need help cracking my email password

ok. here is the deal. i have an old email password from a seldom used account that i cannot recall. i want to log in to the server to update some info and cannot figure out my password. given the nature of what it is, i cannot trigger the system to assign a new password or to give hints on the old one. in short, i am screwed.

my only known asset is the plist file. Mail goes in and retrieves the messages with no problem, but that is the client automatically talking to the server with a stored password that is masked out. i cannot recall the password to log in manually.

btw - the sytem in question is running X.4.

is there some way that i can go in to view the contents of the plist file or one of the helper files for Mail to view my password or a hex translation of it or something?

any helpful advice is greatly appreciated.

--DDTM