"I did not question him upon the subject," said Doctor Danvers; "I even
declined to hear him speak upon it at first; but he told me he was
resolved to offer no defense, and that he saw the finger of God in the
fate which had overtaken him."

"He will plead guilty, then, I suppose?" suggested Marston, watching the
countenance of his companion with an anxious and somewhat sinister eye.

"His words seem to imply so much," answered he; "and having thus frankly
owned his guilt, and avowed his resolution to let the law take its due
course in his case, without obstruction or evasion, I urged him to
complete the grand work he had begun, and to confess to you, or to some
other magistrate fully, and in detail, every circumstance connected with
the perpetration of the dreadful deed."

Marston knit his brows, and rode on for some minutes in silence. At
length he said, abruptly--

"In this, it seems to me, sir, you a little exceeded your commission."

"How so, my dear sir?" asked the clergyman.

"Why, sir," answered Marston, "the man may possibly change his mind
before the day of trial, and it is the hangman's office, not yours, my
good sir, to fasten the halter about his neck. You will pardon my
freedom; but, were this deposition made as you suggest, it would
undoubtedly hang him."

"God forbid, Mr. Marston," rejoined Danvers, "that I should induce the
unhappy man to forfeit his last chances of escape, and to shut the door