ed and eighty of us here: some
for ten, some for twenty years, some for life; except yourself alone
there is not one has the faintest chance of a pardon. You are English,
and your nation takes trouble about its people, and, right or wrong, in
the end gets them favorable treatment, and yet you are the only man here
would put his life in jeopardy on so poor a chance."

"I 'll try it, for all that."

"Did you ever hear of a man that escaped by swimming?"

"If they did n't it was their own fault--at least, they gave themselves
no fair chance: they always made for the shore, and generally the
nearest shore, and of course they were followed and taken. I'll
strike out for the open sea, and when I have cut the cork floats off a
fishing-net, I'll be able to float for hours, if I should tire swimming.
Once in the open, it will be hard luck if some coasting vessel, some
steamer to Palermo or Messina, should not pick me up. Besides, there are
numbers of fishing-boats--"

"Any one of which would be right glad to make five ducats by bringing
you safe back to the police."

"I don't believe it--I don't believe there is that much baseness in a
human heart."

"Take my word for it, there are depths a good deal below even that,"
said the old man, with a harsh grating laugh.

"No matter, come what will of it, I'll make the venture; and now, as our
time is growing short, tell me if there is anything I can do for you, if
I live to get free again. Have you any friends who could help you? or is
there any one to whom you would wish me to go on your behalf?"

"None--none," said he, slowly but calmly.

"As yours was a political crime--"

"I have done all of them, and if my life were to be drawn out for eighty
years longer it would not suffice for all the sentences against me."

"Still I 'd not despair of doing something--"

"Look here, lad," said the other, sharply; "it is my will that all who
belong to me should believe me dead. I was shipwrecked twelve years ago,
and reported to have gone down with all the crew. My son--"

"Have you a son, then?"

"My son inherits rights that, stained as I am by crime and
condemnation, I never could have maintained. Whether he shall make them
good or not will depend on whether he has more or less of _my_ blood
in his veins. It may be, however, he will want money to prosecute his
claim. I have none to send him, but I could tell him where he is almost
certain to find not only money, but what will