He wrote home: “Mother, dear, I have
A place that will not fail.
I'm working for the Commonwealth.”
('Twas true—he was in jail.)

“I board and lodge at my employer's
House.” ('Twas so, you see.)
“I have a private room, that has
Been set apart for me.

“My habits are quite regular.
I do each bidden task.
My food”—('Twas bread and water, lone;)
“Is all that I can ask.

“I'm held above my fellow men
And my companions here.”
(He was the only prisoner
Kept in the upper tier.)

“I had some hope that I might come
To see you Christmas Day;
But as it is, I do not see
How I can get away.

“I am to make a journey soon,”
(He was condemned, you know,
For murder,) “but I cannot say
Yet, just where I will go.”

The sheriff wrote, after 'twas done:
“Your son died suddenly.
'Twas just this morning he dropped off”—
(The gallows, don't you see.)

“Your son stood high among us here,”
(The gallows was quite tall.)
“And hundreds gathered at the last”—
(They did—to see him fall.)

The dear old lady read the news,
And said, wiping her eye:
“Ah, well—since he must be cut down,
I'm glad he stood so high.”