The Portland daily press., 1881-10-01

ued Julian.
mo-" said the boy. He answered as if
dinner was sore subject with him-per-
haps owing to the fact that he had not had
one for some days. Then after a minutes
pause, he added, "That was my dinner,
that was"
'sWell," said Julian, secretly pleased with
the boys frankness of speech, "you tell me
what want to know about your friend
there, and then, when we go away. I'll give
you as much dinner as you can eat' he
made the boy sit down on the bench beside
him, aud how he occupied the half hour till
the entrance of the judge after lunch su bse-
quent events in court will sufficiently dis
close.
The door of the private department opens
wide. Out steps the official briskly and
stands on one side; a hush takes place in
court, and the Judge comes forth once more
| to his work and to his labor. The bar rise;
toe judge bows to the bar, the bar bow to
the Judge; the judge takes his seat, the bar
take theirs. The witness who is to be cross
exs mined, and who has been preparing for
| the ordeal during the interval by administer
| ing to himself few hasty doses OF Dutch
courage and French brandy, steps up into
| the box; up rises Mr.. Julian, the jury prick
| 10 their ears, and the drama begins.
/ will not weary my readers patience with
verbatim account of the proceedings. The
cross-examination of this witness was very
much like all other cross-examinations.
When Julian took up the defense he devoted
his energies to proving that the prisoner had
at the time of the burglary taken no trouble
to conceal his presence in the house; that be
had made little, if any, resistance to cap
ture; and that, in fact, his behavior was just
that of a man who had not tasted food for
twenty-fQur hours and was driven to burgla-
ry to prevent starvation.
Then it became Julian's duty to bring for
ward any evidence that he could in support
of the defense.
81 suppose you have no evidence for ie
| prisoner?'' said the judge, leaning f0rwtl :
owe his desk and addressing the barrisar'.
'sExcuse me, my lord" replied JUL rel
"Although 1 regret to say that l have ian.
had time to properly prepare the prisOa- not
case and call any witness who might give
different color to the transaction, yet | am
not entirely without Witnesses Then he
turned to the boy whom / have before men
toned, and said: Edward Graham, step
into the box"
edward Graham shouted the usher,
step hup into the box.'
The boy, looking pale and rather timid,
did as he was bid, was duly sworn, and then
as all witnesses do, fixed his eyes on the face
of the examining counsel, instead OF turning
them, aa all witnesses onght to do, toward
the judge and jury.
snow, my lad began Julian, sswhat re-
lation are you to the prisoner?'
81 amt no relation, sir, replied the boy;
''but / call him my father"
Haven't you got father of your own?"
was the next question.
mo, sir, not as knows of. He," point
ing to the prisoner, she has always been
like my father to me; so that's why calls
him it,"
NWhat," put in the judge, shaven't you
any other friends in London? No relations,
brothers or sisters?"
'sNo, sir,'' said the boy simply, GIVE got
no friends but him; he found me when l
was little chap. Somebody left me on
doorstep, so I've heard tell, and he took me
to his house and fed me and took care of me
and so calls him my father"
Now, can you tell me what your father,
as you call him." proceeded Julian, had
been doing on the day when he broke into
this house?'
Gradually, in answer to this and other
questions, some of the most important facts
with regard to the prisoners life and ante
cedents were elected. He had once been, it
seemed, a London carter in the service of
great bre ing house; bit by bit he had ac-
quired drinking habits, had been turned
out of his employment, had gone from bad
to worse, had lived wretched half starv ed
life in cellar for the last six months with
the boy he called his son. Finally, on the
day on which the burglary was committed,
he had gone out in a state of desperation,
determined to get some employment, or at
all events to get food by fair means or foul.
81 tried to pull him back, SIR" said the
boy, "when / saw what he was up to; but 1t
was no good, he was mad like; and when
he had got into the house, ran away"
THAT'S truer' broke in the prisoner, in
hoarse, smothered voice. 81 was mad, and
that is the fact; but it's past now"
The warders sternly ordered him to be 81
lent. But evidently this was no easy mat
ter for him; he was laboring under strong
emotion, pitiable to see, and he kept press
ing his hands tightly together while his lips
were muttering inarticulate words, and all
the time his eyes were fixed on the face OF
his youthful defender in the witness box.
sAnd what made you 90 on living with
him." resumed Julian, when you knew the
bad ways he was getting into?"
Up to this point the boy had answered
we'll enough; but now he pursed up his lips
and was perfectly silent. The question had
to be repeated twice; and then the lad sud-
denly broke out into a cry that seemed to
come from the depths of his little heart.
"Why, how could leave him, after all he'd
done for me? He found me when / was
starving, and he cared for me and fed me,
and-and-oh, SIR" addressing the judge,
''if he is sent to prison let me go toov' And
regardless of the judge, jury, bar and spec
tators, he burst into passionate tears.
The prise ner made quick, convulsive
movement, as if to go to the boy. The ward
ers stopped him. He gave one fierce baftied
glance around, and then bowed his head
down and became quite still. Only by th e
twitching of his face and the clasping OF his
hands could you tell that he was at all
moved by this unlooked-for incident. But
the incident produced its effect upon the
court.
"That will do, my little lad" said Julian
very kindly. "You can go and sit down
now"
Then, without giving himself much time
to pause aud think, he turned to the jury
and briefly addressed them. He dwelt on
the sad tale that had been unfolded to them
that day, yet of the proof that tale afforded
that the prisoner had nature capable OF
better things; and he especially insisted that
the act, of which he had no doubt been gull
ty, had been occasioned-as was perfectly
evident-by the recklessness of hunger and
privation. When deeply stirred Julian for
got himself, which is the key to oratory;
and his speech to the jury, though not much
more than a quarter of an hour in length,
was listened to in silence, and produced an
impression ON all who heard it.
The prosecuting counsel replied. Then
came the summing up, and the last stage of
all was reached the jury retired to consid-
er their verdict
In half an hour they returned, and the
foreman announced: s'We find the prison
er guilty of breaking into the house with in
tent to steal food only; and we strongly rec
ommend him to the mercy of the court" So
Julian's eloquence and the boys evidence
had produced their effect. The poor prison.
Ell was allotted years imprisonment, was
hurried out of the dock before he was able
to realize his sentence; the crowd began to
move out, another case was called on, and
the court resumed its ordinary work as if no
tragedy equal in it's awful airport to the self
wrought doom of Gdlpus~ the predestined
fate of Antigone had few nome nts before
been acted within those gloomy walls.