not of difficulties. You must save him--you
must--you must!"

"Why, you forget, Lucy, my dear child--you forget that I too am in
danger. This is midnight: it is only at this hour that I can steal into
the village; and how, and in what manner, shall I be able to do as you
require?"

"Oh, man!--man!--forgive me, dear uncle, I would not vex you! But if
there were gold in that dungeon--broad bars of gold, or shining silver,
or a prize that would make you rich, would you ask me the how and the
where? Would that clumsy block, and those slight bars, and that dull
jailer, be an obstacle that would keep you back? Would you need a poor
girl like me to tell you that the blocks might be pierced--that the bars
might be broken--that the jailer might be won to the mercy which would
save? You have strength--you have skill--you have the capacity, the
power--there is but one thing wanting to my prayer--the will, the
disposition!"

"You do me wrong, Lucy--great wrong, believe me. I feel for this young
man, and the thought has been no less painful to me than to you, that my
agency has contributed in great measure to his danger. But what if I
were to have the will, as you say--what if I went forward to the jailer
and offered a bribe--would not the bribe which the state has offered for
my arrest be a greater attraction than any in my gift? To scale the
walls and break the bars, or in any forcible manner to effect the
purpose, I must have confederates, and in whom could I venture to
confide? The few to whom I could intrust such a design are like myself,
afraid to adventure or be seen, and such a design would be defeated by
Rivers himself, who so much hates the youth, and is bent on his
destruction."

"Speak not of _him_--_say to him nothing_--you must do it _yourself_ if
you do it all. You can effect much if you seriously determine. You can
design, and execute all, and find ready and able assistance, if you once
willingly set about it. I am not able to advise, nor will you need my
counsel. Assure me that you will make the effort--that you will put your
whole heart in it--and I have no fears--I feel confident of his escape."

"You think too highly of my ability in this respect. There was a time,
Lucy, when such a design had not been so desperate, but now--"

"Oh, not so desperate now, uncle, uncle--I could not live--not a
moment--were he to perish in that dreadful manner. Have I no claim upon
your mercy--will you not do for me what you