ould make no effort to prolong it."

"Even so, sir," said Goring. "There is here another question at issue.
Are you satisfied to fill the dishonored grave of a criminal? Does not
the name by which men will speak of you hereafter possess any terror for
you now?"

A slight tremor shook Cashel's voice as he replied, "Were I one who left
kindred or attached friends behind him, these considerations would have
their weight, nor would I willingly leave them the heritage of such
disgrace; but I am alone in the world, without one to blush for my
dishonor, or shed a tear over my sorrow. The calumny of my fellowmen
will only fall on ears sealed by death; nor will their jeers break the
slumber I am so soon to sleep."

Goring labored hard to dissuade him from his resolve, but to no purpose.
The only consolation of which Roland seemed capable arose from the
dogged indifference he felt as to the result, and the consciousness of
an innocence he was too proud to assert.

From an early hour of the morning the court was crowded. Many persons
distinguished in the world of fashion were to be seen amid the gowned
and wigged throng that filled the body of the building; and in the
galleries were a vast number of ladies, whose elegance of dress told how
much they regarded the scene as one of display, as well as of exciting
interest. Some had been frequent guests at his house; others had often
received him at their own; and there they sat, in eager expectancy to
see how he would behave, to criticise his bearing, to scan his looks
through their "lorgnettes," and note the accents in which he would
speak. A few, indeed, of his more intimate friends denied themselves the
treat such an exhibition promised; and it was plain to see how highly
they estimated their own forbearance. Still, Frobisher and some of
his set stood beneath the gallery, and watched the proceedings with
interest.

Some routine business of an uninteresting nature over, the case of the
King _versus_ Roland Cashel was called, and the governor of the jail was
ordered to produce the prisoner. A murmur of intense interest quickly
ran through the crowded assembly, and as suddenly was subdued to a dead
silence as the crowd, separating, permitted the passage of two armed
policemen, after whom Cashel walked, followed by two others. Scarcely
had he merged from the dense throng and taken his place in the dock,
when a buzz of astonishment went round; for the prisoner, instead of
being dr