" An hour and twenty minutes they remained absent;
then their returning tread was heard. The prisoners turned their eyes
upwards; Maguire looked towards them, half hopefully half appealingly;
from Allen's glance nothing but defiance could be read; Larkin fixed
his gaze on the foreman, who held the fatal record in his hand, with
calm resolution; while a quiet smile played round O'Brien's lips, as
he turned to hear the expected words.
"Guilty!" The word is snatched up from the lips of the foreman of the
jury, and whispered through the court. They were all "guilty." So said
the jury; and a murmur of applause came rolling back in response to
the verdict. "Guilty!" A few there were in that court upon whom the
fatal words fell with the bitterness of death, but the Englishmen
who filled the crowded gallery and passages exulted at the sound: the
vengeance which they longed for was at hand.
The murmur died away; the sobs that rose from the dark recesses where
a few stricken-hearted women had been permitted to stand were stifled;
and then, amidst breathless silence, the voice of the Crown Clerk was
heard demanding "if the prisoners had anything to say why sentence of
death should not be pronounced on them."
The first to respond was Allen. A slight flush reddened his cheeks,
and his eyes lit up with the fire of enthusiasm and determination, as,
advancing to the front of the dock, he confronted the Court, and spoke
in resolute tones as follows:--
"My Lords and Gentlemen--It is not my intention to occupy much of
your time in answering your question.
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