He is a perjurer!" screamed Crofts. "I
repeat it, my lord; Fortescue is dead."

"Faix! and for a dead man he has a remarkable appetite," said Darby,
"and an elegant color in his face besides; for there he stands."

And as he spoke, he pointed with his finger to a man who was leaning
with folded arms against one of the pillars that supported the gallery.

Every eye was now turned in the direction towards him; while the young
barrister called out, "Is your name Daniel Fortescue?"

But before any answer could follow, several among the lawyers, who
had known him in his college days, and felt attachment to him, had
surrounded and recognized him.

"I am Daniel Fortescue, my lord," said the stranger. "Whatever may be
the consequences of the avowal, I say it here, before this court,
that every statement the witness has made regarding me is true to the
letter."

A low, faint sound, heard throughout the stillness that followed these
words, now echoed throughout the court; and Crofts had fallen, fainting,
over the bench behind him.

A scene of tumultuous excitement now ensued, for while Crofts's friends,
many of whom were present, assisted to carry him into the air, others
pressed eagerly forward to catch a sight of Fortescue, who had already
rivalled Darby himself in the estimation of the spectators.

He was a tall, powerfully-built man, of about thirty-five or thirty-six,
dressed in the blue jacket and trousers of a sailor; but neither the
habitude of his profession nor the humble dress he wore could conceal
the striking evidence his air and bearing indicated of condition and
birth. As he mounted the witness table,--for it was finally agreed
that his testimony in disproof or corroboration of M'Keown should be
heard,--a murmur of approbation went round, partly at the daring step he
had thus ventured on taking, and partly excited by those personal gifts
which are ever certain to have their effect upon any crowded assembly.

I need not enter into the details of his evidence, which was given in
a frank, straightforward manner, well suited to his appearance; never
concealing for a moment the cause he had himself embarked in, nor
assuming any favorable coloring for actions which ingenuity and the zeal
of party would have found subjects for encomium rather than censure.

His narrative not only confirmed all that Darby asserted, but also
disclosed the atrocious scheme by which he had been first induced to
join the ranks of th