Doubt and suspense
were written in every line of his face; the fretfulness of an
uneasy mind expressed itself in his slightest gesture--even in
his manner of passing a handkerchief from time to time over his
face, on which the perspiration was gathering thick and fast
already.
"Silence!" cried the usher of the court for the time being--a
hoarse-voiced man in top-boots with a huge saber buckled to his
side, and a bludgeon in his hand. "Silence for the Citizen
President!" he reiterated, striking his bludgeon on the table.
The president rose and proclaimed that the sitting for the day
had begun; then sat down again.
The momentary silence which followed was interrupted by a sudden
confusion among the prisoners on the platform. Two of the guards
sprang in among them. There was the thump of a heavy fall--a
scream of terror from some of the female prisoners--then another
dead silence, broken by one of the guards, who walked across the
hall with a bloody knife in his hand, and laid it on the table.
"Citizen President," he said, "I have to report that one of the
prisoners has just stabbed himself." There was a murmuring
exclamation, "Is that all?" among the women spectators, as they
resumed their work. Suicide at the bar of justice was no uncommon
occurrence, under the Reign of Terror.
"Name?" asked the president, quietly taking up his pen and
opening a book.
Pages:
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194