Anstruther lay there to all appearances quite dead. So swift and dramatic had the whole thing been, that nobody moved for a moment; indeed, a greater portion of the excited audience did not seem to grasp what had happened. Rigby turned and looked at Benin, who was frowning in the direction of the dock, and breathing hard as if he had run fast and far. Then one of the warders in the court moved to the assistance of his colleague, and between them they raised the prisoner so that his haggard face appeared over the edge of the rail. With an assumption of indifference, the Frenchman dropped back into his seat again.

"Surely he is not afraid of you," Jack whispered. "And yet I feel quite certain that your appearance frightened him terribly."

"He has good need to be afraid of me," Benin growled. "I could hang that man--I could prove him guilty of murder. For, look: that man and myself have met in Paris. You have little notion of the extent of his crime. But he is not dead--men of that type do not die so easily. See, he is opening his eyes again."

Anstruther had struggled into an upright position, and was feebly gasping for water. He gave one half-frightened glance in the direction of the Frenchman, who shrugged his shoulders, as if to say the whole affair was no business of his.

"I shall not betray him," he whispered to Rigby. "It is a painful case, which will be no better for being dragged into the light of day. Besides, that man will be punished enough; a long term of imprisonment will be worse to him than hanging. He understands, now, that I am not going to betray him."

Anstruther was himself again at last. He stood rigid and erect; there was the faint suggestion of a smile upon his face.

"Merely a passing weakness," he murmured. "I have to apologize to the court for the trouble I am giving. May I be allowed to make a statement?"

"It would have been far better if the statement had come through your counsel," the judge said. "I warned you from the first that you were imperiling your position by refusing to accept legal aid. If the jury find you guilty----"

"The jury may find me guilty or not," Anstruther said. "I am sufficiently strong a man to know when I am beaten. Therefore I do not propose to waste the time of the court by carrying my defense any further. I have assisted the police on many occasions; indeed, I have been a great help in bringing a number of notorious criminals to justice. But I pay the prosecution this compliment--never once in the whole course of my career have I worked out anything neater than the scheme which has placed me in my present position. I desire to plead guilty to the whole thing. I did conspire with Mr. Carrington over that bank business, and with my own hands I removed the Cellini plate to the custody of Carrington's private safe. I am not in the least penitent. I am not in the least sorry for myself. In the circumstances, I would act precisely the same again. You may do what you like with me, and pass any sentence you think fit. I don't think there is any need for me to say more."

The speaker bowed gravely to the judge and resumed his seat, which he had asked for as a favor. Failing any reply on the part of the Crown Attorney, the judge began to sum up the case. He made no comment, but curtly and drily sentenced the prisoner to fourteen years' penal servitude. The latter rose to his feet, and intimated that he was ready. With a firm step and the faint shadow of a cynical smile on his lips, he walked down the steps and thus disappeared forever from the society of his fellow men. The whole thing was over now, and the dramatic trial was finished. It was, perhaps, a fitting ending to a sensational case, which had been full of surprises from beginning to end. In spite of it all, Jack looked grave and somewhat anxious. Now that the affair was over, he could find it in his heart to have a little pity for Anstruther.

"Why so grave and silent?" Rigby asked.

"I think you understand," Jack said quietly. "It always seems to me a sad thing to see a man of such brilliant talents in so degraded a situation. Anstruther might have done anything. With an intellect like his he might have climbed to the highest places. And yet he prefers deliberately to remain a criminal."

"The criminal instinct must have been always there," Benin said. "There are some men who cannot go straight, and your brilliant Anstruther is one of them."

The audience was pouring out of the court now, talking eagerly and excitedly of the events of the morning. Only a few people remained now, and, glancing indifferently over them, Jack noted the pale, anxious features of Carrington. The man lingered behind, as if afraid to face the open air. He shrank back shaking and despairing as Bates walked over in his direction.

"Very sorry, Mr. Carrington," said the latter, "but my duty is quite clear before me. We had our own reasons for not placing you in the dock along with your friend, because we might have had to call you as a witness. As I promised you, I will do all I can to let you down as easily as possible, but I hold a warrant for your arrest on the grounds of theft and conspiracy, and I am bound to execute it. You will be good enough to come this way, please."

The wretched man whined and whimpered. But there was nothing for it now but to follow the detective, and, so far as Carrington was concerned, the story is finished. By this time Jack and his companions were in the street. They lingered there chatting together, uncertain as to what to do next, when Benin proceeded to solve the problem. He suggested the advisability of his having an interview with Lord Barmouth without delay.

"You tell me his lordship has already heard of me," he said. "After my own experiences, I can imagine what his feelings have been the last few years. I want to see him at once, and convince him that within a month he will be free to stand before his fellow men, as Ferris will be within the next few days."

Barmouth had lost no time in leaving the court directly he discovered that there would be no occasion for him to enter the witness-box.

When Jack and the others reached Belgrave Square, Barmouth had already removed the strips of plaster from his face, and was walking up and down his study with the restless air of one whose mind is ill at ease. All the same, he seemed to divine the cause of Benin's presence, for he held out his hand and smiled gratefully.

"I know you come to me in the guise of a friend, Doctor Benin," he said. "Is it too much to hope that you can cure me as you cured my friend Ferris?"

............