You can get tobacco from me. What do you want the money for?’

The other man was silent.

‘If you tell me, you can have it. But I want to know who gets it and what for. There’s some that are straight, and they’re all right.’

‘Straight?’

‘They don’t do the dirty on us, Herr Rosenthal, they don’t shaft us, they don’t do us down, they don’t squeal. That’s what the word means here.’

‘I’ll tell you,’ whispered the other—and Kufalt had to lay his ear against the crack of the door to hear what he said; ‘but you mustn’t breathe a word. There’s a big dark brute who’d kill me if I gave him away, he told me. He’s in the boiler room—he made up to me in the recreation period . . . ’

‘Ah, Batzke,’ said the other. ‘There’s a right crook.’

‘He promised me that if I gave him ten marks—look, you won’t give me away, will you? Right opposite my window, on the other side of the street, beyond the wall, there’s a house.’ Rosenthal swallowed, drew a deep breath, and went on: ‘I can see right into the windows; and twice I’ve seen a woman there. And the man swore that if I’d give him ten marks she’d stand stark naked at the window tomorrow morning at five o’clock, and I could see her. Now hand over those ten marks. This place is killing me, I’m half mad already. Come on now.’

‘Well, that’s a neat bit of work, that is,’ said the other, in a tone of admiration and pride. ‘But if Batzke says he will, he’ll do it. And he won’t split. Here you are . . . ’

Kufalt thrust his foot into the crack of the door, pushed it open, and with one step was inside; he said in a low voice, ‘Halves, or I’ll split!’ and waited.

The pair looked at him dumbfounded. The instructor, fishy-eyed, round-faced and bearded like a walrus, stood with his wallet in his hand, and stared; under the window, pallid, bloated, dark and rather fat, stood the new nets orderly, Rosenthal, shivering with fear.

Kufalt put down his bucket with a flourish.

‘Now then, we don’t want any argument, Uncle Nets, or I’ll talk, and get you a stretch for yourself. You got the last orderly jugged so as to give his job to this old grafter. Don’t look so scared, you dumb bastard, it’ll only cost you your money. I’ll be at the window tomorrow at five myself. So out with it. How much? Well, we can’t exactly split it, I don’t know how much you’ve had. I’m cheap; a hundred marks.’

‘It’s no good, Rosenthal,’ said the instructor resignedly. ‘We’ll have to cough up if you don’t want to get at least eight weeks’ solitary. I know Kufalt.’

‘It’s cold in the solitary cells, young man,’ grinned Kufalt.