CHAPTER THE FIRST.
AN OPEN DOOR.
I think I was as nearly mad as I could be; nearer madness, I believe, than I shall ever be again, thank God! Three weeks of it had driven me to the very verge of desperation.

I cannot say here what had brought me to this pass, for I do not know into whose hands these pages may fall; but I had made up my mind to persist in a certain line of conduct which I firmly believed to be right, while those who had authority over me, and were stronger than I was, were resolutely bent upon making me submit to their will.

The conflict had been going on, more or less violently, for months; now I had come very near the end of it.

I felt that I must either yield or go mad.

There was no chance of my dying; I was too strong for that.