His agent in conducting the bargaining was a Raider--a New York gambler and stool-pigeon--whom we called "Mattie." He dealt quite fairly, for several times when the exchange was interrupted, Bowes sent the money back to those who had paid him, and received it again when the exchange was renewed.
Had it been possible to buy our way out for five cents each Andrews and I would have had to stay back, since we had not had that much money for months, and all our friends were in an equally bad plight.

Like almost everybody else we had spent the few dollars we happened to have on entering prison, in a week or so, and since then we had been entirely penniless.
There was no hope left for us but to try to pass the Surgeons as desperately sick, and we expended our energies in simulating this condition.

Rheumatism was our forte, and I flatter myself we got up two cases that were apparently bad enough to serve as illustrations for a patent medicine advertisement.

But it would not do.

Bad as we made our condition appear, there were so many more who were infinitely worse, that we stood no show in the competitive examination.