An obvious effect was perceptible upon the countenances of the soldiers in the hall when this command was uttered. The outlaw himself was bound--this time his bonds did not give way--and when he heard the words, they seemed to paralyse--to engender a doubt that he miscomprehended--rather than to alarm him. He turned his eye rapidly from his kneeling wife to the judges. Its expression was not of humility, and scarcely that even of entreaty. His appeal was not that of a culprit to the mercy of a judge, but the demand which man makes upon man--upon the common feeling of his fellows--"In the name of God!" was all that he exclaimed, "you cannot mean it?"

ABOUT