He was glad to be alone in his cell again , and sat thinking deeply , instead of trying to forget himself in sleep . It seemed as if those words were just what he needed to show him where he stood and how fateful the next few days might be to him . Should he join the ` bad lot ' , and perhaps add another crime to the one already committed , lengthen the sentence already so terrible to bear , deliberately turn his back on all that was good , and mar the future that might yet be redeemed ? Or should he , like the wiser man in the story , submit , bear the just punishment , try to be better for it ; and though the scar would remain , it might serve as a reminder of a battle not wholly lost , since he had saved his soul though innocence was gone ? Then he would dare go home , perhaps , confess , and find fresh strength in the pity and consolation of those who never gave him up . Good and evil fought for Dan that night as did the angel and the devil for Sintram , and it was hard to tell whether lawless nature or loving heart would conquer . Remorse and resentment , shame and sorrow , pride and passion , made a battle-field of that narrow cell , and the poor fellow felt as if he had fiercer enemies to fight now than any he had met in all his wanderings . A little thing turned the scale , as it so often does in these mysterious hearts of ours , and a touch of sympathy helped Dan decide the course which would bless or ban his life . In the dark hour before the dawn , as he lay wakeful on his bed , a ray of light shone through the bars , the bolts turned softly , and a man came in . It was the good chaplain , led by the same instinct that brings a mother to her sick child 's pillow ; for long experience as nurse of souls had taught him to see the signs of hope in the hard faces about him , and to know when the moment came for a helpful word and the cordial of sincere prayer that brings such comfort and healing to tried and troubled hearts . He had been to Dan before at unexpected hours , but always found him sullen , indifferent , or rebellious , and had gone away to patiently bide his time . Now it had come ; a look of relief was in the prisoner 's face as the light shone on it , and the sound of a human voice was strangely comfortable after listening to the whispers of the passions , doubts , and fears which had haunted the cell for hours , dismaying Dan by their power , and showing him how much he needed help to fight the good fight , since he had no armour of his own . ` Kent , poor Mason has gone . He left a message for you , and I felt impelled to come and give it now , because I think you were touched by what we heard today , and in need of the help Mason tried to give you , ' said the chaplain , taking the one seat and fixing his kind eyes on the grim figure in the bed . ` Thank you , sir , I 'd like to hear it , ' was all Dan 's answer ; but he forgot himself in pity for the poor fellow dead in prison , with no last look at wife or child . He went suddenly , but remembered you , and begged me to say these words : `` Tell him not to do it , but to hold on , do his best , and when his time is out go right to Mary , and she 'll make him welcome for my sake . He 's got no friends in these parts and will feel lonesome , but a woman 's always safe and comfortable when a fellow 's down on his luck . Give him my love and good-bye for he was kind to me , and God will bless him for it . '' Then he died quietly , and tomorrow will go home with God 's pardon , since man 's came too late . ' Dan said nothing , but laid his arm across his face and lay quite still .
Seeing that the pathetic little message had done its work even better than he hoped , the chaplain went on , unconscious how soothing his paternal voice was to the poor prisoner who longed to ` XXXXX home ' , but felt he had forfeited the right . '
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