enough to attempt anything.  For a poor prisoner like me, so much in the power of his captors, and without the slightest means, hopes, or even thoughts of escape, it was some little satisfaction to observe the awe and terror which he inspired.

Of the prison fare I shall have more to say, by and by.  It is sufficient to state here that it was about on a par with the sleeping accommodations, and hardly of a sort to give a man in my situation the necessary physical vigor.  However, I thought little of this at that moment, as I was too sick and excited to feel much disposition to eat.

The Washington prison is a large three-story stone building, the front part of the lower story of which is occupied by the guard-room, or jail-office, and by the kitchen and sleeping apartments for the keepers.  The back part, shut off from the front by strong grated doors, has a winding stone stair-case, ascending in the middle, on each side of which, on each of the three stories, are passage-ways, also shut off from the stair-case, by grated iron doors.  The back wall of the jail forms one side of these passages, which are lighted by grated windows.  On the other side are the cells, also with grated iron doors, and receiving their light and air entirely from the passages.  The passages themselves have no ventilation except through the doors and windows, which answer that purpose very imperfectly.  The front second story, over the guard-room, contains the cells for the female prisoners.  The front third story is the debtors’ apartment.

The usage of the jail always has been—­except in cases of insubordination or attempted escape, when locking up in the cells by day, as well as by night, has been resorted to as a punishment—­to allow the prisoners, during the day-time, the use of the passages, for the benefit of light, air and exercise.  Indeed, it is hard to conceive a more cruel punishment than to keep a man locked up all the time in one of these half-lighted, unventilated cells.  On the morning of the second day of our confinement, we too were let out into the passage.  But we were soon put back again, and not only into separate cells, but into separate passages, so as to be entirely cut off from any communication with each other.  It was a long time before we were able to regain the privilege of the passage.  But, for the present, I shall pass over the internal economy and administration of the prison, and my treatment in it, intending, further on, to give a general sketch of that subject.