The gavel of the poor damned souls, that long has rung their knell, Is passed to you, I abdicate and now you rule in hell.

In the midst of the dinner course, the toastmaster rapped loudly with the gavel for attention.

Rap, rap, rap! went the gavel at last.

Judge Edwards glanced, in some surprise, from Mr. Moffat to the daring man who could choose thus to usher in his defence; and then, forgetting his own emotions, in his instinctive desire for order, rapped sharply with his gavel in correction of the audible expression of a like feeling on the part of the expectant audience.

Mr. Randolph, they cannot take much more of anything in here, and if I begin to throw stocks over, it will bring the gavel inside of ten minutes; and that will be to announce a dozen failures.