g."

"Indeed! But if I didn't scold sometimes you would rim over me; and
besides, we shouldn't have the happiness that comes from making up
again. Really, though, won't you think about what I have said?"

"I will think about you, and that will include all that you have said
and all that you may say."

"I oughtn't to kiss you good night, but after that I suppose I must.
There--Mr.--Ungratefulness. Good night."

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE VERDICT.

During the first few weeks of his imprisonment, the murderer of old
man Colton had maintained a lightsome air, but as the time for his
trial drew near he appeared to lose the command of that self-hypnotism
which had seemed to extract gayety from wretchedness. To one who has
been condemned to death there comes a resignation that is deeper than
a philosophy. Despair has killed the nerve that fear exposed, and
nothing is left for terror to feed on. But Brooks had not this
deadened resignation, for he had a hope that he might escape the
gallows, and so long as there is a hope there is an anxiety. He had
refused to see his wife, for he felt that in her heart she had
condemned him and executed the sentence; but he was anxious to see
Witherspoon. He thought that with the aid of that logic which trade
teaches and which in its directness comes near being an intellectual
grace, he could explain himself to the merchant and thereby whiten his
crime, and he sent for him; but the messenger returned with a note
that bore words which Brooks had often heard Witherspoon speak and
which he himself so often had repeated: "Explain to the law."

The trial came. In the expectancy with which Chicago looks for a new
sensation, Brooks had been almost forgotten by the public. His
confession had robbed his trial of that uncertainty which means
excitement, and there now remained but a formal ceremony, the
appointment of his time to die. The newspapers no longer paid especial
attention to him, and such neglect depresses a murderer, for notoriety
is his last intoxicant. It seemed that an unwarranted length of time
was taken up in the selection of a jury, a deliberation that usually
exposes justice to many dangers; and after this the trial proceeded.
The deposition of Mrs. Colton was introduced. It was a brief
statement, and after leading up to the vital point, thus concluded: "I
must have been asleep some time, when my husband awoke me. He said
that he thought he heard a noise in the vault-room. I