"
"That would be equally criminal," said Lord Arleigh, fearlessly and
again Henry Dornham laughed his cynical laugh.
"It is too late in the day for me to talk over these matters," said the
convict. "When I roamed in the woods as a free man, I had my own ideas;
prison has not improved them. I shall never make a reformed convict--not
even a decent ticket-of-leave man. So if you have any thought of
reclaiming me, rid your mind of it at once."
"It will be best to do so, I perceive," observed Lord Arleigh. "I had
some little hope when I came in--I have none now."
"You do not mean to say, though, that I am not to be any the better off
for your visit?" cried the man. "I do not know your name, but I can see
what you are. Surely you will try to do something for me?"
"What can I do?" asked Lord Arleigh. "If you had been innocent--even if
there had been what they call extenuating circumstances--I would have
spent a fortune in the endeavor to set you free; but your confession
renders me powerless."
"The only extenuating circumstance in the whole affair," declared the
man, after a pause, "was that I wanted money, and took what I thought
would bring it.
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