to be. The greatest favor you can bestow
is to get out of my sight."

The doctor gazed on the hardened wretch with pity, and turned away. He
left the city in July, and the first of September the trials came on.
The large court-house was densely thronged to hear the pleas and
decision in the case of the extensive forgeries and bank frauds of
Hardin and Sumpter. There could be little doubt of the verdict, as the
evidence against the parties was powerful and conclusive, and none
seemed so regardless of the issue as the prisoners themselves. With
hard, stoical faces, they confronted the jury, as they returned from
their deliberations and resumed their seats on the platform.

Without, the elements were raging in their wildest, most terrific fury.
Broad flashes of lightning at intervals illuminated the crowded hall,
and glared on the sea of upturned human faces, marked with every variety
and shade of passion and feeling. The thunder roared and reverberated
through the heavens with tremendous crashings, as the judge arose, and,
turning toward the jury, asked, in solemn accents, if they had agreed
upon a verdict.

They had.

"Are the prisoners at the bar guilty, or not guilty?"

There came a blinding flash, followed by a deafening thunder-bolt, as
the foreman rose and pronounced the word, "_Guilty_."

Smothered screams at this moment issued from various parts of the
assembly. The building was struck and on fire. Terrible confusion
ensued. Frantic cries and shrieks mingled with the bellowings of the
storm without, rendering the scene awful beyond description. All rushed
pell-mell for the street. The crackling flames burst through the broad
windows on the side of the judges' platform, rolling a dense volume of
smoke and stifling heat into the interior of the building. In the wild
excitement and terror, the prisoners were forgotten. They stood in the
box where they had received sentence. The flames were rapidly
approaching them. Sumpter turned a glance full of hatred and vengeance
on Hardin. "You swore revenge on Sheldon," said he, "and I helped you
accomplish your iniquitous designs. You refused a paltry sum when I
asked it, and then I swore revenge on you, and this is the way I finish
it."

Hardin drew a revolver from his breast; "And this is the way I finish
mine," he said; and, taking aim, lodged a ball in the heart of Sumpter.
Then, springing quick as lightning over the box, he rushed among the
crowd and gained the