In  one  of  the  three  rooms  a  prisoner  had  managed  to  rush  up
before  his  jailer,  slip  his  hand  through  the  open  window,  and
scratch  a  tiny  place  on  the  paint  outside,  giving  a  most
welcome  peep  into  the  outer  world,  but  there  was  no  chance
of  communicating  with  it.  The  bakehouse  was  underneath,
and  pipes  for  the  conveyance  of  hot  air  were  brought  from
behind  the  oven  into  these  prison-rooms;  but  somehow  or
other  they  did  not  work,  and  the  air  that  entered,  though
there  was  plenty  of  it,  was  most  frequently  cold.  Light  and
airy  was  really  no  misnomer.  A  boy  in  disgrace  was  turned
into  his  cell  at  6  a.m.  and  fetched  back  to  bed  at  10  p.m.
His  pockets  were  searched  each  morning  before  he  went  in.
A  chair  and  table  were  provided  for  his  use,  with  a  Bible,
and  sometimes  an  Ackworth  spelling-book.  The  food  brought
to  him  was  like  that  of  the  other  boys,  but  less  in  quantity.
Such  was  life  in  a  Light  and  Airy,  stolidly  submitted  to  for
even  six  and  seven  weeks  by  some  persistent  spirits  whose
endurance  was  worthy  of  a  better  cause.
The  famous  Ackworth  Vocabulary  just  now  alluded  to
was  compiled  for  the  use  of  the  school  by  Dr.  Binns,  the
third  Superintendent.     It  was  used  in  season  and  out  of


TO   TH£   KETA.       k  45

season.  Besides  being  allowed  to  relieve  the  monotony  of
solitary  confinement,  it  was  the  only  exception  to  the  strict
rule  of  "books  of  a  religious  tendency"  to  be  read  on  "  First
day."  Why,  we  do  not  know  ;  but  we  do  know  that  Ack-
■worth  scholars  were  good  spellers  as  well  as  good  writers.
