“So it has been through all, even when, maddened with jealousy, I sought the life of Carrol Dean, and, to escape, took my father’s money, you were the one to aid me secretly with funds and to cheer me with your loving letters.
“Every pledge I have made you I have ruthlessly broken, and I feel that you have utterly lost confidence in me.
“I have a friend in the fort who gets a messenger to carry this letter to you, and it is my last appeal, for through Carrol Dean you have heard that I am under sentence to die upon the gallows.
“Now I see my crimes in all their enormity, and I am not fit to die. I have repented, yet I would live to atone by good deeds for all the wicked ones I have been guilty of, and hence this my last sad appeal to you, my loving, faithful sister.
“Whatever you attempt to do, you can, I know, and I ask you to set me free, that henceforth, far from these scenes, I may live a better life and atone for the past.
“Do I appeal in vain, my sister? If not, send word by the messenger, simply:
“‘I will.’
“If in vain, send simply:
“I will not.’
“Feeling that I do not appeal in vain, believe me your unhappy brother,