Penny Blood Serial Cover — page 113: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ee liad ——-. = - ~- ALFRED DE ROSANN. 105 perience a long delay ere his doom was pronounced. And that doom was death! It was moreover decreed that in order to present the other convicts with a striking example, the execution should take place in the prison itself. : It was about a fortnight after the entrance of De Rosann and his companions, that this sentence was -_made known, with the additional certitude of its being put into force within four-and-twenty hours. Edouard was set at liberty; but not a soul spoke to him ; he was shunned by the most degraded as well as by the most scrupulous. Even in the eyes of murderers his conduct appeared monstrous; when contemplated by polluted imaginations and blood- thirsty minds his behaviour had an aspect of some- thing inhuman. In what light, then, must it appear to the virtuous reader ? The news of Francois’ condemnation to death, and the various collateral circumstances attending it, filled _ the whole of the dagne with sorrow, and diffused an unusual gloom around. Audible curses were muttered against Iidouard—many gave him a blow as they passed—and at night he was under the necessity of feigning indisposition, as an excuse for sleeping at the hospital, apart from his usual companions, of whose taunts and reproaches he was dreadfully afraid. At length the fatal morning dawned ; and, when De Rosann arose, he saw the gwuzllotine erected in the spacious court-yard below. With an involuntary shudder he pointed it out to Belle-Rose ; the others soon gathered at the windows ; and all gazed in silence upon the accursed instrument. At that moment the first rays of the rising sun pierced through the dis- persing mists, and fell upon the glittering knife which was hung between the tall spars, at their _summits. Those spars were about one foot and three-quarters asunder ; between them was soon to pass a living being ; thence would be withdrawn a headless corpse! The beams of the orb of day appeared to play upon the destructive mechanism as if in mockery of the CORDIC OOOLKS (C@