ted in Ennis;
thrown into jail; kept four weeks in a dark cell, on prison fare; and at
the end, one morning the hangman appeared to say his hour was come, and
that the warrant for his execution had arrived. It was to take place,
without judge or jury, within the four walls of the jail. The scheme
succeeded; his courage fell, and he offered, if his life was spared, to
plead guilty to any transportable felony for which the grand Jury would
send up true bills. He did so, and was then undergoing the sentence."

"Great heavens! and can such iniquity be tolerated in a land where men
call themselves Christians?" exclaimed I, as I heard this to the end.

"Iniquity!" repeated he, in mockery; "to rid the country of a ruffian,
stained with every crime,--a fellow mixed up in every outrage in the
land? Is this your notion of iniquity? Not so do I reckon it. And if I
have told you of it now, it is that you may learn that when loyal
and well-affected men are trusted with the execution of the laws, the
principle of justice is of more moment than the nice distinction of
legal subtleties. You may learn a lesson from it worth acquiring."

"I! how can it affect me or my fortunes?"

"More nearly than you think. I have told you of the accusation which
hangs over your head; weigh it well, and deliberate what are your
chances of escape. We must not waste time in discussing your innocence.
The jury who will try the cause will be more difficult of belief than
you suspect; neither the opinions you are charged with, your subsequent
escape, nor your career in France, will contribute to your exculpation,
even had you evidence to adduce in your favor. But you have not; your
only witness is equally removed as by death itself. On what do you
depend, then? Conscious innocence! Nine out of every ten who mount the
scaffold proclaim the same; but I never heard that the voice that cried
it stifled the word 'guilty.' No, sir; I tell you solemnly, you will be
condemned!"

The tone of his voice as he spoke the last few words made my very blood
run cold. The death of a soldier on the field of battle had no terrors
for me; but the execrated fate of a felon I could not confront. The
pallor of my cheek, the trembling of my limbs, must have betrayed my
emotion; for even Basset seemed to pity me, and pressed me down into a
chair.

"There is one way, however, to avoid all the danger," said he, after
a pause; "an easy and a certain way both. You have heard of th