say, so fearfully black settled upon his countenance, that it gave him
an almost supernatural aspect; it looked in fact, as if the gloom of his
fate had fallen upon him in the midst of his plans and iniquities. He
seemed, for a moment, to feel this himself; for while the confusion and
murmurs were spreading through the court, he muttered to himself--

"I am doomed; I did this, as if something drove me to it; however, if I
could only be sure that the cursed box was really lost, I might laugh at
the world still."

He then looked around him with singular composure, and ultimately at
the judge, as if to ascertain whether he might depart or not. At this
moment, a pale, sickly-looking female, aided, or rather supported, by
the Pedlar and Hanlon, was in the act of approaching the place where
Dalton's attorney stood, as if to make some communication to him, when a
scream was heard, followed by the exclamation--

"Blessed Heaven! it's himself!--it's himself!"

Order and silence were immediately called by the crier, but the
Prophet's eyes had been already attracted to the woman, who was no other
than Hanlon's aunt, and for some time he looked at her with an apparent
sensation of absolute terror. Gradually, however, his usual indomitable
hardness of manner returned to him; he still kept his gaze fixed upon
her, as if to make certain that there could be no mistake, after which
his countenance assumed an expression of rage and malignity that no
language could describe; his teeth became absolutely locked, as if he
could have ground her between them, and his eyes literally blazed
with fury, that resembled that of a rabid beast of prey. The shock was
evidently more than the woman could bear, who, still supported by
the Pedlar and Planlon, withdrew in a state almost bordering on
insensibility.

A very brief space now determined the trial. Sullivan's brother and
several of the jurors themselves clearly established his identity,
and as a matter of course, Condy Dalton was instantly discharged. His
appearance in the street was hailed by the cheers and acclamations
of the people, who are in general delighted with the acquittal of
a fellow-creature, unless under circumstances of very atrocious
criminality.

"I suppose I may go down," said the Prophet,--"you have done with me?"

"Not exactly," replied Dalton's counsel.

"Let these two men be taken into custody," said the judge, "and let an
indictment for perjury be prepared against t