“Of course; everything in this room, I suppose, is for that purpose?” “Everything--that’s in use.” “Ah, yes! I think you said there are some things that are not used now?” “Those big iron chains, and these weights here--they weighted the prisoner down with those; that’s all out of date.” “They look rather queer and barbarous, certainly.” He smiled. “You may say that,” he said. “And can you tell me how they came to be disused?” He seemed again to check the action of turning his head round. “No,” he said, “I couldn’t tell you that. They found they weren’t necessary, I suppose.” “When they were used, I take it the authorities believed in them?” “No doubt,” he answered, “or they wouldn’t have used them.” “They never thought that we should be looking at these things, and calling them barbarous, like this!” He stared at the great manacles. “They used them,” he said, “and never thought about it, I dare say.” “They must have considered them necessary for discipline.” “Just that.” “And was discipline any better then than it is now?” “Oh, no! Worse! They had a lot more trouble with the prisoners than we have, from what I hear.” “If any one had told the authorities then that those heavy things did no good they’d have laughed at him.” He answered with a smile: “Little doubt of that.” “I wonder whether, a few years hence, people will be standing here and saying the same thing about those triangles, and all these other jewels, and calling us barbarians for using them. It would be interesting to know.” His brows contracted: “Not likely,” he said; “you can’t do without _them_.” “You think it would not be possible?” Again he seemed to check his eyes from looking round. “No,” he repeated stolidly, “you can’t do without them.” “It would be dangerous to try?” He shook his close-cropped head under the peaked cap. “I shouldn’t like to see it tried. We must keep order.” “At the time they left off using those heavy chains, they must have thought they ran a risk?” He answered coldly: “I don’t know anything about that.” “The present state of things is final, then?” He put the bangles back upon their nail, and turning rather suddenly, as though fearing to be attacked behind, said: “We don’t trouble about such things; we’re here to administer the system as we find it. We don’t use these, except when it’s necessary.” “Have you not begged the question?” He said with dignity: “That is not my business,” laying his hand upon the triangles. And as he did so there seemed to spring up once more that solid phalanx, man linked to man, all with the same schoolmaster’s eyes--a living pyramid, turned to stone by the force of its own shape. And a sound came forth from them as though they were assenting, but it was only the scraping of the triangles, as the old warder pushed them a little farther back.