“It’s the first time I have ever slept in a casual ward.”

“In that case I’ll let you go. But you must understand if you come back here within a month you will have to stay for three days; if you return next month, you will have to stay the usual time⁠—a day and a night. On no account will you be let off again.”

I wanted to blaze out my sense of the injustice of this rule, but I remembered in time that she was but the instrument and not the law, and I realised that the Superintendent, like the other officials, was far more humane than the institution which they served. Besides, I was beginning to have a wholesome fear of the State; I did not want to be thrust back into that awful cell. The thought of a second night in that funnel-shaped coffin appalled me. I hurriedly thanked her, and turned towards the office to get my hat and coat, powder puff and pence.