Such is life.
CHAPTER XXIII.
And hast thou sought me in this dreary cell,
This dark abode of guilt and misery;
To win my sadden'd spirit back to earth
With words of blessed import?--S.M.
The assizes were rapidly approaching. Conscious of his innocence, as far
as the murder of his father was concerned, Anthony Hurdlestone looked
forward to his trial with firmness and composure. There never was a
greater mass of circumstantial evidence brought against a prisoner than
in his memorable case.
Holding an elevated position in society, his trial created a great
amount of interest and curiosity among all ranks, and the court was
crowded to excess. The youth of the criminal, his gentlemanly bearing,
his fine expressive countenance, his thoughtful mild eye and benevolent
brow excited surprise in the beholders, and gave rise to many doubts as
to his being the murderer; and the calm dignified manner in which he
listened to the evidence given against him tended greatly to increase
the interest which was expressed by many in his awful situation.
Grenard Pike was the first witness called, and he deposed,
That on the evening of the tenth of October, between the hours of eight
and nine, he and the elder Hurdlestone were seated at a table counting
money into a mahogany brass-bound box. He (Grenard) saw a tall figure
pass the window.
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