opposite Sybil, while Mr.
Fortescue got in and sat down in the fourth seat, facing Beatrix.

And Joe got his order to drive on towards Blackville.

Scarcely a word was spoken for the first mile. It was Sybil who broke
the silence.

"Will my counsel meet me at the court, Mr. Fortescue?" she inquired.

"They are waiting for you, Madam. Mr. Worth has arrived, and is in
earnest consultation with Mr. Sheridan," gently replied Mr. Fortescue.

"How long do you think the trial will last, Mr. Fortescue?" tremblingly
inquired Sybil.

"It is quite impossible to form an opinion, madam," replied the Sheriff.

"My dear Sybil," said Lyon Berners, "let us hope and trust that the
trial will be short, and the result acquittal. Keep up your courage."

But he who gave her this advice found his own heart fast failing him. He
could fearlessly have met his fate in his own person; but in the person
of his beloved wife--

Fortunately for our unhappy party, it was not generally known that the
accused lady would be put on trial this day; so when they drove into
Blackville, they found no more than the usual little crowd about the
hotel and the court-house.

The carriage was drawn up before the last-named building.

The two gentlemen got out and assisted their companions to alight.

As they were about to enter the court-house, Sybil lifted her hand to
draw her gray veil before her face; but Beatrix stayed her.

"Don't do it, my dear Sybil. You have no reason to veil your face, or
bend your head, or even lower your eyes, before the gaze of any one
alive!" she said, proudly, for her friend.

Sybil felt the force of these words, and indeed her own pride seconded
their advice.

"I will take you first to my room, where your counsel are waiting to
speak with you," said old Mr. Fortescue, drawing Sybil's hand through
his arm, and leading her, followed by her husband and her friend, into
the sheriff's office.

There they found Mr. Sheridan standing at a long table covered with
green baize and laden with papers.

With him was a gentleman whose grandeur and beauty of person and manner
must have deeply impressed any beholder, under any circumstances. "The
form of Apollo and the front of Jove," had been said of him; and if it
had been added that he possessed the intellectual power of a Cicero, and
shared the divine spirit of Christ, it would have been equally true.

"Mr. Worth, late of the Washington Bar, now admitted to practice here
for