The herald., 1896-03-22
CHAPTER III.
IN THE MATTER OF THE HANGING OF
DUNCAN JOPP.

1t CHANGED in the year 1918 that Archie
strayed one day into the Judiciary Court,
The macer made room for the son of the
presiding judge. In the dock the centre Of
mems eyes, there stood a whey-coloured
misbegotten catiff Duncan Jopp, on trial
for his life. His story, as it was raked out
| before him in that public scene, was one
| OF disgrace and vice and cowardice, the
| very nakedness of crime; and the creature
| heard and it seemed at times as though
| he understood-as if at times he forgot the
| horror of the place he stood in and re-
membered the shame of what had brought
| dropped in ms eyes affu at uInus ne nuns
| it back; and now he glanced about the au-
dience in sudden fellness of terror, and
now looked in the face of his judge and
gulped. There was pinned about his throat
piece of dingy flannel and this it was
perhaps that turned the scale in Arches
mind between disgust and pity. The crea-
ture stood in a vanishing point; yet lit
tie while, and he was still a man, and had
eyes and apprehension; yet a little longer,
and with a last sordid piece of pageantry,
he would cease to be. And here, in the
meantime, with trait of human nature
that caught at the beholders's breath, he
was tending sore throat.
Over against him, my Lord Hermiston
occupied the bench in the red robes OF
criminal jurisdiction, his face framed in
| the white wig. Honest all through, he did
not affect the virtue of impartiality; this
was no case for refinement; there was
man to be hanged, he would have said,
and he was hanging him. Nor was 1T pos
sible to see his lordship, and acquit him
of gusto in the task. 1t was plain he gior-
led in the exercise of his trained faculties,
in the clear sight which pierced at once
into the joint of fact in the rude, unvar-
nished jibes with which he demolished ev-
cry fragment of defence. He took his ease
and tested, unbending in that solemn place
with some of the freedom of the tavern;
and the rag of man with the flannel round
his neck was hunted gallowsward with
ieers.
| Duncan had a mistress scarce less for
lorn and greatly older than himself, who
came up, whimpering and curtseying, to
add the weight of her betrayal My lord
gave her the oath in his most roaring
voice and added an intolerant warning.
"Mind what ye say now, Janet" said he.
81 have an e'e upon ye, I'm ill to jest WITH.
Presently, after she was tremblingly em-
barked on her story, "And what made ye
posed. "Do ye mean to tell me We was
the panels mistress?"
"If you please, ma loard," whlned the
female.
"Godsake. We made bonny couple OBJ
: served his lordship; and there was some-
thing so formidable and ferocious in his
scorn that not even the galleries thought
to laugh.
The summing up contained some jewels.
"These two peetiable creatures seem to
| have made up thegither, it's not for us to
} explain why"-"The panel, who (whatever
| else he may be) appears to be equally Ill
, set-out in mind and boady. y."-"Neither the
} panel nor yet the old wife appears to have
. had so much common sense as even to tell
a lie when it was necessary" And in the
5 course of sentencing, my lord had TINS
obiter dictum: 81 have been the means, un-
der. God. of hanging a great number, pu'
| never lust such disjaskit rascal as your
SELF The words were strong In them
/, selves: the light and heat and detonatlon
, of their delivery, and the savage pleasure
, of the speaker in his task, made them TN
gle in the ears
When all was over. Archie came 1ortf
q again into changed world. HAD there peel
the least redeeming greatness III the criihe'
!, any obscurity, any dubiety, perhaps he
: might have understood. But the culprit
. stood. with his sore throat, in the sweat
= of his mortal agony, without defence or
excuse: thing to cover up with blushes:
being SO much sunk beneath the zones OF
q sympathy that pity might seem harmless
. And the Judge had pursued him with q
: monstrous. relishng gaiety, horrible to be
y y conceived, trait for nightmares. 1t II
one thing to spear tiger, another t.