Walled In: A True Story of Randall's Island

There were lights here and there in some of the windows of the House of Refuge buildings and there were others like street-lamps outside but all was silence. The boys themselves had hardly dared to whisper but now one of them asked: “Jim how are we to climb the wall?” “We won’t climb it” said Jim. “See! right here! Three empty boxes and a board! We are going over the roof.” “But we can’t get down on the other side” whispered another boy. “Yes we can” replied Jim triumphantly as he held up a coil of small rope that he pulled out of a box. “Wait and see. Let’s pile up these things.”