the youth was a pattern of soldierly honour, valour,
and discipline, that his comrades idolized him, his superiors liked
him, and they now unanimously unite in this petition for his pardon. I
have brought letters with me to prove all that I say; be so good as to
peruse them!"

The General took the letters and read them through. He discovered more
than one old comrade, more than one dear friend among the names written
there. The young man had spoken the truth. But what was the use of it
all. The claims of duty only became the more urgent.

"Sir," said the General coldly, folding up the letters again and placing
them on the table, "I gather from your manner and bearing that you were
brought up as a soldier."

"You are right, General. I passed the years of my childhood at a
military institution, and a little time ago I was a soldier myself."

"In that case you must have some notion of the absolute necessity of the
strictest discipline so long as the soldier is under arms."

"I am well aware of it, and it was not that which made me abandon a
military career. If he whom I am now addressing were to say to me, 'I
stand here as a judge,' I should simply withdraw, knowing that my cause
was lost. But, sir, I am now addressing the man that is in you, a man
with a heart, a being blessed with human feeling, 'tis to him that I
would speak."

And the large black eyes of the stranger had such a heart-searching
expression in them that the General turned away from him.

Then, as if still in search of hope and confidence, the youth glanced in
the direction of the General's wife, and her bright eyes gave him in
return such a look of encouragement, as if to bid him not to fear, for
they two were certainly at one in the matter.

But now the General turned sharply round upon the stranger again.

"Do you know what I am commonly called, whether from fear, or fun, or
respect, I will not say, that is all one to me, but do you know what
they commonly call me?"

"Yes, they call you 'the man of iron,' yet even iron melts in a
smelting-furnace."

"Do you fancy there in such a smelting-furnace in the world?"

"I hope so. I have got one more letter for you. I ought to have given it
to you first of all, but I have kept it till last. The handwriting will
be familiar to you. Take it and read it through."

The General was dumfounded when he recognised the handwriting in which
the address was written. The hand which had penned those lines ha