Litchfield enquirer., 1872-08-22
pressed my surprise that q geltl6,naEE s:lsh flyislent Inf iseii affiE sshh

'sk tAe fddYment3s6 s6f th&g0ntfOFefsy, aiid.eon- 4i sincez l1ipa of his uT He heapdl me
 Hey seaaplaeently to the end and then said -s.s Ever gut-sef f gut gut ;;bat ten he st t6ia vop ting: Vas not dat der, what you call der plaintiff. this this, man who hat der gold top r cane ?'' :. 'sYsy, said T. of ssoufss that. ' was as the {, plalntlH. z<rTs za4 d. its +s-4s
 .fYsF gut, g!s,s-tf thsn ! finds against der ;1 There was a twinkle iii Kfaut,s eyeIand } twitch in his chin, which revealed Ithe secret of his finding. The. gold top was + atthe bottom of his verdict. The plaint-
 if like ''thes engineer hoist with4 hiss bwn
 petard," was to be impaled aa. the head
 of his own cane, md beaten with his dnly
 weapon of defense. Kraut was immovable.
 He had seen enough of gold -sticksEin- VI ait
 ing in his native land, and had evideAtly
 no intention of ighanzing his first e4pe4
 rience as q juror on the soil of freedom
 by verdict in favor of party bearing so funnistakable badge of faristocracy Ex- tpostulation was useless; argument worse l than useless. Kraut was. q genuine, friend of the people a Democrat not to be bib
 ed or 1ured from the straight pathI of I equal rights by 8 thousand gold d.toppel
 eanes-- He was as firm 8 rock II spiked
 my battery of proofs at once, and tried 8
 chance shot of lighter calibre. | Certainly, Mir :Krat1t, plaintiffs with gold-headed aanes ought te be diseohr- aged but my. dear Sir, are you quiteshre
 that in this case the plaintiff cane vas
 really gold headed? He sat very near I me; and, as'far as I could see, was ohly washed with gilt, and thata of f4gery pber
 quality; In fact, will; bet, you fifty 4dal-
 lars to one it was only brass. - 'i"Sol' exclaimed Kraut,- throwing to these expressive two letters-half4 inter
 rogatory, ha1f excIamat atlon-TTal the sshr- 1 prise of which they are the vehicle for 1 every Dutchnlati, high or low. 'S5ot dat
 machts difference !" After G. oGaaseJ
 'sWeil, if der cane is gold d-headed, | finds
 ver der defendant; if der cane is brass, I finds vor der plaintiff. E.
 "Do you take the bet ?'' quietly asked. But Kraut thought it.. was not worth
 while to risk his dollar, and expressing
 himself as perfectly willing to submit the matter to the other jufymen, I immedi-
 atelyspropounded tothem the important
 tunes of the litigants. There was the
 most surprising unanimity of opinion.
 Strange to say, every man of the ten had
 made the subject of the cane his speciality
 and there was nota dissenting voice. The
 top was brass, and the poorest brass. there was no doubt of it; we agreed in less than three minutes, and returning to the court room recorded our verdict in favor of. the. plaintiff, who, alarmed by eur. .unexpected-,, | ly long absence, had begun to imagine
 that he was to be immo1ated on the altar
 of justice himself. .insteadt of assisting lat
 the sacrifice of his adversary. ssar
 Krauts eye vas on the cane from the mo-
 ment of our recently A small cloudIof i suspicion gathered on' the hofison Of his
 Dutch face at his firstsglance, and deep-
 ened into certainty as he concentrated all
 his energies on that single focal point, the
 yellow tops The plaintiff laid it down on
 thfp ptaRle MAilff haasssaial X p He gave
 one despairing and disgHsted look at it's
 unmistakable, genuine, California bril-
 iancy, and then laid it down gently, with I the air of a man profoundly conscious of
 the great truth that there IS one >tiiihg I worse than being humbugged--and that is to acknowledge it.. f a. ..... | Just then the court adjourned.
 The next day Kraat was drawn on jury,
 but I escaped. That jury was out five
 hours, and then came in, reporting that
 they stood eleven to one and couldn't 1 agree There was no difficulty in identi-
 flying thei disagEeeing member. Kraht
 was having his revenge. So, too,4 during
 the entire week. Every jury in which 1 this worthy enemy of the aristocraey fig I ured was sure to disagree, or else Krant would come in as foreman, with flying colors, and annQnce the verdict with an
 air of triumph, which disclosed the dra- 1 gooning process to which, in the retire i ment of the jury.robm, he had subjected his eleven comrades. --r5. .r-4.' '
 was not particularly sorry when the
 revolving wheel once more turned out 1 Kraut and myself together We took the same chairs'in which we e'had been neigh l bors before, but there was, a .seurness
 about Kraut' g. expression which. gave to-
 ken of rather unneighborly feelings, and I thought detected symptoms of antici-
 pated conquest lurking if every feature of his broad face. s. 4-45.s-ss-sl ~ -s4
 | What this trial was about can not precisely reeollect. It was commercial l case, and there was a great deal of evi- dence about invoices, bills of lading,
 stowage on deck or nnder deck, and other
 nautical matters as to, all which it was very clear that Kraut was immediately en-
 veioped in the densest sort of fog; and,
 oHerpowered by the combined effects of
 litigation and lager beer, his head drop | ped forward, and he was, during the greater part of the trial. ina state of pr0-
 found insensibiity,-
 i When we got into the jury room, how | ever, iKraut-wass wide awake again, and ready for action. Therea was, some dis
 cussion as to the rights of the parties, and l for short time there was prospect of 1 disagreefnent without reference to his fn- l elination.s Gradually the opposing views of the jurors were .harmonized, and. 4 in l about half an hour, we were unit, Kraut only excepted. He had kept quiet dur
 ing the debate, but as soon as he pre- l ceiEed that there was an era of good feel
 ing among his colleagues, he threw in the
 apple of discord in the shape of his GUS
 tomary dissentto the proposed verdict
 Three or four of the jurors immediately
 caved in, and there was Kraut faction
 at once; the more entexprising men of the
 majority ''tackled" the Krauts without
 loss of time, and very promising quarrel
 was the speedy result s.sz.-s 54--=-.
 I extricated myself from the group, and I taking my chair 10 the window, which EoveriookedI the Park, with 8. prospect by mo means unpleasing, even in aaid-winter, Il appropriated the only. other vacant seat T then drew from my pocket a very enter.
 staining volume, selected witif great care
 in anticipation of thisa duress, to which
 I had looked forward ever since my last
 experience in the same room, and light I ing capital cigar, devoted myself with Iphilosophic ardor to. both, these sources of
 consolation. As I read and smoked I could perceive that the diversion in favor of Kraut was soonH overcome, and that the
 deserters to- his standars had betrayed lhim; so that herwas leftal6ue ifa his glory
 again, and occupied his familiar position of one out of a dozen. The ten tried him
 apparently by turns, and exhausted up!
 on him everything conceivable in the way
 of argument, ehtrsaty and vituperation,
 hut he stood his ground, and by the time
 I had Turned oyer the t1irtieth page of Fpy book, aad was innt the act of lighting
 my third cigar, he had silenced them aa4,