PART XIV.

THE WHITE DOVE.

The decision of the court at the conclusion of the long trial was as follows:

"Whereas: After hearing all the evidence, it has been found impossible to establish fully the exact nature of twenty-one of the twenty-two crimes, for which the prisoner has been indicted, the court has decided to pronounce him guilty of only the twenty-second and last on the register--'Treason.'

"But, as the prisoner avers that this transgression was committed by his blood-comrade, who occupied his, the prisoner's, body at the time the crime was committed; and that his, the prisoner's, _mind_ was not cognizant of the blood-comrade's intentions when the exchange of bodies was effected, the court has decided to acquit the prisoner's mind and commend it to the mercy of God; and, that it may serve as a lesson to all miscreants who contemplate a similar crime, to sentence the body to death by a merciful shot in the back of the head."

The prisoner thanked the court for its clemency and assured the honorable gentlemen that he had no desire to postpone the execution of the just sentence.

When he was brought to the place of execution he removed his coat and hat, then requested, as a last favor, that his hands might be left free, and not bound behind his back, as he wished to clasp them on his breast in prayer.

The request was granted. He knelt, and in an audible tone repeated the Lord's Prayer. Then he turned toward the musketeers, who were waiting matches in readiness above the priming-pans, and said earnestly:

"Comrades, I beg you, when you shoot me, try also to kill the raven which is fluttering on my shoulder"--he glanced furtively toward his shoulder and added joyfully: "No! No! it is not the raven--it is my white dove--my precious white dove! She has come to bear my soul to the land wherein she now dwells! My good angel!--My Madus--my only love!"

Twelve musket shots rang out on the silent air, and the white dove soared away with the released soul.

FINIS.)

Transcriber's Note: The original edition did not contain a table of contents. A table of contents has been created for this electronic edition.

The use of quotation marks in the original text was irregular and not always consistent. Some words, especially proper names, were also spelled inconsistently. Except as noted below, spelling and punctuation have been left as they originally appeared.

On the title page, "MAURUS JOKAI" was changed to "MAURUS JOKAI".

In Part I, Chapter I, a single-quote (') was changed to a double-quote (") after "It would make the carrying on a war an easy matter."

In Part I, Chapter II, "Prisoners: I was a member of a band of robbers" was changed to "Prisoner: I was a member of a band of robbers", and a missing quotation mark was added after "diabolicum implicitum".

In Part II, Chapter I, quotation marks were added after "Kto tam? Stoj!" and "not a man of your word", "you shall have this koltuk-denigenegi" was changed to "you shall have this koltuk-dengenegi", and "Incendarii ambitiosi comburantur" was changed to "Incendiarii ambitiosi comburantur".

In Part II, Chapter II, "cities, castles, and monastaries" was changed to "cities, castles, and monasteries", and a quotation mark was added after "not the other one!"

In Part III, Chapter I, a quotation mark was added after "what your crutch contains!", "I don't wan't brandy" was changed to "I don't want brandy", and a quotation mark after "the tongue in which demons spake--" was removed.

In Part IV, Chapter I, a quotation mark was added before "This wine, Malchus", a quotation mark was added after "homicidium", "Qui bene distinquet" was changed to "Qui bene distinguit", and "deeply incensed by the impiety of the donnenritter" was changed to "deeply incensed by the impiety of the dornenritter".

In Part V, Chapter II, "Que bene distinguit" was changed to "Qui bene distinguit", a period and quotation mark were added after "the two-thousand you owe me", quotation marks were removed after "seal the bargain with a kiss" and "bought with the money her son had given her", and "the same geneological tree" was changed to "the same genealogical tree".

In Part VI, Chapter I, "worth-nothing, insignificent cipher" was changed to "worth-nothing, insignificant cipher", and a missing period was added after "in every city in the land".

In Part VII, Chapter I, a quotation mark was removed after "respectable God-fearing man".

In Part VIII, Chapter III, "mantained direct communication" was changed to "maintained direct communication".

In Part IX, Chapter I, a quotation mark before "During a calm" was removed, and "how is it posible that such a storm" was changed to "how is it possible that such a storm".

In Part X, Chapter II, "all were against, me" was changed to "all were against me".

In Part XI, Chapter I, "cast from me every fear" was changed to "I cast from me every fear", and "David's battle with Goliah" was changed to "David's battle with Goliath".

In Part XI, Chapter II, "Sint ut sunt aut nou sint" was changed to "Sint ut sunt aut non sint".

In Part XIII, Chapter I, a single quote (') was changed to a double quote (") before "Why do you wish to exchange?" and "Do you still belong to the satyrs?", and a quotation mark was added before "The leader has ordered it" and after "such outrageous fables".