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.
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