Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-01-28
The Evil Genius.
ADOMESTIC STORY.
BY WLKIE COLLINS.
BEFORE THE STORY.
The TrtdJ.

pIdCc
Of the eleven jurymen four showed their
characters on the surface. They were:
The hungry juryman, who wanted his din
ner.
The inattentiye juryman, who drew pict-
ures on his blotting paper.
The nervous juTyman, who suffered from
fdgetS.
The silent juryman, 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
majority of the population easily governed,
TRANQUILITY happy-which has no opinion of
its 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 q SilenCe-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 deliberative 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 farp'
Some of them said yes and some of them
said no. The little drOWsy man said SOth-
ing. The fretful invalid cried GO Onp' The
nervous jITyman suddenly rose. His breth-
rem all looked at him, inspired by the same
fear of having got an orator among them.
He was an essentially polite man, and he
fastened to relieve their minds. ''Pray don't
be alarmed, gentlemen; am not going to
make q speech. l suffer from fdgets. EX-
E r oI,o
ton" The hungry juryman (Who dined
early looked at his watch. "Half-past four"
ne said. For heavens sake cut it short"
He was the fattest person present; and he
suggested a subject to the inattentive jury
man who drew pictures on his blotting- paper.
Deeply interested in the progress Of the like
ness, his neghbOrs on either side looked over
his shoulders. The little drOwSy man woke
with start and begged pardon of every
body. The fretful invalid said to himself;
'D-d fools, all of themP' The patient
foreman, biding his time, stated the case
''The prisoner waiting our verdict, gentle
men, is the Hon. Roderick WesterfeId,
younger brother of the present Lord lie
Basque. He is charged with willfully cast
ing away the British bark John Jerminan,
under his command; for the purpose of fraud
ulently obtaining a 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 thief. Before we attempt
to arrive at a decision, we shall only be doing
him justice if we try to form some general
estimate of his character, based on the evil
dence-and we may fairly begin by inquir-
ing into his relations with the noble family to
which he belongs The evidence, SO far, is
not altogether creditable 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 a barmaid at public
house."
The drOwsy juryman, happening to be
awake at the moment, surprised the foreman
by interpOSing a statement. Talking of
barmaidS," he said, L know a curate's
daughter. She's in distressed circumstances,
poor thing; and she's barmaid somewhere
in the north Of England. CuriOusly enough
the name Of the town has escaped my mem
DRY. If we had map Of England"
There he was interrupted, cruelty interrupt
ed, by one of his brethren.
"And BY what right" cried the greedy
juryman, speaking under the eXasperatino
influence of hunger-''by what right does
a barmaid may not be a perfectly virtuous
WOmanp
Hearing this, the restless gentleman Gin
the act Of changing his pOSitiOn) was sudden
Iy inspired with interest in the proceedings.
Pardon me for putting myself forward" he
said, with his customary pOliteness. ''Speak-
ing as an abstainer from fermented liquors, I
must really protest against these illusions to
barmaids."
Speaking as a consumer of fermented
liquors, y the invalid remarked, Il wish [
had a barmaid and bottle of champagne be-
fore me nOwp'
Superior to interruption the admirable
foreman went on.
Whatever you may think, gentlemen, of
the prisoners marriage, we have it in evil
dence that his relatives turned their backs
on him from that moment-with the one
merciful exception of the head of the family.
Lord lie Basque eXerted his influence with
the admiralty, and obtained for his brother
then out of employment an appointment
to ship. All the witnesses agree that Mr..
Westerheld thoroughly understood his pro-
feSsiOn. If he could have controlled himself,
he might have risen to high rank in the
navy. His temper was his ruin. He quar-
relied with one of his superior officers"
"Under strong provocation?" said mem
Der of the jury.
''Under strong provocation,' = the foreman
admitted. "Butprovocation 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 a contempuous refusal, struck him
on the quarterback. AS a matter Of course
Mr.. Westerfeld was tried by court-martial,
and was dismissed the service Lord le
BaSque's patience was not exhausted yet.
The merchant service offered a last chance
to the prisoner of retrieving his position, to
some extent at least. He was fit for the sea,
and fit for nothing else. At my lords earn
est request the owners of the j John Jerminan,
trading between Liverpool and Rio, took Mr..
WeSterfeld on trial as first mate; and, to his
credit be it said, he justified his brothers
faith in him. In tempest off the coast of
Africa the captain was washed overheard
and the first mate succeeded to the command.
His seamanship and courage saved the yes
sci under circumstances of danger which
paralyZed the efforts of the other officers He
was confirmed, rightly confirmed, in the COM
mand Of the ship. And, so far, we shall GER
tainIxr not ba Hyron0 ssiaNy bic obo