led, defined, convicted by God's truth!

The letters lingered, and the room seemed almost sensibly to sink in the
awful silence. Then the stillness was broken by a deep voice. What lips
it came from, no one knew, for all the borders of the room were as dark
as night. It seemed, as it echoed from side to side, to come from every
part of the house: "_Mene, mene, tekel upharsin!_" Such was the effect
of these words upon the eager and excited, yet thoroughly solemnized
crowd, that when the shutters were thrown open, they would hardly have
been surprised to see the bar covered with golden goblets and bowls of
wassail, surrounded by lordly revellers and half-nude women, with the
stricken Belshazzar at the head of the feast. Certainly Belshazzar, on
his night of doom, could hardly have presented a more pitiful front than
Robert Belcher, as all eyes were turned upon him. His face was haggard,
his chin had dropped upon his breast, and he reclined in his chair like
one on whom the plague had laid its withering hand.

There stood Prof. Timms in his triumph. His experiment had proved to be
a brilliant success, and that was all he cared for.

"You have not shown us the other signatures," said Mr. Balfour.

"False in one thing, false in all," responded the professor, shrugging
his shoulders. "I can show you the others; they would be like this; you
would throw away your time."

Mr. Cavendish did not look at the witness, but pretended to write.

"Does the counsel for the defense wish to question the witness?"
inquired Mr. Balfour, turning to him.

"No," very sharply.

"You can step down," said Mr. Balfour. As the witness passed him, he
quietly grasped his hand and thanked him. A poorly suppressed cheer ran
around the court-room as he resumed his seat. Jim Fenton, who had never
before witnessed an experiment like that which, in the professor's
hands, had been so successful, was anxious to make some personal
demonstration of his admiration. Restrained from this by his
surroundings, he leaned over and whispered: "Perfessor, you've did a big
thing, but it's the fust time I ever knowed any good to come from
peekin' through a key-hole."

"Thank you," and the professor nodded sidewise, evidently desirous of
shutting Jim off, but the latter wanted further conversation.

"Was it you that said it was mean to tickle yer parson?" inquired Jim.

"What?" said the astonished professor, looking round in spite of
himself.

"Didn't you say