Dear Mother, long has the time been that life was not any satisfaction to me. I am now in the dungeon with the cold and icy bands clasped around me, and cold as clay. Much have I suffered, but after two o’clock to-morrow, my troubles will all be over, or worse than they are at present. This I am not able to tell. I have been preparing to meet my God, praying diligently for mercy and for the pardon of my sins, but I do not know whether my prayers have been heard or not.—The Scriptures say “that the spirit of the Lord shall not always strive with man,” and again say: “he that calls upon the Lord in the last hours shall be saved.” If so, I feel some spark of hope, but I tell you this hope is hanging upon a slender thread. Dear Mother, it makes the tears trickle down my cold checks to have to pen this statement to you. Dear Mother, I have to close this letter. My heart is overflowed already, so when you receive this, you can keep it as a memorial, and remember that poor Jim is no more on earth; that he has bid you a long farewell. Dear Mother, it appears as though my heart will break at the very thought of this. Oh, could I but see you once more before my death, it would give my aching heart some relief; but we have to part without this pleasure. Now my good old Mother, I bid you a long farewell, forever and forever. JAMES COPELAND. MYSTIC ALPHABET Used by the Copeland and Wages Clan, in their secret correspondence and documents. [Illustration: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z &] APPENDIX. PLANS DEVISED TO PRESERVE THE LIFE OF COPELAND. THE LAST BOLD EFFORTS TO SAVE THE LIFE OF JAMES COPELAND PROVED INEFFECTUAL; BUT THE SAME AGENTS SUCCEEDED BY REFINED MOVEMENTS IN PROCURING THE ACQUITTAL OF JOHN COPELAND.