The prisoners angle for farthings to buy extra food.
angle for farthings
idiomTo beg out of a prison window with a cap, or box, let down at the end of a long string.
From his high cell window, the man would angle for farthings whenever he heard footsteps in the street below.
The desperate captive continued to angle for farthings, hoping that a sympathetic passerby might drop a coin into his dangling tin.