y appeared to be, but he took very little note of them. Only one
man was perfectly clear to him; that was the chaplain, who wore a gown
and carried a black book in his hand. It was his duty to read the
Burial Service. He heard a bell tolling, but it did not affect him as
he thought it would. Of course, it was the very refinement of torture,
and ought not to be allowed. No man, whatever he had done, should be
made to suffer in this way. But he did not care much. He was not
afraid. In the dim light he saw that a scaffold had been erected--a
gaunt, ghastly thing, the very symbol of despair and shame and death.
He wondered what took place next. He supposed there would be certain
formulae to go through. The parson would utter a homily as well as
read the miserable Burial Service.

"What's going to happen next?" he said to the warder; and he spoke
rather as a spectator than as the one who was the chief figure in this
terrible scene.

But before the man had time to reply there was a strange confusion.
Something had happened. Excited voices were heard. The governor of
the gaol said something, the purport of which did not reach Paul, but
still something which seemed to change the atmosphere and made the grey
dawn bright with the light of day. Another moment, and his heart
thrilled. He felt soft arms around his neck, a warm face close to his,
while on his lips were burning kisses.

"Paul! Paul!"

"Mary!"

He wondered what it all meant, for even yet the truth had not dawned in
his mind.

"You should not have come, Mary," he said. "You see I can bear it all
right."

"Paul, don't you understand?" And she laughed and sobbed at the same
time. "You are not going to die. You are saved!"

"Saved?"

"Yes. She has confessed, Paul."

"No, no!" And there was agony in his voice. "No, no! Better I should
die than that she should!"

"No; but, Paul, it was another--a woman named Emily Dodson. You were
right, you see, in your defence. He had deceived her, wronged her, and
she killed him. She confessed it last night. It's all written down
and signed. Don't you understand, my love?"

"Then, then----?"

"I congratulate you, Mr. Stepaside!" It was the governor of the gaol
who spoke. "Thank God, the news has come in time! Yes, my lord, of
course you can speak to him."

"Paul, my son." And his heart thrilled at the sound of his father's
voice. "Thank God! Thank God! Will you shake hands and forgive