All was now uproar and confusion. The sheriff and his officers at length succeeded in quieting the excited populace, and removed the prisoner once more to his cell.
"I trust, my son, that the bitterness of death is past," said the chaplain, who accompanied him hither. "The God in whom you trusted has been strong to save."
"And where, where is my preserver?" asked Anthony, rising from his knees, after returning humble and heartfelt thanks to God for his preservation.
"She is here," said Mary, kneeling at his feet. "Here to bless and thank you for all your unremitted kindness to a wretch like me. Oh! I feared that I should be too late; that all would be over before my feeble limbs would bring me to the spot. I have been ill, Mr. Anthony, dreadfully ill; I couldn't speak to tell them that you were innocent; but it lay upon my heart day by day, and it burnt into my brain like fire. But they did not comprehend me; they could not understand my ravings. At last I stole from my bed, when they were all absent, and put on my clothes, and hurried out into the blessed air. The winds of heaven blew upon me and my reason returned; and God gave me strength, and brought me here in time to save your life. Yes, you are saved. Blessed be God's name for ever. You are saved, and by me!"
The poor girl, overcome by her feelings, burst into a fit of hysterical weeping, and suffered the chaplain to lead her from the cell and place her under the protection of the jailor's wife.
CONCLUSION.
Little now remains of my sad tale to be told. Godfrey and his infamous accomplice Mathews were apprehended, convicted and condemned, and suffered for their crimes on the very spot which had witnessed the rescue of Anthony Hurdlestone from a death of unmerited infamy.
The sole survivor of a rich and powerful family, Anthony left the condemned cell in the county jail to take possession of his paternal estates. But it was not on a spot haunted by such melancholy recollections that the last of the Hurdlestones thought fit to dwell. The Hall was sold, and passed into the hands of strangers; and after remaining two years abroad, Anthony once more returned to his native shores, and led to the altar his betrothed bride—the beautiful and talented Juliet Whitmore.