“‘You should not feel so about that, because you thought I had betrayed your sister, and it is a brother’s duty to protect the honor of his sister. The truth is, I think under the same circumstances I should have acted as you did. From what I heard, Mr. Debar resembles me so much that it requires close inspection to tell one from the other. Now, you saw Debar with his wife in Memphis, and mistook him for me. You naturally concluded that I had deceived and betrayed your sister. Believing that to be so, you determined to punish her betrayer. Harry, I admire you for it; don’t ask me to forgive you, for there is nothing to be forgiven.’
“‘Yes, but for my rashness, coupled with my unpleasant temper, all the trouble might have been avoided. You could have explained everything, but I did not give you a chance. There is where I committed the unpardonable error that has ruined all of us.’
“‘I hope that things are not so bad as you seem to think. We must act now, and that promptly. A dispatch must be sent to Doctor Dodson without delay; and if you will go and procure a messenger to take it to the nearest telegraph office, I will write the dispatch while you are getting the messenger ready. See that he is well mounted, on a good horse, for he must make at least eight miles per hour; it is twenty-four miles from here to the nearest telegraph office. Tell the messenger that he shall have as much money as he wants, if he will make speed. Go quickly—make the necessary arrangements while I write the dispatch.’
“He hurried from the jail instantly, while I penned the following message:
“‘DOCTOR DODSON—Tell dear Lottie I am well and safe; will be home day after to-morrow. Harry is with me, and everything is explained. A man resembling me very much killed Clanton; he was imprisoned to await his trial—he escaped—I was arrested and detained, under a mistaken belief that I was the criminal. It is a mere mistake of personal identity. The real criminal was in Memphis. Harry saw him there with his wife, and thought it was I—hence his enmity toward me. It was all a mistake; everything is now understood. I will be released to-morrow on habeas corpus. Save dear Lottie’s life. Tell her to live for my sake. Send me a dispatch every ten minutes till I come.’
“By the time the dispatch was ready Harry returned, accompanied by an intelligent looking lad about eighteen years old, who promised to be at the telegraph office with the dispatch inside of three hours. I handed him fifty dollars, and directed him to wait at the office for an answer.
“‘Leave your horse at the station, and procure a fresh one, and when the answer comes, bring it to me immediately. I shall want you to carry another dispatch as soon as you bring the answer to this one. I will pay all the expenses and remunerate you to your entire satisfaction; then I will give you as a present this fine gold watch.’
“The lad’s bright black eyes fairly blazed with delight as I held up the pretty prize before him.
“‘You may trust me, sir; I’ll deliver this dispatch in two hours and a half from this moment.’
“Before the last word was out of his mouth, he was half way down-stairs, and two seconds afterward I heard the clatter of his horse’s hoofs as he dashed down the road. I stood and listened until the sound grew faint, then died away.