Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-02-26
Tle Evil Genius.
A DOMESTIC STORY.
BY wILKIE COLLINS.
BEFORE THE STORY.
1.-The Trial.

Slutl NtIultt-
Their foreman was person doubly dis
tinguished among his colleagues. He had
the cIearest head and the readiest tongue.
For once the right man was in the right
place.
Of the eleven jurymen four showed their
characters on the surface. They were:
The hungry juryman, who wanted his din
ner.
The inattentive juryman, who drew pict-
ures on his blotting paper.
The nervous juryman, who suffered from
fdgets.
The silent iuryman, who decided the YER
dict
OF the seven remaining members one was
little drowsy man who gave no trouble;
one was an irritable invalid who served I'M
der protest; and five represented that vast
nijprity of the population-easily governed,
tranquility happy-which has no opinion Of
II own.
The foreman took his place at the head Of
the table. His colleagues seated themselves
on either side Of him. Then there fell upon
that assembly of men silcnce-neyer known
among an assembly Of women-the silence
which proceeds from general reluctance TO
be the person who speaks first
1t was the foreman's duty, under these
circumstances, to treat his deliberatiye breth-
rem as we treat our watches when they stop
he wound the jury up and set them going
Gentlemen" he began "have you formed
any decided opinion on the case thus farW
Some of them said yes and some of them
said no. The little drOwsy man said moth
Ing. The fretful invalid cried $50 Onp The
nervous juryman suddenly rose. His breth-
fen all looked at him, inspired by the same
fear Of having got an orator among them.
lie was an essentially polite man, and he
FASTENED to relieve their minds. Pray don't
be alarmed, gentlemen; / am not going TO
make speech. | suffer from fdgets. Ex-
cuse me If / occasionally change my posi-
ton" The hungry juryman (wno dined
early looked at his watch. "Half-past four"
he said. For heavens sake cut it short"
lie was the latest person present; and lie
suggested subject to the inattentive jury
man who drew pictures on his blotting-paper.
Deeply interested in the progress of the like
ness, his neighbors on either side looked over
his shoulders. The little drowsy man woke
with a start and begged pardon of every
body. The frctful invalid said TO himself;
Did fools, all of themW The patient
foreman, biding his time, stated the case.
1.-THE prisoner waiting our verdict, gentle
men, is the Hon. ROdcrick Westerfe!d,
younger brother Of tho present Lord 10
Basque lie is charged with wilfully cast
ing away the British bark John Jerminan,
under his Command; for the purpose of fraud
uIcntIy obtaining n share of the insurance
money and further of possessing himself of
certain Brazilian diamonds, which formed
part OF the cargo. In plain words, here is a
gentleman born in the higher ranks of life
accused Of being a thief. Before we attempt
u arrive at a decision, we shall only be doing
him justice # we try TO form s2me general
estimate of his character based on the evil
dcncc-and we may fairly begin by inquir-
Ing into his relations with the noble family to
which lie belongs The evidence so far, is
not altogether crcditabIe to him. Being at
the time an officer in the royal navy, he APP
pears to have outraged the feelings Of his
family by marrying n barmaid at public
house"
The drowsy juryman, happening to be
awake at the moment, surprised the foreman
by intcrpOsng n statement Talking of
barmaids," he said, 81 know curates
daughter. She's in distressed circumstances,
poor thing; and she's n barmaid somewhere
In the north of England. Curi0uSly enough
the name of the town has escaped my mem
DRY. II we had Il map of EngIand-."
There he was interrupted, cruelty interrupt.
ed, by ole OF his brethren.
"And by what right" cried the greedy
iuryman, speaking under the CNaSpcrating
influence of hun%rr-"by what right does
Mr.. WeserGcld's family dare to suppose that
bauaaid may not be perfectly virtuous
womanv'
Hearing This the restless gentleman 0n
the act Of changing his postionl was sudden
~ inspired with interest in the proceedings.
Pardon me for putting myself forward" he
said, with his customary poitcness. Speak
Ing us an abstainer from fermcnted liquors, |
must really protest against these illusions to
barmaidsn
Speaking as a consumer of fcrmentcd
liquors. the invalid remarked, Il wish |
had barmaid and IA bottle Of champagne be-
fore me n0wI'
Superior 10 interruption the admirable
foreman went ON.
Whatever You may think, gentlemen, OF
the prisoners marriage, we have it in evil
deuce that his relatives turned their backs
on him from that m0mCnt-with the one
mercitul exception of the head of the family.
Lord Ie Basque cXcrtcd his influence with
the admiralty, and obtained for his brother
then out of employment an appointment
To a ship. All the witnesses agree that Mr..
Westertield thoroughly understood his pro-
NSSiDn. II he could have controlled himself,
he might have risen to high rank in the
navy. His temper was his ruin. lie quar-
relied with one of his superior officers"
Under strong proyocation?" said mem
Der of the jury.
Under strong prOvOCatOn," the foreman
admitted. but prOvOCation is not an excuse,
judged by the rules of discipline The pris-
oner challenged the officer on duty to fight
duel at the first opportunity on shore, and,
receiving n C0niemptuOus refusal, struck him
ON the quarterback. As matter of course
Mr. WcStertcld was tried by court-martal,
and was dismissed the service. Lord le
BaSque's patience was not exhausted yet
The merchant service offered last chance
10 the prisoner of retrieving his position, to
some extent at least lie was fit for the sea,
and tit for nothing else. At my lords earn
est request the owners of the John Jcrminan
trading between Liverpool and Rio took Mr.
Westeriicld on trial as first mate; and, to his
credit be IL said, he justified his brothers
faith In him. In 4 tempest or the coast of
Africa the captain was washed overheard
and the first mate succeeded to the command.
Ills scamanship and courage saved the YES
sci under circumstances of danger which
paralyZed the efforts of the other officers. lie
was confirmed, rightly confirmed in the COM
mand of the ship. And, SO far, we shall GER
tainy not be wrong II we view his character
ON the IA orahle Sidc.'
There the foreman paused to collect his
ideas.
Certain members OF the aSSembly-led by
the jurymau who wanted his dinner, and
supported by his inattentive colleague, then
engaged in drawing a ship in n storm and
captain falling acknowledgement the ac-
Quittal of the prisoner without further con-
sideratiou, Eut the frettul 'Nrard "riaa
stuff !" and the i've jurymCn who had no
opinions of their own, struck by the admir-
able hrcvity with which he expressed his sem
timcpts, sang out in chorus: "Hearl heart
heart Tho silent iuryman, hitherto over
looked, now attracted attention. lie was a
bald-headed person of uncertain age, button
ed up tight in q long frock-coat and wearing
his gloves all through the proceedings. When
the chorus Of five cheered he smiled mySteri-
ouSly. Everybody wondered what that smile
meant The silent iuryman kept his opinion
10 himself. From that moment he began 10
exercise a furtiye influence over the jury.
Even the foreman looked at him on reSuming
the narrative.
After n certain term of service, gentle
Sr.sss, Ss>;-,,- -h;rE laar-, Nothing IN his
disadvantage, the prisoners merits appear
l. ~