I would not be so like the murderer for worlds. 'Tis the same face."
"Perhaps," said his friend, "they are partners in guilt. I have my
doubts. But 'tis unlawful to condemn any man."
"He's a bad fellow by his own account," said the other. "It was he who
first led the prisoner to commit the theft. I think one of them deserves
death as much as the other."
"Whist, man! Yon handsome rogue is the miser's heir."
"Humph!" said the first speaker. "If I were on the jury--"
"Here they come, there is death in their very looks, I thought as much,
he is found guilty."
The judge rose; a death-like stillness pervaded the court during his
long and impressive address to the prisoner. The sentence of death was
then pronounced, and Anthony Marcus Hurdlestone was ordered for
execution on the following Monday.
"This dreadful day is at length over," he said as he flung himself on
his pallet of straw in the condemned cell, on the evening of that
memorable day. "Thank God it is over, and I know the worst, and nothing
now remains to hope or fear. A few brief hours and this weary world will
be a dream of the past, and I shall awake from my bed of dust to a new
and better existence, beyond the power of temptation--beyond the might
of sin. My God, I thank Thee. Thou hast dealt justly with Thy servant.
The soul that sinneth, it must die; and grievously have I sinned in
seeking to mar Thy glorious image--to cast the life thou gavest me as a
worthless boon at Thy feet.
Pages:
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394