THE BURLINGTON: A HIGH-CLASS Monthly Magazine. EDITED BY HELEN B. MATHERS. AUTHOR OF "COMIN' THRO' THE RYE," &c. REMINGTON & CO., 134, NEW BOND STREET, W. [All Rights reserved.] THE BURLINGTON. JANUARY, 1881. Story of a Sin. By the Author of "COMIN' THRO' THE RYE." BOOK I. SOWN. CHAPTER I. Angel of the Sin, Such as thou standest―pale in the drear light— ARTHA MISTAKE, you are found guilty by your own "MA confession, and on the clearest possible evidence, of the murder of an infant, name unknown, in the Shifting Pool, in the village of Lovel, five and a half years ago; and though the recommendation to mercy will be forwarded in due course, I can hold out no hope that the sentence I am about to pass on you will be commuted." And the judge proceeded to pass sentence of death in the usual way. Sordid and inexpressibly mean in the faint light of dawn looked the court in which these words were spoken; the sentence itself seemed too fine a thing for the wretch who received it, her lips parting in an audible "Thank God!" as the judge ceased to speak, and, jerking aside the black cap, threw his scarlet robes about him, and instantly left the court. A clamour of tongues broke out on his departure, and a trampling of feet set in towards the one narrow exit; not a VOL. I. B |