The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1895-05-09

Ii JIM 1ienuinulnB were IOunu
then what would happen9
She dared not think.
"An innocent man must not be
allowed to suffer for a guilty one,
though the criminal we're Glenn
ent Dunraven."
But the man now at the bar would
be acquitted. a ray Of hope that all
through this trying time had kept
Lisbeth from being utterly swamped
in darkness and despair, did not des-
ert her in this supreme moment.
Every now and then it illuminated
the blackness that lay all around, as
when a heavy cloud is suddenly
parted, and a streak of sunshine
momentarily gladdens the gloom.
If only the formalities and the
te~chnicalities would not lag o
Would either she or Clement be able
to hold out much longer?
And every now and again she
gazed into his face, to see how much
more endurance he had left. AT last
Sir Clement Dunraven was called
upon to give an account of the inter-
view he had had with the prisoner
on the evening of the storm-pre-
sumably after the death of Pierce
Vaughan.
He pulled himself together with a
great effort, and entered the witness
box.
That he looked distressed and
haggard surprised on one, seeing
that the circumstances of his Cousins
death were most painful.
He took the oath, and waited for
the cross eY examining counsel's ques-
tons.
Lisbeth, meanwhile, never took
her eyes off his face, and sat with
her gloveless hands clasped together
so tightly as they lay in her lap that,
when at last they were released, the
blood oozed forth.
She dreaded what he would say.
That he would lessen her fathers
chances of escape she did not fear,
but he would incriminate himself.
Standing there before the court,
his eye resting every now and again
on the %cringing terror strickel
wretch at the bar, might he not per-
chance be seized with a sudden par
oxysm of honor?
This was almost her dread, and
who shall say that in spite of her
recent GOODNESS, love for Clement
Dunraven was wholly dead in Lis
beth's heart when she allowed such
thoughts as these to sway her.
She had, however, put little cause
for fear. The instinct of self-pres-
ervation was so strong in him that it
was scarcely likely that he would
ever betray himself, prompt his con-
conscience eve so loudly.
He was wonderfully composed, too,
considering the torture he was UNDER
going, but the feelings, like the brain,
become automatical from constant
use, and it was far more an automa-
ton than the actual Clement Dunra-
ven who was giving evidence in that
court.
Nevertheless, for the very reason,
perhaps, that it was cold and con-
strained, his evidence carried con-
siderable weight.
lie replied tersely to the questions
put, in no way slurring over any
thing that had passed.
The fact of her father having found
the letter from Hampstead about the
child, and having taken it to Clement
Dunraven was now made known to
Lisbeth for the first time.
Everyone p!es@n. believed what
Sir C.en@a: rad ,3id Glendinning:
ma, ne .-:z-: IN question was a
nur-@--L i. No imputa,ion then
vas as: u L.45e:h's character by
IA: .-A-=a=n,, while it certainly
.Iti1ea-et Z iary in G!endinning's
favor.
Would a mar who had just COM
mitted a murder go forthwith to the
nearest magistrate, unburden his
fathers agony of mind to him, and
discuss a subject 50 totally irrevelant
to the crime? So asked his counsel
in the eloquent speech he made
before the close of the proceedings,
making the most of an incident
which he, too, now heard of for the
first time.
When Sir Clement had given his
NNiNNhN'i nc ltll lHt COuTI. ne
could no longer bear the tension of
sitting there by Lisbeth's side,
awaiting an issue that was 80 terribly
vital to himself.
He would walk through the streets
of the busy town, and see if the
sights and sounds of active life
going on its ending way,
whatever agonies and miseries inter-
vene, would not help him to par
TALLY forget, for awhile, the heavy
burden he had doomed himself to
bear.
Yet, had he known how his absence
increased Lisbeth's anxiety probably
he would have gone on enduring the
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