“The evidence of this man,” said Mr. Rolland, “completes my case.”

The words had scarcely left his lips before Victor Fensden was seen to spring to his feet. Once more he opened his mouth as if to speak, and once more he failed to utter a word. Then, with a loud cry, he fell forward in a swoon. Two of the policemen near at hand ran forward to pick him up. Between them, they carried him out of the Court to an adjoining room. In the Court itself at that moment, it would have been possible to have heard a pin drop. Then the judge found his voice.

“Gentlemen,” he said, addressing the jury, “after the astounding evidence you have just heard, I am thankful to say that, in my opinion, there is not the least shadow of a reason for continuing the case against the prisoner at the bar. In this I feel sure you will concur with me.”

The foreman of the jury entirely agreed with his lordship, and at the same time desired to express, on behalf of himself and his brother jurymen, their great regret that a gentleman of Mr. Henderson’s position should, by another man’s action, have been placed in such an unhappy predicament.

“With that I quite agree,” said the counsel for the prosecution.

This was the signal for general applause in Court, which, somehow, was not checked by the judge as quickly as is customary in such cases.

When silence had been restored, the latter addressed Godfrey.

“Godfrey Henderson,” he said, and his voice was very impressive, “by reason of the false evidence that has been given against you, by a cruel and vindictive man, you have been brought to the dock of this Court, and charged with the perpetration of a most cruel and bloodthirsty crime. Of that crime twelve of your countrymen have declared you to be innocent, and to their testimony I emphatically add my own. While it is not in my power to offer you the hope of receiving any return for the anxiety you have suffered, I can say something that I know you will value much more; that is, that you leave this Court a free man, and without the shadow of a stain upon your character.”

“I thank you, my lord,” said Godfrey, quietly, and at that moment one of the ushers of the Court entered and approached the judge.

“Gentlemen,” said the latter, again addressing the Court, “I think it only right to make it known to you that a Higher Power than that I represent has intervened, and the wretched man, who has caused all this misery and suffering, has been suddenly called to appear before a greater Tribunal. May God have mercy upon his soul!”

Then the Court was cleared, and Godfrey found himself shaking hands with Sir Vivian and the men who had worked so hard to prove his innocence. When he had thanked them from the very bottom of his heart, Sir Vivian took his arm.

“Come away now, come away,” said the old gentleman. “There are other people waiting to welcome you.”

Seizing Godfrey by the arm, he hurried him out into the street to a cab which was waiting there. Ten minutes later he was locked in his mother’s arms.

“O Godfrey,” said Molly, as he embraced her in her turn, “I knew that God would send you back to me!”

A week later Godfrey and Molly were married by special license, and left England the same day for the South of France. They are now back again at the Hall, and as happy as two young people could well expect to be. The clouds that shadowed their lives at one time are now completely dispersed, but, if Godfrey lives to be a hundred, he will never forget the agony he suffered in connection with what the newspapers called “The Mystery of the Clasped Hands.”

THE END

APPLETONS’ TOWN AND COUNTRY LIBRARY.

PUBLISHED SEMIMONTHLY.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.

FOR NATURE LOVERS AND ANGLERS.

Familiar Fish: Their Habits and Capture.

A Practical Book on Fresh-Water Game Fish. By Eugene McCarthy. With an Introduction by Dr. David Starr Jordan, President of Leland Stanford Junior University, and numerous Illustrations. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

This informing and practical book describes in a most interesting fashion the habits and environment of our familiar freshwater game fish, including anadromous fish like the salmon and sea trout. The life of a fish is traced in a manner very interesting to Nature lovers, while the simple and useful explanations of the methods of angling for different fish will be appreciated by fishermen old and young. As one of the most experienced of American fishermen, Mr. McCarthy is able to speak with authority regarding salmon, trout, ouananiche, bass, pike, and pickerel, and other fish which are the object of the angler’s pursuit. His clear and practical counsel as to fly-casting, and rods and tackle and their use, and his advice as to outfits and the various details of camp life, render his book a most useful companion for all sportsmen and campers. Dr. David Starr Jordan has read the manuscript, and has lent the weight of his approval by writing an introduction. The book is profusely illustrated with pictures and serviceable diagrams.

BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS.

By F. SCHUYLER MATHEWS.

Familiar Flowers of Field and Garden.

Illustrated by the Author. 12mo. Library Edition, cloth, $1.75; Pocket Edition, flexible morocco, $2.25.

Familiar Trees and their Leaves.

Illustrated from Nature by the Author. 12mo. Cloth, $1.75.

Familiar Features of the Roadside.

With Illustrations by the Author. 12mo. Cloth, $1.75.

Familiar Life in Field and Forest.

With many Illustrations. 12mo. Cloth, $1.75.

The Art of Taxidermy.

By John Rowley. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00.

Insect Life.

By John Henry Comstock. 12mo. Library Edition, cloth, $2.50; Teachers’ and Students’ Edition, $1.50.

The Insect World.

By Clarence M. Weed. 12mo. Cloth, 60 cents.

Bird-Life.

A Study of our Common Birds. By Frank M. Chapman, Assistant Curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology in the American Museum of Natural History. Illustrated by Ernest Seton Thompson. 12mo, cloth, $1.75. With 75 full-page Plates in Colors, 8vo, cloth, $5.00.

Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America.

By Frank M. Chapman. With nearly 200 Illustrations. 12mo. Library Edition, cloth, $3.00; Pocket Edition, flexible morocco, $3.50.

RECENT FICTION.

The Brass Bottle.

A Romance. By F. Anstey, author of “Vice Versa,” etc., With Frontispiece. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

“Not only is the plot of the book novel, like all of Anstey’s work, but he has developed it with rare skill. The rollicking hilarity and absurdity of the conception are carried off with a gravity and seriousness that is the very essence of droll fun. The man who loves to laugh will find 'The Brass Bottle’ a fountain of mirth.”—Brooklyn Eagle.

The Eagle’s Heart.

A Story of the West. By Hamlin Garland, author of “A Spoil of Office,” “A Member of the Third House,” “Wayside Courtships,” etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

“'The Eagle’s Heart’ is Mr. Garland’s best work, considered as a story of sustained interest, strong characters, and exciting incidents.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“Hamlin Garland may be seen at his best in 'The Eagle’s Heart.’... He has graphically depicted the wild life on the Western plains; he has added a symmetrical and intensely interesting character study of the typical plainsman, and through the whole there runs a dainty love motive. These elements are combined with artistic skill.”—Chicago Tribune.

“Mr. Garland gives us as true a historical novel as any of the colonial period or the days of the War for Independence. He presents the dignity of the life and its service to the nation. 'The Eagle’s Heart’ is a splendid achievement.”—New York Mail and Express.

The Footsteps of a Throne.

A Romance. By Max Pemberton. Uniform with “Kronstadt” and “The Phantom Army.” Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

“The reader’s attention is held breathlessly until the last page has been turned.”—Boston Journal.

“The book trade has all at once had a great revival. Quite ten thousand copies of Mr. Max Pemberton’s new story, 'Footsteps of a Throne,’ have already been issued in this country alone. Of course, this is generally regarded as by far the best story, as well as one of the most dramatic, the author has yet written.”—From a special London cable to the New York Herald.

ADA CAMBRIDGE’S NOVELS.

Each, 12mo, cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents.

Path and Goal.

This latest book shows the constant human interest which characterizes the work of this sympathetic and charming writer. There is an entertaining plot, and the backgrounds of the varying scenes of action are sketched most vividly.

Materfamilias.

“The story is fragrant with the breath of farms, the aroma of the salt sea, and the even sweeter essence that exhales from the homely virtues, practiced amid simple surroundings, where family ties are strong, and where love, loyal and true, reigns as queen.”—Philadelphia Item.

