Soon his delusion will pass away and be forgotten, and his poor mind will be whole again. God speed the day!”

That same day several prisoners were brought in to remain over night, who were being conveyed, under guard, to various places in the kingdom, to undergo punishment for crimes committed. The King conversed with these — he had made it a point, from the beginning, to instruct himself for the kingly office by questioning prisoners whenever the opportunity offered — and the tale of their woes wrung his heart. One of them was a poor half-witted woman who had stolen a yard or two of cloth from a weaver — she was to be hanged for it. Another was a man who had been accused of stealing a horse; he said the proof had failed, and he had imagined that he was safe from the halter; but no —