Counsel for the accused made a very short speech. He stated that the prisoner had been drunk on the night and at the time of the murder; that he had taken a loaded pistol, and had gone out in search of Mr. Lovel at half-past eight o'clock. After leaving the house, he recollected no more until he returned home at dawn; and the Crown relied on this state of forgetfulness, caused by intoxication, to prove the prisoner's guilt. Under the circumstances it indeed was hard to tell if the prisoner had not shot the deceased in mistake for Mr. Lovel; but fortunately, in the interests of justice, he, the counsel for the accused, could produce, and intended to produce, a lady of well-known veracity, who could prove that the man in the dock was entirely innocent, and had not committed the crime alleged against him. Counsel stated also that he had only one witness, a lady, and that lady Miss Clyde, but that she would be able to refute all the evidence brought against the prisoner by the prosecution. As the jury now understood what he proposed to do, he, counsel for the defense, would call Selina Clyde. Miss Clyde at once stepped into the witness-box, and was duly sworn. She gave in detail the evidence of her taking the pistol off Lester, and related almost in the same words the story which she had told to Mexton. Counsel for the Crown cross-examined her severely, but nothing could shake her testimony; and when she left the witness-box the tide had turned in favour of Lester, and all present believed him to be guiltless. The summing up of the judge inclined towards this view; and the jury, without leaving the box--so great was the impression produced by Miss Clyde's evidence--pronounced the prisoner innocent. A verdict of not guilty was given; the judge discharged the doctor, and Lester stepped down from the box a free man, amid the applause of the court. "So he did not kill after all?" said Catinka, who looked rather disappointed with the verdict. "No," replied Lovel coldly. "You have heard the evidence; Lester is innocent." "And who is guilty?" "I don't know." Catinka laughed in a scoffing manner. "I thought you would have known by this time," she observed with a shrug. "Do you know?" demanded Lovel sharply. "I do. I was told by the man himself." "The man himself! Who is he?" "Wait; you will hear in a few minutes." "In this court?" "Yes. See!" Catinka stretched out her arm. "Mr. Herne knows who killed the poor lady; see, my dear, he rises to tell the name."