A Humble Enterprise.

“A restful, sympathetic, domestic story, full of tender pathos, excellent character drawing, and genuine, lovable human nature—a story to be read, not once, but again and again.”—London Daily Mail.

Fidelis.

“The original flavor of Ada Cambridge is not lost but enriched by being ingrafted on a sturdy stock. Her pictures of Australia and of rural England are as attractive as ever, her story better than ever.”—New York Evening Post.

My Guardian.

“A story which will, from first to last, enlist the sympathies of the reader by its simplicity of style and fresh, genuine feeling.... The author is au fait at the delineation of character.”—Boston Transcript.

The Three Miss Kings.

“An exceedingly strong novel. It is an Australian story, teeming with a certain calmness of emotional power that finds expression in a continual outflow of living thought and feeling.”—Boston Times.

Not All in Vain.

“A worthy companion to the best of the author’s former efforts, and in some respects superior to any of them.”—Detroit Free Press.

A Marriage Ceremony.

“Highly original in conception, its action graceful though rapid, and its characters sparkling with that life and sprightliness that have made their author rank as a peer of delineators.”—Baltimore American.

A Little Minx.

“A thoroughly charming novel, which is just the finest bit of work its author has yet accomplished.”—Baltimore American.

BOOKS BY ALLEN RAINE.

Each, 12mo, cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents.

Garthowen: A Welsh Idyl.

“Wales has long waited for her novelist, but he seems to have come at last in the person of Mr. Allen Raine, who has at once proved himself a worthy interpreter and exponent of the romantic spirit of his country.”—London Daily Mail.

By Berwen Banks.

“Mr. Raine enters into the lives and traditions of the people, and herein lies the charm of his stories.”—Chicago Tribune.

“Interesting from the beginning, and grows more so as it proceeds.”—San Francisco Bulletin.

“It has the same grace of style, strength of description, and dainty sweetness of its predecessors.”—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.

Torn Sails.

“It is a little idyl of humble life and enduring love, laid bare before us, very real and pure, which in its telling shows us some strong points of Welsh character—the pride, the hasty temper, the quick dying out of wrath.... We call this a well-written story, interesting alike through its romance and its glimpses into another life than ours.”—Detroit Free Press.

“Allen Raine’s work is in the right direction and worthy of all honor.”—Boston Budget.

Mifanwy: A Welsh Singer.

“Simple in all its situations, the story is worked up in that touching and quaint strain which never grows wearisome no matter how often the lights and shadows of love are introduced. It rings true, and does not tax the imagination.”—Boston Herald.

“One of the most charming tales that has come to us of late.”—Brooklyn Eagle.

BOOKS BY J. A. ALTSHELER.

In Circling Camps.

A Romance of the American Civil War. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

“Mr. Altsheler has an enviable reputation. His method is that of Fenimore Cooper.... In 'In Circling Camps’ he tells a good, strong, human story for its own sake, and not for the sake of showing off his talent as a literary story-teller. He gives us some great battle pieces, notably Shiloh and Gettysburg. His admiration of the nobler qualities of 'old friends turned foes’ is so hearty and so sincerely dramatic that we love and pity the terrible valor of both.”—Richard Henry Stoddard, in the New York Mail and Express.

“The author seeks to interpret some of the situations of the civil war, and read to us out of the well-known records the story of personal bravery, the drama of personal history, and the old story of love which went on behind the grim scenes of war.”—Philadelphia Call.

A Herald of the West.

An American Story of 1811-1815. 12mo. Cloth, $ 1.50.

“A portion of our history that has not before been successfully embodied in fiction.... Extremely well written, condensed, vivid, picturesque, and there is continual action.... A rattling good story, and unrivaled in fiction for its presentation of the American feeling toward England during our second conflict.”—Boston Herald.

A Soldier of Manhattan.

And his Adventures at Ticonderoga and Quebec. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents.

