ng forward the real murderer. The misery
of the last fortnight has shown me how deeply I have sinned in
thought, though not in deed; and how dare I, then, indulge the wild
dream that my innocence will be proved, until too late, save for
mine honor? My liege, I have trespassed too long on the time of this
assemblage; let the trial proceed."

So powerful was the effect of his tone and words, that the impulse was
strong in every heart to strike off his fetters, and give him life
and freedom. The countenance of the Sub-Prior of St. Francis alone
retained its unmoved calmness, and its tone, its imperturbable
gravity, as he commanded Don Felix d'Estaban to produce the witnesses;
and on their appearance, desired one of the fathers to administer the
oath.

CHAPTER XIX.

"His unaltering-cheek
Still vividly doth hold its natural hue,
And his eye quails not. Is this innocence?"

MRS. HEMANS.

During the examination of Don Alonzo of Aguilar, and of old Pedro and
Juana, the prisoner remained with his arms calmly folded and head
erect, without the smallest variation of feature or position denoting
either anxiety or agitation. Don Alonzo's statement was very simple.
He described the exact spot where he had found the body, and the
position in which it lay; the intense agitation of Stanley, the bloody
appearance of his clothes, hands, and face, urging them to secure his
person even before they discovered the broken fragment of his sword
lying beside the corse. His account was corroborated, in the very
minutest points, by the men who had accompanied him, even though
cross-questioned with unusual particularity by Father Francis. Old
Pedro's statement, though less circumstantial, was, to the soldiers
and citizens especially, quite as convincing. He gave a wordy
narrative of Senor Stanley's unnatural state of excitement from the
very evening he had become his lodger--that he had frequently heard
him muttering to himself such words as "blood" and "vengeance." He
constantly appeared longing for something; never eat half the meals
provided for him--a sure proof, in old Pedro's imagination, of a
disordered mind, and that the night of the murder he had heard him
leave the house, with every symptom of agitation. Old Juana, with very
evident reluctance, confirmed this account; but Father Francis was
evidently not satisfied. "Amongst these incoherent ravings of the
prisoner, did you ever distinguish the word 'mur