model institution. But in spite of good treatment I was intensely
miserable; my mind was morbid; I was nearly, if not quite, insane;
and one day during the dinner hour, I opened a vein in each arm in
hopes that I should bleed to death. Bleed I did, till I fainted
away, and as I did not come out when the other prisoners did, the
officer came to my cell and discovered my condition. He at once sent
for the Doctor who came and stopped the hemorrhage, and then sent me
to the hospital where I remained two weeks.

After I came out of the hospitals the Warden talked to me about my
situation and feelings. He advised me to go into the blacksmith
shop, of course not dreaming that I knew anything of the work; but
he said I would have more liberty there; that the men moved about
freely and could talk to each other; that the work mainly was
sharpening picks and tools, and that I could at least blow and
strike. So I went into the blacksmith shop, and remained their six
weeks. But, debilitated as I was, the work was too hard for me, and
so the warden put me in the yard to do what I could. I also swept
the halls and assisted in the cook-room. One day when the warden
spoke to me, I told him that I knew something about taking care of
the sick, and after some conversation, he transferred me to the
hospital as a nurse.

Here, if there is such a things as contentment in prison, I was
comparatively happy. I nursed the sick and administered medicines
under direction of the doctor. I had too, with all easy position,
more liberty than any other prisoner. I could go anywhere about the
halls and yard, and in a few weeks I was frequently sent on an
errand into the town. Everyone seemed to have the fullest confidence
in me. The Warden talked to me whenever he saw me, and always had