"You have heard the evidence, prisoner; have you any answer to make?"
He answered,—
"I say—famous!"
A laugh broke out in the audience and almost affected the jury. It was plain that the man was lost.
"Ushers," said the President, "produce silence in the court: I am about to sum up."
At this moment there was a movement by the President's side: and a voice could be heard exclaiming,—
"Brevet, Chenildieu, and Cochepaille, look this way." All those who heard the voice felt chilled to the heart, for it was so lamentable and terrible. All eyes were turned in the direction whence it came: a man seated among the privileged audience behind the court had risen, pushed open the gate that separated the judges' bench from the public court, and stepped down. The President, the public prosecutor, M. Bamatabois, twenty persons, recognized him, and exclaimed simultaneously, "Monsieur Madeleine."