"Can it be done?"
"I don't know. It may have been done, although I could never do it. There have been several mysterious disappearances during my time here, but we could never learn whether they escaped or died, or were tortured to death."
"And would you have me abandon hope?"
"Yes, of pardon and reinstatement."
"Great Scott!" exclaimed Barnwell, bowing his head abjectly.
"I give you no false hopes. I would that I could be sure of your escape," he mused.
"Why?"
"That is, if I found you worthy."
"Of what?"
"Of the trust I would repose in some true heart," said the old man, sadly.