was covered with a black skull cap, (probably to protect his
baldness,) beneath which, rose ears more prominent than ornamental,
being very little relieved by the hair, which was cropped short. His
complexion was florid, and the parts of the face, about the chin and
jaws, full and heavy, giving an appearance of great roundness to the
countenance. His features were regular, the mouth small and
compressed, and on the upper lip he wore a moustache, parted in the
centre, and brushed out horizontally, balanced by a tuft on the chin,
four or five inches long. An adventurous spirit gazed out of his clear
steady eyes, and altogether he looked like a man of determined temper,
and one who, having once formed a resolution, would find it difficult
to relinquish it. Around his neck he also had a broad band, divided in
the middle, and falling half way down his breast. The remainder of the
persons around the table bore the same general resemblance to these
three, in dress, that one gentleman ordinarily does to another, and
all were engaged in conversation.

Presently the gentleman in the arm-chair, who was evidently the
President, took up a small bell that was placed before him, and
sounding it, the summons was replied to by the entrance of a man from
a side-door. He was the servitor or beadle of the Court, and moving to
the end of the table opposite the President, he stood facing him and
waiting his commands.

"Bring in the prisoner," said the President, in a low tone, but so
distinct that it was heard all over the room.

The beadle noiselessly glided out, and in a few moments returned,
leading a man, whose wrists were fastened with gyves, whom he
conducted to the end of the table he had just left, and placed so as