Obviously the serious side of this incident was entirely lost upon the
highly entertained audience. Many and loud were the coarse jokes cracked
at the expense of Bass and Miller and after the rude door had closed
upon them similar remarks were addressed to Steele's jailer and guard,
who in truth, were just as disreputable looking as their prisoners.

Then the crowd returned to their pastimes, leaving their erstwhile
comrades to taste the sweets of prison life.

When I got a chance I asked Steele if he could rely on his hired hands,
and with a twinkle in his eye which surprised me as much as his reply,
he said Miller and Bass would have flown the coop before morning.

He was right. When I reached the lower end of town next morning, the
same old crowd, enlarged by other curious men and youths, had come to
pay their respects to the new institution.

Jailer and guard were on hand, loud in their proclamations and
explanations. Naturally they had fallen asleep, as all other hard
working citizens had, and while they slept the prisoners made a hole
somewhere and escaped.

Steele examined the hole, and then engaged a stripling of a youth to see
if he could crawl through. The youngster essayed the job, stuck in the
middle, and was with difficulty extricated.

Whereupon the crowd evinced its delight.

Steele, without more ado, shoved his jailer and guard inside his jail,
deliberately closed, barred and chained the iron bolted door, and put