devoted friends, her faithful
servants, and her little pets.

But at length, early in January, sympathy on the one hand and curiosity
on the other prevailed over every feeling and reason, and Sybil's
neighbors, both detractors and defenders, began to call on her.

But Mrs. Berners had penetration enough to know her friends from her
foes, and so she felt no hesitation and made no mistakes when she
welcomed the visits of the first and declined those of the last
mentioned.

So the winter slipped away peacefully enough, and Sybil seldom
remembered what her friends tried to make her forget--the heavy cloud
that still hung over her fate.

She was reminded of it only when her counsel came to consult with her;
but then they always wore cheerful countenances, and spoke hopeful words
that inspired her with confidence and courage.

Sometimes indeed, the recollection of the awful crisis that could not be
shunned, that must be met, would come to her in the middle watches of
the night, and fill her soul with horror; but with the first beams of
the morning sun, this darkness of her spirit, like the darkness of the
hour, would pass away.

It was in all the reviving life and budding beauty of early spring, that
the Criminal Court resumed its sittings at Blackville.

The case of Sybil Berners, charged with the murder of Rosa Blondelle,
was the very first upon the docket.

It was a day as bright, beautiful, and glorious as any day that ever
dawned, when the summons came that called Mrs. Berners up to the court
to be put upon trial for her life.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE TRIAL FOR LIFE.

If you condemn me, fie upon your law!
There is no right in the decrees of judges
I stand for justice! Answer! Shall I have it?--SHAKESPEARE.

The awful contrast that there was between her appearance of the fairest
freedom and her reality of the darkest bondage!

But she scarcely realized such a contrast until that morning, when she
arose and threw open her south window and looked out upon her own
beautiful home valley, now fresh with the verdure of early spring, and
radiant with the light of the young day. A luminous haze like sifted
gold-dust hung around the mountain tops; a dewy freshness sparkled on
their wooded sides; and the river lay like a clear mirror below.

"Must she leave all this for the terrors of the court-room?" she
inquired, with a shudder of her shrinking heart. And for a moment she
felt that even the gloom