colony. Crowds of spectators flocked from all parts to cheer and congratulate the brave captors and their deliverers from such a scourge, while execrations were heaped on the heads of the merciless malefactors.
The court was crowded to suffocation, while a large number who could not obtain admission, awaited with great anxiety the issue of the trial. A number of witnesses from all parts appeared to identify the prisoners, and to connect them with the several robberies committed by the band; but the extraordinary skill exhibited by Melrose in cross-examining the witnesses threatened to defeat the ends of justice, were it not for Charlie Stuart's knowledge of his previous character. The appeal which Melrose made to the jury in defending his own case, had never been equalled for forensic eloquence in a colonial court of justice. The effect of this was, that many who had hailed his approaching doom were now moved to pity him.
The judge, however, partly dispelled the effects of this extraordinary oration, by telling the jury that their duty was simple justice, and that they were not to be influenced by the talent displayed by the prisoner, which, instead of improving his case, would only aggravate it, if they considered that the charges brought against him were proved. The jury at once found both guilty, and sentence of death was passed upon them, on hearing which, Melrose exclaimed—"The gallows is not erected, neither is the rope manufactured,—which will hang me."
This was, indeed, true, for the next morning he was found dead in his cell, having strangled himself with his necktie.
The following was found, written upon the wall of the cell:—"Charlie Stuart, nor any other person, shall have the satisfaction of seeing me swing. They will find me with a smile of contempt upon my lips. The fates have been against me, being twice crossed in love by my conqueror. After being deprived of one, I never thought that he would present himself and prove a stumbling-block in my way of gaining the second, whom I truly loved, but who is now, through me, no more."
