of life hovering in the galleries above the priests of death; the muskets of the guard glittering in the gloom in the back of the court; the heart-broken attitude of my poor sergeant, who had fallen at my feet; the silent but vast delight of the Trappist, still standing unwearied near the bar; the mournful note of some convent bell in the neighbourhood beginning to ring for matins amid the silence of the assembly—­was not all this enough to touch the nerves of the wives of the farmers-general and to send a thrill through the brawny breasts of the tanners in the body of the court?

Suddenly, just as the court was about to disperse, a figure like that of the traditional peasant of the Danube—­squat, rugged, barefooted, with a long beard, dishevelled hair, a broad, grave brow, and a stern, commanding glance—­rose in the midst of the flickering reflections by which the hall was half lighted, and standing erect before the bar, said in a deep, striking voice: 

“I, Jean le Houx, known as Patience, oppose this judgment as iniquitous in substance and illegal in form.  I demand that it be revised, so that I may give my evidence, which is necessary, may be of sovereign importance, and should have been waited for.”

“If you had anything to say,” cried the King’s advocate, in a passion, “why did you not present yourself when you were summoned.  You are imposing on the court by pretending that you have important evidence to give.”

“And you,” answered Patience, more slowly and in an even deeper tone than before, “you are imposing on the public by pretending that I have not.  You know well enough that I must have.”

“Remember where you are, witness, and to whom you are speaking.”

“I know too well, and I shall not say too much.  I hereby declare that I have some important things to say, and that I should have said them at the right time, if you had not done violence to the time.  I wish to say them, and I shall; and, believe me, it is better that I should make them known while it is still possible to revise these proceedings.  It is even better for the judges than the prisoner; for the one comes to life again in honour, as soon as the others die in infamy.”

“Witness,” said the irritated magistrate, “the virulence and impertinence of your language will be prejudicial rather than advantageous to the prisoner.”

“And who says that I am favourable to the prisoner?” said Patience in a voice of thunder.  “What do you know about me?  What if it pleases me to change an illegal and worthless verdict into one which is legal and irrevocable?”

“But how can you reconcile this desire to see the laws respected,” said the magistrate, genuinely moved by Patience’s powerful personality, “with your own breach of them in not appearing when summoned by the public prosecutor?”

“I did not wish to appear.”

“Severe penalties may be inflicted on those whose wishes are not in harmony with the laws of the land.”