ut a shudder on the paved
floor that has received the shock and the confidences of so many last
glances.

The apparently dying victim on this occasion could not get out of the
horrible vehicle without the assistance of two gendarmes, who took him
under the arms to support him, and led him half unconscious into the
office. Thus dragged along, the dying man raised his eyes to heaven in
such a way as to suggest a resemblance to the Saviour taken down
from the Cross. And certainly in no picture does Jesus present a more
cadaverous or tortured countenance than this of the sham Spaniard; he
looked ready to breathe his last sigh. As soon as he was seated in the
office, he repeated in a weak voice the speech he had made to everybody
since he was arrested:

"I appeal to His Excellency the Spanish Ambassador."

"You can say that to the examining judge," replied the Governor.

"Oh Lord!" said Jacques Collin, with a sigh. "But cannot I have a
breviary! Shall I never be allowed to see a doctor? I have not two hours
to live."

As Carlos Herrera was to be placed in close confinement in the secret
cells, it was needless to ask him whether he claimed the benefits of the
pistole (as above described), that is to say, the right of having one
of the rooms where the prisoner enjoys such comfort as the law permits.
These rooms are on the other side of the prison-yard, of which mention
will presently be made. The sheriff and the clerk calmly carried out the
formalities of the consignment to prison.

"Monsieur," said Jacques Collin to the Governor in broken French, "I am,
as you see, a dying man. Pray, if you can, tell that examining judge
as soon as possible that I crave as a favor what a criminal must most
dread, namely, to be brought before him as soon as he arrives; for my
sufferings are really unbearable, and as soon as I see him the mistake
will be cleared up----"

As an universal rule every criminal talks of a mistake. Go to the hulks
and question the convicts; they are almost all victims of a miscarriage
of justice. So this speech raises a faint smile in all who come into
contact with the suspected, accused, or condemned criminal.

"I will mention your request to the examining judge," replied the
Governor.

"And I shall bless you, monsieur!" replied the false Abbe, raising his
eyes to heaven.

As soon as his name was entered on the calendar, Carlos Herrera,
supported under each arm by a man of the municipal guard, and f