The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1886-10-08

permit of Mr.. Belmore's brief being marked
with fee of five hundre guineas and
"refresher" Of one hundre guineas day.
4. AS second to Belmore l selected my friend
Harding, with whom had been associated
at Scarborough at the time when Daisy and
first learned to love each other. His name
had been ment oned to me among those of
several other rising Juniors on the circuit by
the attorney whom had consulted, and l in
stantly selected him, believing that he would
give me the assistance of a friend as we'll as of
an advocate And now waited with such
patience as I could command for the day
when my darling would re placed on trial
for her life, and when, rs hoped, her inno-
cence might be fully established. l did not
of course relax tho efforts l had been max
ing to obtain counter-evidence on her behalf.
Three special points eng igod all my atten-
ton. l desire |. first, to discover how strych.
mia had been administered to Mr.. Mauleverer
on the night of his murder; secondly, what
had become of the poison which Daisy had
undoubtedly procured shortly before the
murder was committed and, tn rily, where
Gregson-whose connection with the mystery
was, / felt sure, so intimate-was now to be
found. Alas! when the day of the trial
opened l was still without satisfactory in
formation on any of these points.
The case of my darling was the last on the
calendar at the winter assizes 1t had been
postponed at the request of our counsel on
the plea that her committal was of recent
date, and that we had not been able to COM
plete the inquiries necessary for her defense.
But at last came the morning on which
found myself seated in front of the dock in
the little court IN which so many tragedies
of real life have been played out. and in
10 haa Tod he 81
in the great tragedy that had so suddenly
enveloped Daisy's life and mina.
l was hardly conscious OF the buzz of
cheerful life which filed the court while we
waited for the appearance of the judge. AL
around, the people were laughing and talk
ing with a strange and heartless indifference
to the horror Of thu momsnt. There were
gayly dressed ladies in the galleries-,adies
who had come provided with fans and scent
bottles and opera glasses-heaven help themi
to witness the stirring spectacle of the
batting of fellow creature to death in the
name Of the law. l felt rather than saw
that for a time after l had been ushered to
my seat by my attorney, the. eyes of these
women were fixed upon me. They knew
that 1 was Daisy's lover; and, in staring at
me and commenting on my appearance, they
found an occupation which served to whet
their appetites for the greater treat to come.
If only could have spoken out. and said oil
that was in my heart at that moment with
regard to those fashionable and richly
attired' women 1 verify believe there is not
one of them who would not have skunk away
in shame to the obscurity Of her own home.
The counsel came in one by one, and
greeted each other cheerfully There was
one, however, whose face was grave as be-
fitted the occasion Ii was Harding He
came quickly across the court to where sat,
and gripped my hand hard in silent SYM
pathy; then turned, and took his place at
the big table where our solicitor and his
clerks had arranged the great pile of papers
and law books which were 10 be used during
the trial. The prosecuting counsel for the
crown, q meager little man with pale face,
keen eyes, and thin lips, Mr.. Hawk, O. c.,
was the first of the leading personages to
appear. Almost directly after his arrival 1
saw the commanding figure of Mr.. Belmore
standing at the entrance to the court; and
took fresh courage as looked into ahat hand
some intellectual face, and remembered the
great feats this man had already accom-
plished by his gift Of speech and mind While
he was returning tie salutations of his friends
among the members of the circuit l allowed
my eye for a moment to wander round
Branksome and Fosdyie were sitting to-
gether on n bench behind the seats for the
jurors. The former was eying me, as
it seemed to my sensitive magma
ton, with mingled curiosity and COM
passion. 1 do not think there was any
one in all that crowded building who was
more entirely self-possesse1 than he was,
and yet he was about to see the girl who had
been as a daughter TO him placed on her
trial for her lite-and he believed her to be
guilty. l turned with shudder of dread, of
the reason of which l was myself hardly
conscious, from such a spectacle of supreme
self-control AS l did so l caught Fosdyke's
eye He bowed TO me and waved his hand.
l knew that, like Branks ONE. no believed
Daisy to b. guilty. Indeed, after conduct
ing her case during her appearances before
the magistrates, he had rea lily acqliescad
in my suggestion that, unless he were con-
WINGED of her innocence, he would do well to
allow me to seek aSsiStancs elsewhere. But,
although he had thus deserted us in the hour
of direst need, l felt against him nothing of
that burning indignation which possessed
me whenever l thought OF Branksome. He
at least had never known Daisy as Drank
some had done, and l had no right to blame
him because he misiudged her.
There was loud cry of "silence" from the
ushers; everybody in court rose; and the
judge, little rosy-facei man with bright
good-natured countenance, entered and bow
ing, in acknowledgment of the salutations
of the bar, took his seat upon the bench. Then
there was some little confusion while the
under sheriff was engaged in the process of
getting jury together. In my impatienco
it seemed to me that the trial would never
be allowed to begin that day. Hours must
surely already have elapsed since l took my
seat in the court
"Put up Daisy Stancliffe," suddenly cried
the clerk, and there was an audible move
ment Of suppressed excitement throughout
the crowded court l turned and looked,
and there at the bar, deadly rale, but with a
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