Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-11-01
seems to thrdb with emotion.

! seems to throb with emotion.
Its =. ie'r.u.. summing up" one
lawyer whispers to another
u. utal-d9atl against him, poor
devill" LIZ eaa.panion replies, CHANGING
at the prisoner. who. pale as death,
gazes before him with eyes that see
nothing
"While for him. the judge impas-
s1vely cont,ca!es you have the line of
defense tina, lie left The Grange hours
before the murder was committed"
| The judge closes his book, and we
await his peroration We feel that we
know what it will be
eff you have no doubt. it is your
duty to do your duty-an eye for an
eye. life for life" and many more
rounded phrases with which a Judge ia
usually pleased to torment man whose
life or death is to be settled within the
next hour. But we are mistaken.
Gentlemen Of the jury" he says,
''the case is in your hands" And that
is all The summing up is over.
Poor devil" some one whispers
again, and we shudder. It puts into
words what we dared not think.
The jury do not move. They only
whisper in the box 1t seems as IL they
are going to decide without leaving Il
But perhaps the seriousness of their
task comes over them, and they slowly
leave. and the prisoner is conducted
from the courtroom.
Dead against himl" is the general
opinion "Fair and just, but dead
against himl He hasn't got line Of
defense in his whole case. {"
The Judge has retired. but no one else
leaves the court The audience feels
that it is not case Of waiting for
hours, but minutes, perhaps only Sec
onds The last words of the summing
up crash through each mans brain.
What do they amount tor Against the
prisoner you have-everything; for
him-nothingl
The Verdict.
The jury re-enter the box; the Judge
returns; the prisoner, between two
deputies, takes his place in the dock
Gentlemen of the jury. have you
agreed upon your verdicta'
we nave.
"Do you find the prisoner, Astray
Marsden, guilty or nor guilty Of the
murder of Josiah Marsdenl"
"Guiltyl"
A woman's scream, half stifled in its
birth, breaks the fearful silence of the
court-a scream followed by gasp,
The assembled throng breathes hard as
what it knew must happen comes.
Then the deathlike silence falls like
pail again
"Prisoner at the bar. "a voice is say.
ing, and it seems to come from some.
where miles away. even to us-what
must it seem to him 7-"have you any
thing to say why sentence of death
should not be passed upon youf"
All eyes are turned with one impulse
toward the dock, and the spectators
Start with amazement
The prisoner, the man condemned to
death. whom they had pitied through.
out the trial as one so miserable that
he could not defend himself, is trans.
formed
He stands erect. with almost glow
upon his cheeks, nearly smile upon
his lips. manhood and courage awaken
ing in his eye He is condemned to
death and stands as though his letters
had been released.
We are creatures Of impulse The
spectators gaze at one another. The
same thought is in every mind, Sup
pose he is innocentl" There is mesmer.
ism in his glance. and they follow it as
it rests upon the girl with her head
thrown forward on her arms upon the
table.
The judge shifts uneasily, moves Is
though to speak. He seems held power
less by that strange force which is upon
all
The girl feels the power Of that
glance. and as if in obedience to its
command throws back her veil and rises
and faces Astray Marsden, and as she
does SO even the heavens add to the in
tensity of the scene.
The sun is setting. The room is
shrouded in gloom, save for one glorious
beam of light which passes over the
shoulder of the prisoner and foods the
face of the girl with halo of light.
They face one another, and the spec
tators pause and watch, lost in the
mystery of the thoughts that are pass
ing between them
! "Ethell'
Only the lifting of the face more to-
ward him shows that she has heard
"Do you believe me guilty3 Do you
believe that | am a murderer"
mol"
1t is only whisper, but 1t thrillA
Where have sonhistrias uona ,uharo ora