Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-01-14

| is fetched. "
The foreman drew his side over TO a
corner for whispered consultation.
The thought of their homes, of their
supper and of their crops made the jury
| desperate. To be baked in so simple u
case was an objectionable act. Who can
count the neighborhood enmities that
have had their birth in the divided jury?
1--WE can't starve him out, =" said the
foreman gloomily, "but we can worry
him out I'll see to it that he doesn't
sleep wink. "
1.-Two of us can keep buzzing him at
time, " suggested the little man
"Hell never do no more work for me
unless he gives in purity quick"
Nor for me, neither"
After % few more whispers the cam
paign was organized. Then followed
the fight.
There are few people who understand
what jury room contest is. 1t is sand
paper 1t is mosquitoes. 1t is red pep
per 1t is vitriol. If there is only one
man who stands out, he is tortured with
an inquisition that is varied by / / cor
rosive imaginations. Food has been
known to be SO doctorcd that it could
not be eaten; water so fouled that the
honest unfortunate was maddcned into
surrender. \ man has been known to
be nagged for SO hours without let up
until, fainting, almost out of his intel
! ligence, he has denied his own right
eousncss lest he 20 insane
The blacksmith must have had some
! ,,,I- &c l,f IL.
great jaws grew rigid as he folded his
arms in stolid defiance. Indeed he
seemed like a great bull at bay before
pack Of swapping, snarling hounds But
the bull cannot gore all his tormentors
before they worry him to his fate.
The court had adjourned in disgust,
subject 70 the call of the sheriff. The
little town was as excited over the I'M
foreseen division as if a cyclone had
called, but in the Jury room determine
ton sat upon every face.
William Worthely, who was used to
plenty of air as we'll as of mighty exer-
else opened the window i'll front Of
him. The room was hot and sitting
with the odur of angry men and Of to-
baccO. At wink from the foreman a
member jumped forward and shut the
| window With flash of anger the
blacksmith started to remonstrate but Il
quick look around showed him the fu-
ttlity Of wasting his strength. He smiled
II little in contempt and let it 90. He
rehlled his pipe phllOsophically and
searched for a match. lie had used up
his last one. Then it was discovered
that there was not a match in the room
that is, no one had any 10 give him a
light.
At o'clock an officer petulant as the
rest, came 10 take the jury 10 the hotel
for supper. In trice he knew the rea-
son of their detention. The blacksmith
was naturally hearty eater, but the
! hotel meal was not only unpalatable TO
him in his strained state; ii was too
scanty to afford him nourishment. He
could but notice that the rest Of his
fellows had plenty and good enough
food to eat. On the way out he tried to
stop at the desk for matches, but the
officer hurried them back to their room
two by two and this opportunity was
lost
There were exactly eight chairs in
the room and sofa that seated four.
Worthely was one of the last couple
nearest the officer and when he got in
the sofa was occupied. He sat down on
his chair, and it gave way with him.
He looked about for another chair and
then sat down upon the floor He did
this with a sigh of satisfaction, for no
one could take that away from him.
Immediately two men took their places
beside him and began asking him ques-
tons about the trial. With an empty
stomach and nothing more than dry
smoke it was a comfort for him to argue.
Then the rest followed and clustered
like wasps about him.
"Are you better than the judge?"
"If George Williams didn't do it,
who did:"
"We'll make you pay for it, by
I'm bet he won't hold out long"
"Hold out?" cried Worthely? "I'n
hold out until the last mother son Of
you gives in. " Then he shut his mouth
and turned his head to the wall.
lyon shan't sleep until you come
around. Well see how you like that. E"
The foreman shook his fists in the dis
scntcr's face. Then the blacksmith reg
istcred a mortal vow that if ever he got
out he would leave mark upon the
toreman's red nose. But he answered
nothing. He closed his eyes
The state does not furnish beds for di-
vided juries. They sleep ON their chairs
or on the floor, if at all William
Worthely had no sleep that night He
was consumed with thirst but there was
no water to be had-for him. All night
long two men relieved each other, squad
after squad keeping the blacksmith
awake. They talked to him, they nudg
ed him when his eyes were closed dur
ing too long an interval, they devised
hundred petty and malicious schemes
of cruelty Just such methods have
been in vogue in jury rooms for hun
dreds of years, 1t is only one of our
many relics of barbarism.
And now the blacksmith was at his
forge, hammering his prosecutors into
horseshoes And then the desperate
longing that it seemed impossible to
control for freedom and food and a
smoke-for all the things that he had
never rated before at their true worth
took possession of him. With one sweep
of his brawny arm he would smash the
whole jury and escape to his own home.