I was confined to the jail for about six weeks before I appeared before the judge and entered a plea of non vult to the indictment against me. This plea of non vult is a plea acknowledging one’s guilt but mitigated by the fact that the offender meant no violation of the law. The judge was lenient with me, and gave me the lightest sentence the statute would allow--one year in State prison. I received this sentence with a sincere satisfaction. I knew it meant the end of the reform school for me. At the end of the prison sentence I was free to go again out into the world. By this time my mind had formed by association and environment a desire and determination to live entirely in the underworld. I would live by my wits; I would prey against society. With this determination I made every endeavor to learn the little tricks of the shadowy profession. I had not decided into which particular class of the underworld I should enter. There were certain classes I could hope to enter only by a severe apprenticeship. I left that for the time when opportunity should decide. However, I had made up my mind that into some phase of the life I would put all of my being. In this state of mind I entered the principal prison of the State. I was eager for the opportunity to get in contact with some of the big men. I was confident of a ready welcome, and expected the ten months to prove a valuable asset to my after life. CHAPTER IX PRISON EXPERIENCES The State prison at that time was situated in the capital of the State. A collection of old and dilapidated buildings, expressive of the misery and the suffering inside, stood within sight of the capitol--a contrast of two extremes. The idea of the construction of the buildings was good. There were four wings, each converging into a common center. From this center the guard could see all that took place in the several wings. In the center were the desks of the “P. K.” and the center keeper. The P. K., so called by the men, had general supervision of the entire prison. In his hands was placed the discipline of the entire institution. His was the authority to order all punishment, responsible only to the warden. At the time when I entered there were none of the reforms now so common in most of the penal institutions of the country: stripes, the lockup, the clipped head, the “contract system” were in general vogue. There were no privileges to speak of. The prisoner was allowed to write but one letter a month. No newspapers were permitted to enter the institution. Pencils and writing paper were absolutely prohibited on pain of severe punishment. It was like a prison, one could imagine, that came up from the Dark Ages untouched by modern thought or usage.