A letter from his wife he sees!
“Gasping for breath, he shriek’d aloud,
And, lost in nature’s blind eclipse,
Faltering amid the suppliant crowd,
Caught it and press’d it to his lips.
A guard who follow’d, red and wroth,
And flourishing a rusty brand,
Reviled him with a taunting oath,
And snatch’d the letter from his hand.