But, as
the dreary time dragged on, and as the leaden listlessness settled down
heavier hour by hour, I began to look back regretfully, if not
remorsefully. There were moments, not few or far between, when I would
have given much to hear the wire-drawn monotone that lately had been an
offense to me; ay, even though each slow sentence should be punctuated
by expectoration.
Among those who were exempted from the gaol delivery was an Englishman,
John Hardcastle by name, who had been arrested about a month later than
myself, on the Lower Potomac, on his way homeward through the Northern
States. He had, I believe, been employed by the Confederate Government
in carrying out some inventions and improvements in armory. There was
nothing remarkable about the little, round, ruddy man, except a
joviality which never seemed to droop in the heavy prison air; when I
wrote that an honest laugh was never heard here, I ought to have made
that one exception; he had a fair voice, too, and a large collection of
songs, which he chanted out merrily, instead of merging all tunes into
one dolorous drone. He was confined at first on the floor immediately
under me, but, on the 20th. of May, changed his quarters into one of the
large rooms in the main building, with windows opening back and front
into the yard and the avenue; these latter were without bars.
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