“May I ask your particular reason for being glad to send me to Illinois?”
“I wish for the misery and misfortune of no man. You richly deserve your fate, and, as the laws of our land punish by hanging the crimes of which you have been proven guilty, I sincerely hope that you will not escape punishment, and yet it would be better to give you a life sentence to my mind, as something far more severe to bear than hanging.”
“And you will not strain a point and keep me here, sir?”
“No, and why do you dread to go to Illinois?”
“I shall be taken there to be hanged, sir.”
“And remaining here you will be much more quickly hanged.”
“Still, I would prefer to remain here, sir, than to trust myself to the mercy of an Illinois court.”
“They can do no more against you than I have done, Mr. Arden—condemn you to death.”
“There is another thing I wish to speak to you about, Colonel Dunwoody.”
“Well, sir?”