This must not be. Let my last energies support
me in the finishing of this task. Then will I lay down my head in
the lap of death. Hushed will be all my murmurs in the sleep of
the grave.
Every sentiment has perished in my bosom. Even friendship is
extinct. Your love for me has prompted me to this task; but I
would not have complied if it had not been a luxury thus to feast
upon my woes. I have justly calculated upon my remnant of
strength. When I lay down the pen the taper of life will expire;
my existence will terminate with my tale.
Now that I was left alone with Wieland, the perils of my situation
presented themselves to my mind. That this paroxysm should
terminate in havoc and rage it was reasonable to predict. The
first suggestion of my fears had been disproved by my experience.
Carwin had acknowledged his offenses, and yet had escaped. The
vengeance which I had harbored had not been admitted by Wieland;
and yet the evils which I had endured, compared with those
inflicted on my brother, were as nothing. I thirsted for his
blood, and was tormented with an insatiable appetite for his
destruction; but my brother was unmoved, and had dismissed him in
safety.
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