“At the mercy of Tiberius.  At the mercy of Tiberius.”

Those present looked inquiringly at each other.

“Her mind wanders a little.  Sheriff, give her some of that brandy.  She is as weak as a baby.”

Judge Dent raised her head, and the officer held the tumbler to her mouth; while the former said gently: 

“My poor girl, drink a little, it will strengthen you.”

With a gesture of loathing, she rejected it; and as she attempted to raise herself, all the dire extremity of her peril rushed back upon her mind, like a black overwhelming tide from the sea of the past.

“Lie still, until I have bandaged your arm.  Here, Dunbar, you acquitted yourself so dexterously with your knife, just lend a hand.  Hold the arm until I secure the bandage.”

To find herself surrounded by men, helpless in the grasp of strangers, with no womanly touch or glance to sustain her, served to intensify her misery; and wrenching herself free, she struggled into a sitting posture, then staggered to her feet.  The heavy coil of hair loosened when they bore her from the court-room, now released itself from restraining pins, and fell in burnished waves to her knees, clothing her with a glory, such as the world’s great masters in art reserve for the beatified.  Had all the blood that fed her heart been drained, she would not have appeared more deadly pale, and in her wide eyes was the desperate look of a doomed animal, that feels the hot fangs of the hounds, and the cold steel of the hunters.

“Be persuaded for your own sake, to swallow some stimulant, of which you are sadly in need.  You will require all your strength, and, as a physician, I insist upon your taking my prescription.”

“If I might have some water.  Just a little water.”

Some one brought a brown stone pitcher, and she drank long and thirstily; then looked for a moment at the faces of those who crowded about her.

“What will be done now?”

Every eye fell to the floor, and after a painful silence Judge Dent said very gently: 

“For the present, the Magistrate will retain you in custody, until the action of the Grand Jury.  Should they fail to indict you, then you will at once be released.”

“I am to go to prison?  I am to be thrust among convicts, vile criminals!  I—?  My father’s Beryl?  O, righteous God!  Where is Thy justice?  O, Christ!  Is Thy mercy a mockery?”

She stood, with her chin resting on her clenched hands, and twice a long violent shudder shook her from head to foot.

“I hope your imprisonment will be only temporary.  The Grand Jury will be in session next week.  Meantime diligent search may discover the persons whose conversation you overheard at the station; and if you be innocent, we are all your friends, and the law, which now seems so stern, will prove your strongest protector and vindicator.”