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the privilege of being sent into the general yard as a "trusty," or being allowed to stay in the little
private yard which some cells possessed, longer than the half-hour ordinarily permitted, was
sold.
One of the things curiously enough at this time, which worked in Cowperwood's favor, was the
fact that Bonhag was friendly with the overseer who had Stener in charge, and Stener, because
of his political friends, was being liberally treated, and Bonhag knew of this. He was not a
careful reader of newspapers, nor had he any intellectual grasp of important events; but he
knew by now that both Stener and Cowperwood were, or had been, individuals of great
importance in the community; also that Cowperwood had been the more important of the two.
Better yet, as Bonhag now heard, Cowperwood still had money. Some prisoner, who was
permitted to read the paper, told him so. And so, entirely aside from Warden Desmas's
recommendation, which was given in a very quiet, noncommittal way, Bonhag was interested to
see what he could do for Cowperwood for a price.
The day Cowperwood was installed in his new cell, Bonhag lolled up to the door, which was
open, and said, in a semipatronizing way, "Got all your things over yet?" It was his business to
lock the door once Cowperwood was inside it.
"Yes, sir," replied Cowperwood, who had been shrewd enough to get the new overseer's name
from Chapin; "this is Mr. Bonhag, I presume?"
"That's me," replied Bonhag, not a little flattered by the recognition, but still purely interested by
the practical side of this encounter. He was anxious to study Cowperwood, to see what type of
man he was.
"You'll find it a little different down here from up there," observed Bonhag. "It ain't so stuffy.
These doors out in the yards make a difference."
"Oh, yes," said Cowperwood, observantly and shrewdly, "that is the yard Mr. Desmas spoke of."
At the mention of the magic name, if Bonhag had been a horse, his ears would have been seen
to lift. For, of course, if Cowperwood was so friendly with Desmas that the latter had described
to him the type of cell he was to have beforehand, it behooved Bonhag to be especially careful.
"Yes, that's it, but it ain't much," he observed. "They only allow a half-hour a day in it. Still it
would be all right if a person could stay out there longer."
This was his first hint at graft, favoritism; and Cowperwood distinctly caught the sound of it in his
voice.
"That's too bad," he said. "I don't suppose good conduct helps a person to get more." He waited
to hear a reply, but instead Bonhag continued with: "I'd better teach you your new trade now.
You've got to learn to cane chairs, so the warden says. If you want, we can begin right away."
But without waiting for Cowperwood to acquiesce, he went off, returning after a time with three
unvarnished frames of chairs and a bundle of cane strips or withes, which he deposited on the
floor. Having so done--and with a flourish--he now continued: "Now I'll show you if you'll watch
me," and he began showing Cowperwood how the strips were to be laced through the apertures
on either side, cut, and fastened with little hickory pegs. This done, he brought a forcing awl, a
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