on we might be compelled to follow in the same path,
and drink the same bitter cup our comrades drank. Once during the
trial we had offered to accept the award of the court in one of the
cases as the sentence of all, since we could not see the slightest
reason for leaving some and taking others. At that time, however, we
believed that all would be acquitted. Now every hope had vanished.

But even without the addition of fear for ourselves, the parting from
our loved friends, whose voices were still ringing in our ears, while
they themselves had passed beyond the gates of death into the unknown
land of shadows, was enough to rend the stoutest heart. There were
tears then from eyes that shrank before no danger.

But I could not shed a tear. A cloud of burning heat rushed to my head
that seemed to scorch through every vein. For hours I scarcely knew
where I was, or the loss I had sustained. Every glance around the
room, which revealed the vacant places of our friends, would bring our
sorrow freshly on us again. Thus the afternoon passed away in grief
too deep for words. Slowly and silently the moments wore on, and no
one ventured to whisper of hope.

At last some voice suggested that we should seek relief in prayer. The
very idea seemed to convey consolation, and was eagerly accepted. Soon
we knelt around the bare walls of our strange sanctuary, and with
bleeding hearts drew near the throne of God. Captain Fry first led us,
and mingled sobs with strong supplications. Then each followed in his
turn, with but one or two exceptions, and even these were kneeling
with the rest. As the twilight deepened, our devotional exercises grew
more solemn. In the lonely shadow of coming night, with eternity thus
open tangibly before us, and standing on its very brink, we prayed
with a fervor that those who dwell in safety can scarcely conceive. We
besought our Father only that we might be prepared for the fate that
was inevitable, and that as he had led us through great trials, he
would be our Comforter, and sustain us still. Who will say that such
prayer was not effectual! It was heard in heaven. Even there, in that
prison, surrounded by an armed guard, amid the gloom of coming danger,
the peace of God, like a dove bearing the olive branch, descended into
every broken and believing heart. It was a holy hour, and if the
angels above ever bend from their bright mansions to comfort human
sorrow, I do believe that they were then hovering n