Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1890-10-03
"\Nhy?'

The patience of the long suffering foreman
failed him nj last. Not another word shall
pass my lips" he said, until YOU find the
prisoner guilty or hot guilty, among your
s"lvcS-and then I'll tell You il agrec 20
your verdict"
lie folded his arms and looked Ike the
image OF Il man who intended 10 keep his
word
The hungry j,ryman laid himself back in
his chair and groaned. The amateur artist,
who had thus far found Il fund of amuse-
ment IN his blotting-paper. yawned dscon-
tentedly. and dropped his pen. The coUrte-
Gus gentleman, who suffered from idgets,
requested leave to walk up and down the
room; and at the first turn he took woke the
drowsy little man and maddened the irritable
invalid by the creaking of his boots. The
chorus of five, farther than ever from arriv-
ing at an opinion Of their own, looked at the
silent juryman. Once more he smiled mys-
teriously; and once more he offered no ex-
PLANTATION Of what was passing in his mind
except that he turned his bald head slowly
in the direction Of the foreman. Was he in
sympathy with man who had promised to
be as silent as himself?
In the meantime nothing was said or done.
Helpless silence prevailed In every part of
the room.
why the devil doesn't somebody begin?'
cried the invalid. Have You all forgotten
the eyidence?'
This startling question reused the jury to a
sense of what was due to their oaths, if not
to themselves. Some of them recollected
the evidence in one way, and some of them
recolected it in Another, and each man in
sisted on doing justice to his own excellent
memory, and on stating his own unanswer-
able view of the case.
The first man who spoke began at the mid
die of the story told by the witnesses in court.
Il am for acquitting the captain, gentlemen;
he ordered out the boats and saved the lives
OF the crew."-"And am for finding him
guilty, because the ship struck on a rock in
broad daylight and In moderate weather.
u agree with you, sir. The evidence shows
that the vessel was steered dangerously near
to the land by direction of the captain, who
gave the course. "-"Come come gentlemen!
let US do the captain justice. The defense
declares that he gave the customary course,
and that it was not followed when he left
the deck. AS for his leaving the ship in
moderate weather, the evidence proves that
he believed he saw signs Of storm brew
ing."-"Yes, yes, all very well; but what
were the facts! When the loss of the ship
was reported the Brazilian authorities sent
men to the wreck, on the chance of saving
the cargo; and, days afterward, there the
ship was found, just as the captain and the
crew had left her."-"Don't forget, sir, that
the diamonds were missing when the salvors
examined the wreck. "-"All right, but that's
M y,roof fhot tho In cfoo tho Il ia p,ordc
and, before they had saved half the cargo a
storm did come on and break the vessel up,
so the poor man was only wrong in the mat
ter Of time after all."-"Allow me to remind
you. gentlemen, that the prisoner was deeply
In debt and therefore had an interest in
stealing the diamonds. AWAIT little, sir.
Fair plays jewel. Who was In charge of
the deck when the ship struck? The second
mate And what did the second mate do,
when he heard that his owners had decided
to prosecute? He committed suicide! Is
there no proof Of guilt in that act?'-'You
are going little too fast, sir. The coroner's
jury declared that the second mate killed
himself in state of temporary insanity
Gently gently! we have nothing to do with
what the coroner's jury said. What did the
Judge say when he summed up?'-"Bother
the judge! He said what they all say: Find
the prisoner guilty if you think he did it, and
find him not guilty if you think he didn't And
then he went away to his comfortable cup OF
tea in his private room. And here are we,
perishing of hunger and our families dining
without us."-''Speak for yourself, sir; j
havn't got family" -'COnsider yourself
lucky, sir; I have got twelve, and my life Is
burden to me, owing to the difficulty Of
making both ends meet "-''Gentlemen gen.
tlemenl we are wandering again. Is the
captain guilty or not? Mr.. Foreman, we
none of us intended to offend you. Will you
tell us what you thinky'
No. The foreman kept his word. DE
eide for yourselves first" was his only reply.
In this emergency the member afflicted
with fidgets suddenly assumed position of
Importance. He started new idea.
Suppose we try show of handsp he
suggested. Gentlemen who find the pris-
Oner guilty will please hold up their hands"
Three votes were at once registered In this
way, including the vote of the foreman. Aft
or moment of doubt the chorus of five de-
cided on following the opinion which hap
pened to be the first opinion expressed in
point Of time. Thereupon the show of hands
for the condemnation of the prisoner rose to
eight Would this result have an effect on
the merciful minority of four? In any case,
they were invited to declare themselves next
Only three hands were held up. One incom-
prehensible man abStained from expressing
his sentiments even by sign. Is it neces-
sary TO say who that man was? A mysteri-
Gus change had now presented itself In his
appearance, which made him an object of
greater interest than ever. His inexplcable
smile had vanished. He sat immovable, with
closed eyes. Was he meditating profoundly,
or was he only asleep? The quick-witted
foreman had long since suspected him of be.
Ing simply the stupidest person present
with justcunning enough to conceal his OWL
dullness by holding his tongue. The jury
arrived at no such sensible conclusion. I'm
pressed by the intense solemnity of his coun
tenance. they believed him to be absorbed In
reflections of the utmost importance to the
verdict After a lii ,ted conference among
themselves, they decided OH securing una
nimity Of opinion by submitting to the arbi
tratiOn of the one independent member pres
ent-thc member who had taken no part In
their proceedings. (which way does you
view Of the verdict incline, sir? Guilty OF
not guilty~
The eyes Of the silent juryman opened
with the slow and solemn dilation of the eye.
OF an owl. Placed between the alternative.
OF declaring himself in one word or two, hi.
tacitum wisdom chose the shortest form o.
speech. Guilty" he answered-and shu
his eyes again, as il he had had enough of 1
already.
An unutterable sense Of relief pervaded tn,
meeting. Enmities were forgotten. ant
friendly looks were exchanged. With ONT
accord the jury rose to return to court TIT
prisoners fate was sealed. The verdict wa.
guilty.
2.-The Sentence.
The low hum Of talk among the persons II
court ceased when the jury returned to theil
places. Curiosity now found its center Of
attraction In the prisoners wife-who ha(
| been nreSpnt thrOrpho,,t tho trial Tho C,,oo