Hardened as I thought this ruffian had been for years, the big bright drops coursed each other down his sunburnt cheeks; his large chest heaved convulsively, and loud sobs awoke the lone echoes of the wood. I could endure his agony no longer. "Martin," I said, in a low voice, for the agitation that shook my whole frame nearly deprived me of the power of utterance, "behave more like a man; were you an innocent man, you could not be affected in this strange way." "By ----, I am not innocent! Who said I was? But I again repeat I did not kill him." "Then Adam did?" "No, no--it was his first attempt at murder." He stopped short. He had committed himself. "Why, Bill, your own words condemn you." "Don't use them against us. I am mad. I don't know what I say." "Hush. I hear steps approaching. Be quiet for one moment, while I untie your hands, and I will give you a last chance for your life." "Your frozen heart has thawed too late," he cried, with a hollow groan. "The constables are already here, and I am a dead man." He was right; Norton with the constables and a large body of men now burst through the trees. I gladly consigned the prisoner to their charge, while I proceeded with the rest of the party to the spot where the murder had been committed. I knew that it would awaken suspicion for me to remain behind, I therefore placed myself at the head of them; but I would have given worlds to have remained behind. A few minutes brought us to the fatal gate. We gathered round the body in silence. Horror was depicted on every countenance. Some who had known the 'Squire for years shed tears. I could not; but I gladly buried my face in my handkerchief, to shut out the dreadful spectacle. The moon, peering down between the branches of the trees, looked full in the dead man's face. Those glassy upturned eyes chilled my heart to stone with their fixed icy stare. Oh! it is terrible to see a man so full of life and health but yesterday, look thus. "Is he quite dead?" said George Norton. "My poor dear master!--my good generous master! Noah, lend a hand to raise him up." With a deep groan I seconded his efforts, and the head of the murdered man rested upon my knees. As I crouched beside him on the ground, a viper was gnawing at my heart. I would have given my chance of an eternity of bliss, which not many hours ago I had possessed as man's only true inheritance, to have recalled the transactions of that dreadful night. "See, here is a wound in his breast," cried I. "He has not been shot, but stabbed with a long sharp dirk or knife. He must have been taken unawares, for he seems to have made no effort to defend himself." "Here is his hat," cried another. "The back of it is all battered and crushed in. He has been knocked down and then stabbed. Oh, that Martin--that infernal villain!"