from which all suffered, kept me
also on the rack, until at a question from Mr. Moffat she spoke again,
and we heard her say:

"Yes, she died that way, with her hands in mine. There was no one else
by; we were quite alone."

That settled it, and for a moment the revulsion of feeling threatened
to throw the court into tumult. But one thing restrained them. Not the
look of astonishment on her face, not the startled uplift of Arthur's
head, not the quiet complacency which in an instant replaced the
defeated aspect of the district attorney; but the gesture and attitude
of Mr. Moffat, the man who had put her on the stand, and who now from
the very force of his personality, kept the storm in abeyance, and by
his own composure, forced back attention to his witness and to his own
confidence in his case. This result reached, he turned again towards
Carmel, with renewed respect in his manner and a marked softening in his
aspect and voice.

"Can you fix the hour of this occurrence?" he asked. "In any way can you
locate the time?"

"No; for I did not move at once. I felt tied to that couch; I am very
young, and I had never seen death before. When I did get up, I hobbled
like an old woman and almost went distracted; but came to myself as I
saw the note on the floor--the note I was told to burn. Lifting it, I
moved towards the fireplace, but got a fright on the way, and stopped
in the middle of the floor and looked back. I thought I had heard my
sister speak!

"But the fancy passed as I saw how still she lay, and I went on, after a
while, and threw the note into the one small flame which was all that was
left of the fire. I saw it caught by a draught from the door behind me,
and go flaming up the chimney.

"Some of my trouble seemed to go with it, but a great one yet remained. I
didn't know how I could ever turn around again and see my sister lying
there behind me, with her face fixed in death, for which I was, in a
way, responsible. I was abjectly frightened, and knelt there a long time,
praying and shuddering, before I could rise again to my feet and move
about as I had to, since God had not stricken me and I must live my life
and do what my sister had bidden me. Courage--such courage as I had
had--was all gone from me now; and while I knew there was something else
for me to do before I left the room, I could not remember what it was,
and stood hesitating, dreading to lift my eyes and yet feeling that I
ought to, if only t