tters from any but her husband, she pleaded that they be burned
and the ashes given her. This was done, and the silver box with the
blackened bits of paper upon her dresser seemed to be a consolation
during the few months of life which she knew would remain to her.

Another great disappointment to Rizal was the action of Despujol
when he first arrived in Dapitan, for he still believed in the
Governor-General's good faith and thought in that fertile but sparsely
settled region he might plant his "New Kalamba" without the objection
that had been urged against the British North Borneo project. All
seemed to be going on favorably for the assembling of his relatives and
neighbors in what then would be no longer exile, when most insultingly,
the Governor-General refused the permission which Rizal had had reason
to rely upon his granting. The exile was reminded of his deportation
and taunted with trying to make himself a king. Though he did not know
it, this was part of the plan which was to break his spirit, so that
when he was touched with the sufferings of his family he would yield
to the influences of his youth and make complete political retraction;
thus would be removed the most reasonable, and therefore the most
formidable, opponent of the unnatural conditions Philippines and of
the selfish interests which were profiting by them. But the plotters
failed in their plan; they had mistaken their man.

During all this time Rizal had repeated chances to escape, and persons
high in authority seem to have urged flight upon him. Running away,
however, seemed to him a confession of guilt; the opportunities
of doing so always unsettled him, for each time the battle of
self-sacrifice had to be fought over again; but he remained firm
in his purpose. To meet death bravely is one thing; to seek it is
another and harder thing; but to refuse life and choose death over
and over again during many years is the rarest kind of heroism.

Rizal used to make long trips, sometimes cruising for a week in his
explorations of the Mindanao coast, and some of his friends proposed
to charter a steamer in Singapore and, passing near Dapitan, pick him
up on one of these trips. Another Philippine steamer going to Borneo
suggested taking him on board as a rescue at sea and then landing him
at their destination, where he would be free from Spanish power. Either
of these schemes would have been feasible, but he refused both.

Plans, which materialized, t