“There, I want no more of your chat.  Loose the prisoner.”

“Seems to me he is loosed,” said Fry.

“Go to the 5-lb. crank, Josephs, and let me see how much you can do in half an hour.”

“That I will, your reverence,” and off he ran.

“Now, sir,” said Hawes sternly, “I put up with this now because it must end next week.  I have written to the visiting justices, and they will settle whether you are to be master in the jail or I.”

“Neither, Mr. Hawes.  The law shall be your master and mine.”

“Very good! but there’s a hole in your coat; for, as clever as you are, every jail has its customs as well as its rules.”

“Which customs, if illegal, are abuses, and shall be swept out of it.”

“I’ll promise you one thing—­the justices shall sweep you out of the jail.”

“How can you promise that?”

“Because they only see with my eyes, and, hear with my ears; they would do a great deal more for me than kick out a refractory chaplain.”

Mr. Eden’s eye flashed, he took out his note-book.

“Present Fry, Hodges, Evans.  Mr. Hawes asserts that the visiting justices see only with his eyes and hear with his ears.”

Hawes laughed insolently, but a little uneasily.

“In spite of your statement that the magistrates are unworthy of their office, I venture to hope, for the credit of the county, there will not be found three magistrates to countenance your illegal cruelties.  But should there be—­”

“Ay; what then?”

“I shall go higher and appeal to the Home Secretary.”

“Ha! ha!  He won’t take any notice of you.”

“Then I shall appeal to the sovereign.”

“And if she takes you for a madman?”

“I shall appeal to the people.  Oh!  Mr. Hawes, I give you my honor this great question whether or not the law can penetrate a prison shall be sifted to the bottom.  Pending my appeals to the Home Office, the sovereign and the people, I have placed a thousand pounds in my solicitor’s hands—­”

“A thousand pounds! have you, sir?  What for, if I am not too curious?”

“For this, sir.  Each prisoner whom you have pilloried and starved and assaulted contrary to law shall bring an action of assault against you the moment he leaves prison.  He shall have counsel, and the turnkeys and myself shall be subpoenaed as evidence.  When once we get you into court you will find that a prison is the stronghold of law, not a den of lawlessness.”

He then turned sharp on the warders.

“I warn you against all your illegal practices.  Mr. Hawes’s orders shall neither excuse nor protect you.  You owe your first obedience to the crown and the law.  Here are your powers and your duties; you can all read.  Here it is ruled that a prisoner shall receive four visits a day from the governor, chaplain and two turnkeys; these four visits are to keep the man from breaking down under the separate and silent system.  You have all been breaking this rule, but you shall not.  I shall report you Evans, you Fry, and you Hodges, and you Mr. Hawes, to the authorities, if after this warning you leave a single prisoner unvisited and unspoken with.”