Chapter 10

The cot in the Yaphank town jail must have been from the Great War, but must have some lumps added by the coppers. I was woken up early by a tin cup being raked across the bars. I groaned and rolled over. "Wake up jail birds you've got a chance to take on some grub before you meet the judge. The gruel that they served would not have been accepted in any soup kitchen. I let it cool and harden in the bowl. I gave it back to the guard who came to take me to see the judge.

He was going to put the bracelets on me, but saw my scars and decided against it. "Well. you are only a horse gonif anyway." The deputy led me out of the jail and across a courtyard. I was placed in a hallway to wait.

The Hon. Judge Neuss sounded like a right gee, I was sure if I explained myself to him that I would be sprung. Also, it was a Friday; I didn't think that the judge would want the town to have to dish out the dough to pay for an extra john to run the jail. Boy, was I wrong.

The deputy led me in. When asked if I was guilty or not I said, "I plead guilty, with special circumstances." That got the judges attention and he asked me to explain. I told him the story of Richard Marks up to that point. When I told him about the fire, he had me show him my wrists. I thought that the judge believed my story, it was true. What I didn't know was that this judge was a true American, trying to fight Fascism and he thought that stealing the horse was a prank and that I knew his history and was lying to him to get off.

When I was done, the judge said, "I have listened to the story you told very carefully. I think you went on a drunken binge and tried to get out of it by taking advantage of me and this Court. I find you guilty of chickcanaree and theft of municipal property. You should be glad that we are not in Texas, the penalty would be far worse. I sentence you to a fine of $50.00 or 30 days in jail. Either pay the clerk or have a good month in jail. Court dismissed!"

Not having any jack, except for some tin, I went back to the caboose. I was just in time for lunch. I was given two peanut butter sandwiches on day old bread. Those sandwiches were really dry, I kept yelling at the guard for water. He finally brought me a tin cup half full of brackish water. I took it and drained the cup. I handed it back to him and said, "Fresh water this time and fill the cup up."

The deputy took back the cup and replied, "You know ever since the sheriff came up with this new menu, we don't get many hobos getting arrested anymore. And you only get half a cup of water for each meal. That's the crop.

"Look I don't have the scratch to pay the fine. I am not trying to just get some free grub." The deputy walked off shaking his head. I figured that I would be in stir for a month. I hoped with the food they were going to feed me didn't pop me. I decided not to chew the other sandwich.

The next thirty days were both boring and very interesting. Deputy Earl Scruggs turned out to be a very good companion to a kept gee, namely myself. He was a strange character. While he did bring in his radio (He didn't want to miss the Lone Ranger), and we had a lot of interesting chins; he didn't relax the sheriff's restrictions on the prisoner menu (although the water was fresher). He is a right egg. He treats me well, but does not shirk his duties. He even let me take the extra lumps out of the cot if I put them back before I left.

Early while I was in stir, I persuaded Deputy Scruggs to place a call on the blower to Mrs. O'Grady. I didn't want her to fret over my absence. During the 30 days, in between episodes of The Lone Ranger, Jack Oakie's College, and The Lux Radio Theatre, we also heard some news broadcasts. Deputy Scruggs and I palavered about the events in Europe and here in the States.