The hirelings of
his accusers loaded him with invectives as he passed along; but the
populace who beheld his noble mien, with those individuals who had
heard of--while many had felt--his generous virtues, deplored and wept
his sentence. To-morrow at sunrise he dies."
Helen's face being overshadowed by the low brim of her hat, the agony
of her mind could not have been read in her countenance had the good
Southron been sufficiently uninterested in his story to regard the
sympathy of others; but as soon as he had uttered the last dreadful
words, "To-morrow at sunrise he dies!" she started from her seat; her
horror-struck senses apprehended nothing further, and turning to the
Norwegian, "Captain," cried she, "I must reach the Tower this night!"
"Impossible!" was the reply: "the tide will not take us up till
to-morrow at noon."
"Then the waves shall!" cried she, and frantically rushing toward the
ship's side, she would have thrown herself into the water, had not the
pilot caught her arm.
"Boy!" said he, "are you mad? your action, your looks--"
"No," interrupted she, wringing her hands; "but in the Tower I must be
this night, or-- Oh! God of mercy, end my misery!"
The unutterable anguish of her voice, countenance, and gesture excited
a suspicion in the Englishman, that this youth was connected with the
Scottish chief; and not choosing to hint his surmise to the unfeeling
Norwegian, in a different tone he exhorted Helen to composure, and
offered her his own boat, which was then towed at the side of the
vessel, to take her to the Tower.
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