had run her
on the rocks; and aware that the captain would murder him, he had shot
Cain as he was swimming to the shore, as the captain's son could prove;
for he had taxed him with it, and he was actually struggling with him
for life, when the officers and boat's crew separated them, and made
them both prisoners: that he hardly expected that Francisco, the
captain's son, would tell the truth to save him, as he was his bitter
enemy, and in the business at the Magdalen river, which had been long
planned (for Francisco had been sent on shore under the pretence of
being wrecked, but, in fact, to ascertain where the booty was, and to
assist the pirates in their attack), Francisco had taken the opportunity
of putting a bullet through his shoulder, which was well known to the
other pirates, and Francisco could not venture to deny. He trusted that
the court would order the torture to Francisco, and then he would
probably speak the truth; at all events, let him speak now.

When Hawkhurst had ceased to address the court, there was an anxious
pause for some minutes. The day was fast declining, and most parts of
the spacious Court House were already deeply immersed in gloom; while
the light, sober, solemn, and almost sad, gleamed upon the savage and
reckless countenances of the prisoners at the bar. The sun had sunk
down behind a mass of heavy yet gorgeous clouds, fringing their edges
with molten gold. Hawkhurst had spoken fluently and energetically, and
there was an appearance of almost honesty in his coarse and deep-toned
voice. Even the occasional oaths with which his speech was garnished,
but which we have omitted, seemed to be pronounced more in sincerity
than in blasphemy, and gave a more forcible impression to his narrative.

We have said, that when he concluded there was a profound silence; and
amid the fast-falling shadows of the evening, those who were present
began to feel, for the first time, the awful importance of the drama
before them, the number of lives which were trembling upon the verge of
existence, depending upon the single word of "Guilty." This painful
silence, this harrowing suspense, was at last broken by a restrained sob
from a female; but owing to the obscurity involving the body of the
court, her person could not be distinguished. The wail of a woman so
unexpected--for who could there be of that sex interested in the fate of
these desperate men?--touched the heart of its auditors, and appeared to