The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-06-20
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hands"
dis yere'e iis Ike de ole plantation
times, Grumtled ore Of the darkies. cole
massa he got all dc money, an DE cullud
man he do all dc work"
Hold up your right hands, repeated
the justice.
The negroes eyed hun as il mcdits.ing n
mutiny.
Hold Up your light hands .7 Numbered
his honor.
SWORN IS-TnE iSQrgsT
The colored men bcmialcd. Then one
black hand was slowly raised IN the air
The others followed i Ike the dumb
blackbirds of shooting gallery. The
justice repeated the oatli, bot his hearers
remained dumb,
"Say eve do ,'' he shcutud.
eve do" echoed the trembling negroes
Lower your hands" commanded the
justice, and the blackbirls dropped from
their pcrchcs.
The jury then squattGd upon the furze
about the dead man. They were cowed
but not convinced thar everything was
| right.
"Gentemen, spoke the Justice after all
had squattcd, "y0u are now sworn to per
form the functions of the law. The law is
explicit in its definition of the duties Of a
| coroner's jury The law prescrbes that
testimony shall be taken. In this case
that is n mere matter Of form, for you
yourselves were witnesses Of the death of
this man. The law. however. requires
that YOU shall carefully welgh the evidence,
ascertain how the man died, who he was
aud so on. THIS You will do by virtue nf
your oaths az Jurors
Tie witnesses were then produced
Their evidence was very clear. Ephraim
had gone INTO the water with the intention
OF making an honest dollar by diving for
Parson Blacks tools. While his comp,n-
ions watched him from the bank of the
stream he sank, and was not seen again
until his body was grapplel and drawn
ashore. The jury eagerly listened to all
that was said, but asked no questions
They were evidently afraid Of the Justice,
and looked upon the whole thing as a sort
of NoudOu ceremony. His honor summed
up Ivy saying Gentlemen, YOU will now
retire, and after carefully WEIGHING the
testimony return with verdict
TIE JOLLY MocKING BIRDS.
The jury Withdrew to the. scrub Their
voices were soon heard above the music
of the hooking birds who had gathered in
the trees about them The negroes were
| having hot dispute, and the birds seemed
! to lie enjoying the scene. In n few min
utes one Of the colored men returned. He
told the Justice that the jury had sent him
! for the testimony.
"pshaw !" exclaimed Sutton. IL hav-
emit got the testimony. You heard the evil
donce, and have got all thc,ci of it. There
is no more testimony"
The black man shook his head, and re-
joined his fellows in the scrub. Within
three minutes, however, he reappcared.
EFF de jury don't got de testimony, how
de dcbbil dc jury done gwine to weigh ?"
he asked.
''Weigh il in your minds" screamed the
almost frantic Justice "Tou heard all
the evidence. and it's your place to decide
upon it, not mine.
Back went the dumbioundcd iuryman.
The hooking birds pitched in with renewed
energy, but the voices Of the disputing ju.
rOrs were still heard above their shril
whstling. At last the noise partly died
away, and the jury were seen picking their
way through the palmetto scrub. They ap-
preached his Honor and asked permission
to examine Che body. He Gssontcd, and
Ephraim was thoroughly overhaulcd, They
felt OF his pulse, put their ears to his heart,
turned ar old jack knife and several nick
els ont of his pocket and looked in his
mouth. Ozone gone" said the iaryman
with the fish-line belt, and all again retired
to the scrub.
THE FIRST VERDICT.
T,av vnro conc bu. = faw socorss IN
thair rat,rn Jnst;co Sutton nnIIoJ = bo,l
honl, and nanciI fror h;s noclr,t and ,ro.
pared to record the verdict.
"Wcll, gentlemen" he said, "have you
fOund n verdict in the case ~
.,yos sob ;, ,ras tho ro,iY
.,Wbst is !. ." asl,c1 lis Homer wott;n,
.h, ord ~ Nc norc;l
.sDo mar iI'c an, .jst l., c,I,orod man an,
dooJ an To-. Lo b,I mn business ,,t J.h
on do y" ,yotab ''
led Cod,n cxcI,i,,od S,.,o, ~
,,,. :"
ssDat nm Io v,rdicl, - was tbo answer
.N"w iooi. hero " Srtton hrol,o on,
..par &C ~ ~ S,lo ,bot,s ,Tn na,to, ~,
var9 Uovon.t y,o, .,ct common scnsos ANY,
cursed tool t1oys ,hc man il deod lie
ont IN tha water w ', canght nv crar,r,
and Jrowncd rs as Main as th,. nose an
S"nr foco Tbe law mofes II yonr dnty
70 ascor,o;, tho carsa of Ills d1,th Yo,
n w. aro,, r1,nI o,,, Ii ro,na C,hac,,
and hr;rg in a conmon .cn.n ver1irt q,
; I'm frr o,.1rv ,nothnr,s SON of vn,, ria
man ,ros con:,h, Ly cr.nns ana Ir,,,rcl
Thar all there !. If In, case"
""' = ''' Wv - ~ ''''
TIE LAST VERDICT.
The terrified inrv walked hack 10 III,
scrnh. and the ioilv morki,r-hi,,ls greeted
,Lem with a now Aoo1 If ,nelodv Tho,
ware n,,t rearir twenty min,tes Ins,jc(
Snttnn hnok onl neno; in hand INN tipnt
lv waited their rc,urn. The weather wa,
hnt and tlp npuroqs putOp pu- pf Tho bru Il