Perhaps it would have been better if he had killed me; my life is spoilt.' All the old prison gloom seemed to settle like a black cloud on Dan's face as he spoke, and Mrs Jo was frightened at the glimpse it gave her of the fire through which he had passed to come out alive, but scarred for life.

Hoping to turn his mind to happier things, she said cheerfully: 'No, it isn't; you have learned to value it more and use it better for this trial.

It is not a lost year, but one that may prove the most helpful of any you ever know.

Try to think so, and begin again; we will help, and have all the more confidence in you for this failure.

We all do the same and struggle on.' 'I never can be what I was.