The bailiff let his gavel fall on the marble slab, and then with his head hanging, his eyes roving in a self-conscious, almost silly way, he said: "Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, this honorable court is now in session." The bailiff sat down as in relief, but immediately got up again when the judge said: "Bring me the criminal docket, Mr. Bailiff." The bailiff’s bent figure tottered out of the court-room. The court-room was very still; the ticking of the clock on the wall could be heard. The judge swung his chair about and glanced out of the windows. Never once did he permit his eyes to rest on the prisoners. There was silence and waiting, and after a while the bailiff came with the docket. The judge opened the book, put on a pair of gold glasses, and, after a time, reading slowly, said: "The State _versus_ Patrick Delaney." The white-haired prisoner patiently held out two hands, marvelously tatooed, and Danner unlocked the handcuffs. At the same moment one of the young lawyers stood forth from the rest, and Lamborn, an assistant prosecutor, rose. McWhorter was studying the docket. Presently he said: "Stand up, Delaney." Delaney rose, kept his eyes on the floor, clasped a hand about his red wrist. Then, for the first time, the judge looked at him. "Delaney," he said, "have you anything to say why the sentence of this court should not be passed upon you?" Delaney looked uneasily at the judge and then let his eyes fall. "No, Judge, yer Honor," he said, "nothing but that I’m an innocent man. I didn’t do it, yer Honor." The remark did not seem to impress the judge, who turned toward the lawyer. This young man, with a venturesome air, stepped a little farther from the sheltering company of his associates and, with a face that was very white and lips that faltered, said in a confused, hurried way: "Your Honor, we hope your Honor’ll be as lenient as possible with this man; we hope your Honor will be as--lenient as possible." The youth’s voice died away and he faded back, as it were, into the shelter of his companions. The judge did not seem to be more impressed with what the lawyer had said than he had with what the client had said, and twirling his glasses by their cord, he turned toward the assistant prosecutor. Lamborn, with an affectation of great ease, with one hand in the pocket of his creased trousers, the other supporting a book of memoranda, advanced and said: "May it please the Court, this man is an habitual criminal; he has already served a term in the penitentiary for this same offense, and we understand that he is wanted in New York State at this present time. We consider him a dangerous criminal, and the State feels that he should be severely punished." McWhorter studied the ceiling of the court-room a moment, still swinging his eye-glasses by their cord, and then, fixing them on his nose, looked wisely down at Delaney. Presently he spoke: