Raffles was hemmed in by the law on his right,
while I sat between Parrington and Ernest, who took the foot of the
table, and seemed a sort of feudatory cadet of the noble house. But it
was the motley lot of us that my lord addressed, as he sat back
blinking his baggy eyes.

"Mr. Raffles," said he, "has been telling me about that poor fellow who
suffered the extreme penalty last March. A great end, gentlemen, a
great end! It is true that he had been unfortunate enough to strike a
jugular vein, but his own end should take its place among the most
glorious traditions of the gallows. You tell them Mr. Raffles: it will
be as new to my friends as it is to me."

"I tell the tale as I heard it last time I played at Trent Bridge; it
was never in the papers, I believe," said Raffles gravely. "You may
remember the tremendous excitement over the Test Matches out in
Australia at the time: it seems that the result of the crucial game was
expected on the condemned man's last day on earth, and he couldn't rest
until he knew it. We pulled it off, if you recollect, and he said it
would make him swing happy."

"Tell 'em what else he said!" cried Lord Thornaby, rubbing his podgy
hands.

"The chaplain remonstrated with him on his excitement over a game at
such a time, and the convict is said to have replied: 'Why, it's the
first thing they'll ask me at the other end of the drop!'"

The story was new even to me, but I had no time to appreciate its
points. My concern was to watch its effect upon the other members of
the party. Ernest, on my left, doubled up with laughter, and tittered
and shook for several minutes. My other neighbor, more impressionable
by temperament, winced first, and then worked himself into a state of
enthusiasm which culminated in an assault upon his shirt-cuff with a
joiner's pencil. Kingsmill, Q.C., beaming tranquilly on Raffles,
seemed the one least impressed, until he spoke.

"I am glad to hear that," he remarked in a high bland voice. "I
thought that man would die game."

"Did you know anything about him, then?" inquired Lord Thornaby.

"I led for the Crown," replied the barrister, with a twinkle. "You
might almost say that I measured the poor man's neck."

The point must have been quite unpremeditated; it was not the less
effective for that. Lord Thornaby looked askance at the callous silk.
It was some moments before Ernest tittered and Parrington felt for his
pencil; and in the interim I