ut which there can be no security for free
institutions, they submitted, although not without some murmurs. It
was in vain, they knew, to ask for any mitigation; Justice Miller
having once pronounced sentence, being as inexorable as the Supreme
Court. The room was soon nearly emptied of the spectators, none
remaining except the particular friends of the prisoner. Nothing
remained but to carry the sentence into execution. Holden's friends
also at last took a sorrowful leave, and the mittimus being made
out, it was handed to Basset, to remove the prisoner to the place of
destination.

For the sake of greater security, Basset now produced a pair of
handcuffs, which he put on the condemned man's hands, who offered no
objection, but calmly submitted to his fate.

CHAPTER XVIII.

_Armado_.--By my sweet soul, I mean setting thee at liberty,
enfreedoming thy person: thou wert immured, captivated, bound.

_Costard_.--True, true, and now you will be my purgation, and
let me loose.

_Armado_.--I give thee thy liberty, set thee free from
durance; and in lieu thereof impose on thee nothing but this.

LOVE'S LABOR LOST.

By the time the court had concluded its session it was eight o'clock
in the evening. It was quite dark, and the snow was falling heavily.
When, therefore, the constable stepped into the street, holding his
prisoner by the arm, it is not surprising that he encountered but few
passengers. Those whom he did meet had their hats or caps slouched
over their brows, which were bending down upon their breasts to
protect the face from the driving snow. It was impossible, so thick
were the flakes, to see more than a few feet before one. It was a
fortunate circumstance, inasmuch, at least, as it saved the Recluse
from the humiliation of being seen by his townsmen.

The workhouse was situated at the distance of nearly a mile from the
centre of the village, on a little farm of some twenty acres, and
stood several rods apart from any inhabited house. It was the half of
a large unpainted wooden building divided into two sections, the other
half of which was used as an alms-house, and might be considered as a
sort of auxiliary or ally of the county jail, to receive those minor
offenders whom the dignity of the latter rejected.

The road Basset had to travel passed over the lower bridge of the
Yaupaae, next went up a hill, and then suddenly turning, skirted the
lake-like expanse of water