“In the midst of these harrowing meditations a policeman opened the trap in the door of the cell, and called her by name--‘_Julia Murray!_’ She answered in a faint and feeble tone; and the officer was about to close the trap, satisfied that his prisoner was not ill nor had attempted suicide,--when the young woman suddenly exclaimed, ‘Stop one moment!’--‘Well, what is it?’ demanded the constable.--In a few hurried words Julia explained to him how she had a little brother expecting her return, how he would be overwhelmed with grief at her unaccountable absence, and how grateful she should feel if any one could be sent to inform the child that his sister would be certain to return in the morning. The constable, who was a kind-hearted man, promised that her request should be complied with; and he was about to depart when, a thought striking him, he said, ‘But are you so sure, young woman, of getting off so easy as you imagine. The charge is a serious one, mind!’--‘The charge!’ she repeated: ‘I do not even yet know what it is!’--‘Oh! that’s all gammon,’ cried the constable, closing the trap abruptly; and now, his opinion of the prisoner being that she was a hardened impostor, and had some sinister motive in view in sending a message to her lodgings, determined to trouble himself no more concerning the matter. It was, however, some consolation to the poor girl to believe that her commission would be duly executed;--for, though she had heard the officer’s unfeeling, cutting observation relative to her ignorance of the accusation against her, she could not for an instant suppose that he would neglect to fulfil his promise regarding her little brother. But wearily--wearily passed away that night--not once did the poor dress-maker close her eyes--and she counted every hour that was proclaimed from the neighbouring church-clock--often saying to herself that never, never had time travelled with such leaden pace before! She had not tasted food for many hours--and yet she was not hungry; but she experienced a terrible faintness at the chest, and an oppressiveness on the brain, that at intervals made her mind wander. Her cloak was dripping wet when she had been locked up, and her shoes, stockings, and the lower part of her dress were saturated;--but she had thrown her cloak aside, and her garments had dried upon her;--and now she felt not positively cold--only a numbness in her limbs, which gave her however no pain.