"Gentlemen," said she, with a clear, distinct voice, in which not
the faintest quiver, not the least excitement was apparent--"
gentlemen, are we here in a theatre, where the players who tread the
boards are received with audible signs of approval or of disfavor?"

The president, to whom her dark eyes were directed, deigned to give
no answer, but turned with an expressive gesture to the officer who
stood behind the accused.

He understood this sign, and brought from the corner of the hall a
wooden seat of rough, clumsy form, to whose high back of unpolished
dirty wood two short iron chains were attached.

This seat he placed near the handsome, gaudily-dressed countess with
her air of assurance and self-confidence, and pointed to it with a
commanding gesture.

"Be seated," he said, with a loud, lordly tore. She shrugged her
shoulders, and looked at the offered seat with an expression of
indignation. "How!" she cried, "who dares offer me the chair of
criminals to sit in?"

"Be seated," replied the officer. "The seat of the accused is ready
for you, and the chains upon it are for those who are not inclined
to take it."

A cry of anger escaped from her lips, and her eyes flashed an
annihilating glance upon the venturesome officer, but he did not
appear to be in the least affected by the lightning from her eyes,
but met it with perfect tranquillity.