eight o'clock in the evening
That , perhaps , was always the case , more or less , at this time of day ; but at present the crowd was manifestly possessed by a more than ordinary interest ; and there was a unity in this possessing interest ; all were talking on the same subject , the case in which Agnes had so recently appeared in some character or other ; and by this time it became but too certain in the character of an accused person . Pity was the prevailing sentiment amongst the mob ; but the opinions varied much as to the probable criminality of the prisoner . I made my way into the office . The presiding magistrates had all retired for the afternoon , and would not reassemble until eight o'clock in the evening . Some clerks only or officers of the court remained , who were too much harassed by applications for various forms and papers connected with the routine of public business , and by other official duties which required signatures or attestations , to find much leisure for answering individual questions . Some , however , listened with a marked air of attention to my earnest request for the circumstantial details of the case , but finally referred me to a vast folio volume , in which were entered all the charges , of whatever nature , involving any serious tendency -- in fact , all that exceeded a misdemeanor -- in the regular chronological succession according to which they came before the magistrate . Here , in this vast calendar of guilt and misery , amidst the _ aliases _ or cant designations of ruffians , prostitutes , felons , stood the description , at full length , Christian and surnames all properly registered , of my Agnes -- of her whose very name had always sounded to my ears like the very echo of mountain innocence , purity , and pastoral simplicity .