mpress left there by an act which necessity, and necessity alone,
caused her to perform. It will not restore to her the innocent child
now lying mouldering in the grave, it will not reunite the broken
links of affection, it will not ease the agony of the soldier when he
discovers that his wife was the inmate of a prison, nor will it
replace on its former firm base the mind of this unfortunate lady,
which, like the pillars of some ancient edifice, totters beneath a
weight of agonizing thought, soon, alas! I fear, to fall, a mass of
ruin, in the vortex of insanity. The patriot soldier must return to
find his daughter dead, his wife a maniac, and his only remaining
child a dependent on the bounty of strangers. But one thing remains;
he must turn from the spectacle thus presented and return to the
battle-field a heart-broken and unhappy man. The spirit with which he
formerly contended for the liberty of his country will have vanished
and fled, for the remembrance of his family's fate must ever remain
uppermost in his mind, and the reflections they will produce must
leave a blighting scar, which no future kindness can remove, sympathy
eradicate, or consolation destroy. I am done. On your good judgment
and the strength of my assertions, which can be proven, if necessary,
I rely for the acquittal of this lady."

As he concluded, the building shook with applause from the crowd, and
Mr. Swartz and Mr. Elder trembled for their safety. Harry felt that
the acquittal of Mrs. Wentworth was now secure, for the jury itself,
sharing the popular feeling, gave expressions of approbation in many
remarks. If the language of Harry had been simple, it had carried
conviction to every soul, and all present, as they looked upon the
accused, felt that her offense was fully atoned for by the chain of
harrowing circumstances with which she had been bound.

And for her--the soldier's wife? She had remained a passive spectator
of all that occurred. When the voice of her defender first broke on
her ear, she turned and looked at him for a moment, then, as if
indifferent whether his defense was successful or not, she turned her
head away and listlessly gazed at the crowd. She cared not now for
freedom and acquittal; she felt that the chords of reason were on the
point of breaking, and but one thought, one desire, filled her mind,
before they broke and madness held sway over her. It was to see that
loved form, to gaze once more on those loved features,