r trial came on before Judge
Davenport at Durham. Meanwhile the whole circumstances were known over
all the north of England, and the greatest interest was excited by the
case. Against Sharp the fact was strong, that his shoes and stockings,
covered with blood, were found in the place where the murder had been
committed; but against Walker, except the account received from the
ghost, there seemed not a shadow of evidence. Nevertheless the judge
summed up strongly against the prisoners, the jury found them guilty,
and the judge pronounced sentence upon them that night, a thing which
was unknown in Durham, either before or after. The prisoners were
executed, and both died professing their innocence to the last. Judge
Davenport was much agitated during the trial; and it was believed, says
the historian, that the spirit had also appeared to him, as if to supply
in his mind the want of legal evidence. This case is certainly a solemn
illustration of the mal-administration of justice in an ancient court;
yet the circumstantial evidence, arising from the appearance of the
spirit, appears very strong--the finding of the body, and the boots and
stockings. Yet we need perhaps to live more immediately within the
circle of the circumstance to pronounce upon it. None of us, however,
reading this book, would like to take upon ourselves the responsibility
of those daring jurymen, who durst venture to throw away life upon
evidence which, strong as it appears to have been, did not come to them,
but only to one who had borne witness to them.

XLIX

THE HAND OF GLORY

HENDERSON'S "Folk Lore"

One evening, between the years 1790 and 1800, a traveller, dressed in
woman's clothes, arrived at the Old Spital Inn, the place where the mail
coach changed horses, in High Spital, on Bowes Moor. The traveller
begged to stay all night, but had to go away so early in the morning
that if a mouthful of food were set ready for breakfast there was no
need the family should be disturbed by her departure. The people of the
house, however, arranged that a servant maid should sit up till the
stranger was out of the premises, and then went to bed themselves. The
girl lay down for a nap on the longsettle by the fire, but before she
shut her eyes she took a good look at the traveller, who was sitting on
the opposite side of the hearth, and espied a pair of man's trousers
peeping out from under the gown. All inclination for sleep was now gone;
however