He therefore treated them more like prisoners
of war, and took care to let them have every
alleviation in his power.

Nevertheless, liberty is dear to every man,
and in the summer of 1851 the prisoners made
an attempt at escape. A young soldier on
guard in Mr. Röckel's corridor one day knocked
at his door, and whispered that he had formed
the resolution, with several of his comrades, to
liberate him: when Mr. Röckel found that he
alone was to be set free, he refused, and declared
that he would only accept their assistance if they
would include all the political prisoners confined
in the solitary cells; for to include those who
spent the night with the regular inhabitants of
the place in the large sleeping halls, was not to
be thought of. The young soldier consulted
his comrades, and a few hours later informed
him of their readiness to comply with his
condition. The soldiers undertook to ascertain
which of the political prisoners would be willing
to enter into the proposal. Heubner, member
of the provisionary government, and Colonel
Heintze, refused; the former would not leave
the prison as long as any of his companions in
misfortune remained behind. Colonel Heintze
thought the project unfeasible, and some others
even preferred the house of correction to the
possible dangers of such an undertaking. About
fourteen or sixteen were willing. Communication
was effected with friends at liberty, who assisted
the plan with the greatest eagerness. All that
was wanted for the mere escape from Waldheim,
was a short rope, a ladder, and three keys.

These had been obtained, and all was in
readiness. The preparations had, however,
occupied several months, and the flight was finally
arranged for the first of October. At midnight,
immediately after the guard had been relieved,
the soldiers in the corridors were to open the cells
of those prisoners who had agreed to join the
flight. The guard in the courts was at the same
time to open the garden gate, and join the
fugitives. In the large garden there were only
two sentinels, whose knowledge of the flight, in
case they did not wish to take part in it, could
not easily be brought home to them. At a
certain part of the low garden wall, a ladder
was to be placed from the outside; a rope
ladder fastened to it and thrown over into the
interior of the garden was to serve the
fugitives as a means of climbing the wall. A
carriage was to be in waiting at a short distance,
and to take them to a farm of a political
partisan, where their friends would be ready
with clothes, money, and passports to further
their flight. So far everything was arranged:
only the locksmith at Leipsic, who had been
entrusted with the manufacture of the key to
the garden gate, had delayed his task, and this
delay led to the discovery of the whole plan.

One morning the prisoners observed an
unusual movement in the court-yard. The keepers
ran hither and thither; the officers of the
garrison, who were but seldom seen, stood in
eagerly talking groups, and pointed repeatedly
towards the prison windows. When the prison
guard was relieved at about ten o'clock, five of
the soldiers were called out of the ranks, and
were, after having given up their arms, led
away prisoners. No doubt remained, after this,
that, the whole affair had been discovered.

The day passed very quietly. But late in the
evening there was a considerable stir in Mr.
Röckel's corridor, doors were opened and shut,
and lively discussions heard. About ten o'clock
a keeper opened Mr. Röckel's door, lighted
his lamp, and ordered him to leave his bed.
Soon afterwards the inspector, Mr. Heink,
entered and sank exhausted on the solitary
chair of the room. Inspector Heink acted
in the absence of Captain Bünau, who was
also governor of Hubertsburg, and had lately
been seldom seen at Waldheim. He pretended
a sincere sympathy with the cause for which
Mr. Röckel suffered imprisonment, and under
this cloak endeavoured to obtain a list of the
participators in, and whole particulars of this
project of escape, of which, however, he was
already completely master. His blandishments
were thrown away upon the man who perfectly
appreciated him, and his conduct towards the
latter soon underwent a total change. He
appeared a few days later with a keeper, and
ordered all books, papers, knives, scissors, and
so forth, to be taken away. The walks in the
garden, which had been permitted by Captain
Bünau, had to be discontinued, and were for
the next six years confined to the paved prison-yard.
Soon Mr. Rockel was removed to one of
the gloomy solitary cells in another wing of the
building, where he spent two years in perfect
solitude, without any kind of visitor, and any
kind of book but the Bible; his only occupation
being spinning.

Inspector Heink's zeal on the occasion of the
prisoners' attempted flight, brought him
promotion. Captain Bünau remained altogether at
Hubertsburg, and Mr. Heink became governor of
Waldheim. This opened a new era in the prison
life. The beginning was made with the "reports."
Until this time, the prisoners who had any kind
of communication to make to the governor had
themselves announced in the morning by one of
the keepers, and were admitted in the course of
the forenoon. Mr. Heink knew how to alter
this in manifold ways. At first, he received the
prisoners only twice a week, and then only once;
the interval was then gradually protracted to a
fortnight, a month, and at last even three months.
The disadvantages of this inaccessibility of the
governor soon made themselves keenly felt;
perceiving which, he conceived a brilliant thought:
he had a number of letter-boxes made, and orders
were given to the prisoners, in urgent cases, to
write to the governor, but only on Sundays. For
this purpose the keepers were to bring them
writing materials on Sunday mornings, and they
themselves were to put their letters into the
boxes, the keys of which were in the hands of
the governor only. When we consider that
the greater number of the prisoners consisted of
the lowest refuse of the people, who never
learned to read or write, this number was