rs and yelling out
curses, as an accompaniment to her ballet. Her luxurious white hair
streamed out during her gyrations, and with her grotesque appearance
and the faint light of the candle, she presented a gruesome spectacle.

Calton remembered the tales he had heard of the women of Paris, at the
revolution, and the way they danced "La Carmagnole." Mother Guttersnipe
would have been in her element in that sea of blood and turbulence he
thought. But he merely shrugged his shoulders, and walked out of the
room, as with a final curse, delivered in a hoarse voice, Mother
Guttersnipe sank exhausted on the floor, and yelled for gin.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE VERDICT OF THE JURY.

Next morning the Court was crowded, and numbers were unable to gain
admission. The news that Sal Rawlins, who alone could prove the
innocence of the prisoner, had been found, and would appear in Court
that morning, had spread like wildfire, and the acquittal of the
prisoner was confidently expected by a large number of sympathising
friends, who seemed to have sprung up on all sides, like mushrooms, in
a single night. There were, of course, plenty of cautious people left
who waited to hear the verdict of the jury before committing
themselves, and who still believed him to be guilty. But the unexpected
appearance of Sal Rawlins had turned the great tide of public feeling
in favour of the prisoner, and many who had been loudest in their
denunciations of Fitzgerald, were now more than half convinced of his
innocence. Pious clergymen talked in an incoherent way about the finger
of God and the innocent not suffering unjustly, which was a case of
counting unhatched chickens, as the verdict had yet to be given.

Felix Rolleston awoke, and found himself famous in a small way. Out of
good-natured sympathy, and a spice of contrariness, he had declared his
belief in Brian's innocence, and now, to his astonishment, he found
that his view of the matter was likely to prove correct. He received so
much praise on all sides for his presumed perspicuity, that he soon
began to think that he had believed in Fitzgerald's innocence by a calm
course of reasoning, and not because of a desire to differ from every
one else in their opinion of the case. After all, Felix Rolleston is
not the only mall who has been astonished to find greatness thrust upon
him, and come to believe himself worthy of it. He was a wise man,
however, and while in the full tide of prosperity he