But of Colonel Baker, from my own knowledge, I can say nothing: I simply
passed through his office to the Old Capitol; nor do I know that he in
anywise influenced my after fortunes.
It appeared that my quarters were to be, not in the main building of the
prison, but in a sort of _dependaence_, a couple of hundred yards off,
called Carroll place; thither I was at once removed, after a brief
consultation with the officer on guard.
Mr. Wood, the head Superintendent, soon came to welcome the new arrival,
and in his first sentence gave me a specimen of the _brusquerie_ of
address for which he has acquired a certain notoriety.
"Mr. ----," he said, "I'm always glad to see your countrymen _here_. My
father was an Englishman; but I've no sympathy with England. I was born
and bred a plebeian, sir."
As I felt no particular interest in Mr. Wood's proclivities or
proletarianism, I simply shrugged my shoulders, and turned away without
a reply. But when, on his first visit to my room, two days later, he
repeated exactly the same formula, without variation of a syllable, I
thought it better to assure him that the iteration was absolutely
unnecessary, inasmuch as I had believed him on _both_ points easily from
the first. He was not at all disconcerted or offended, only we heard him
mutter to his subordinate, when they got outside our door:
"That's a pretty d----d high-handed sort of a chap, anyhow.
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