“The story is told in such a simple, direct way that it holds the reader’s interest to the end, and gives a most accurate picture of the times.”—Boston Transcript.

“Graphic and intensely interesting.... The book may be warmly commended as a good specimen of the fiction that makes history real and living.”—San Francisco Chronicle.

The Sun of Saratoga.

A Romance of Burgoyne’s Surrender. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents.

“Taken altogether, 'The Sun of Saratoga’ is the best historical novel of American origin that has been written for years, if not, indeed, in a fresh, simple, unpretending, unlabored, manly way, that we have ever read.”—New York Mail and Express.

“A sprightly and spirited romance gracefully written in a crisp, fresh style that is simply delightful to read.”—Philadelphia Press.

“AN EPIC OF THE WEST.”

The Girl at the Halfway House.

A Romance of the Plains. By E. Hough, author of “The Story of the Cowboy.” 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

The author of “The Girl at the Halfway House,” Mr. E. Hough, gained general recognition by his remarkable book, “The Story of the Cowboy,” published by D. Appleton and Company in this country, and also published in England.

“The Girl at the Halfway House” has been called an American epic by critics who have read the manuscript. The author illustrates the strange life of the great westward movement which became so marked in this country after the civil war. A dramatic picture of a battlefield, which has been compared to scenes in “The Red Badge of Courage,” opens the story. After this “Day of War,” in which the hero and heroine first meet, there comes “The Day of the Buffalo.” The reader follows the course of the hero and his friend, a picturesque old army veteran, to the frontier, then found on the Western plains. The author, than whom no one can speak with fuller knowledge, pictures the cowboy on his native range, the wild life of the buffalo hunters, the coming of the white-topped emigrant wagons, and the strange days of the early land booms. Into this new world comes the heroine, whose family finally settles near at hand, illustrating the curious phases of the formation of a prairie home. The third part of the story, called “The Day of the Cattle,” sketches the wild days when the range cattle covered the plains and the cowboys owned the towns. The fourth part of the story is called “The Day of the Plow,” and in this we find that the buffalo has passed from the adopted country of hero and heroine, and the era of towns and land booms has begun.

Nothing has been written on the opening of the West to excel this romance in epic quality, and its historic interest, as well as its freshness, vividness, and absorbing interest, should appeal to every American reader.

A NEW HISTORICAL ROMANCE.

Betsy Ross.

A Romance of the Flag. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss, author of “In Defiance of the King,” etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

“Betsy Ross” is a historical romance based upon the story of the maker of the first official American flag. Mrs. Ross was a charming young widow of but little more than twenty-three when she was commissioned to make the flag from a design submitted to her by Washington. Her husband had been killed by an accident at the Philadelphia arsenal within a few months after his marriage.

The romance which the author has woven around the origin of our flag will quicken the pulse of every reader by the wealth of striking characters and dramatic incidents, and the absorbing interest of the plot. History has furnished a motive which has been curiously neglected in fiction, and the picturesque figures of the time, sea-rangers and Quakers, redcoats and Continental soldiers, and even Washington himself, have to do with the development of a strange and thrilling story wherein Betsy Ross takes the leading part. The ancient tavern, the home of the Philadelphia merchant, the flag-maker’s little shop, and the quaint and charming life of the time, are shown as the background of a series of swift incidents which hold the reader’s attention. “Betsy Ross” is a book to be read, and the reader will recommend it.

The Betsy Ross of history was a singularly bright and winsome woman, and intensely patriotic. Mr. Hotchkiss’s story has been confined to the romantic days of her early womanhood. The house in which the flag was completed, and in and about which most of the action of the novel takes place, still stands on Arch Street, Philadelphia, and the attempt to preserve it as one of the shrines connected with American history is meeting with deserved success. Mrs. Ross (afterward Mrs. Claypoole) died at the great age of ninety-three, and her remains lie in Mount Moriah Cemetery.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.