Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1900-02-09

| Caule 10 the house WlCl intent TO muir
der. would he have left the finding OF
the weapon TO chance or would he have
come prepared? If he came prepared,
would he use Il chance weapon OF trust
to the one he knew?
LET me- now before YOU retire tc
consider your verdict, put into a few
words the whole evidence Against the
prison>;r you have the last words OF the
dying man. the knife, tie long stand
ing quarrel, tile absence of a reasonable
allbl. and Tor him The judge pauses
and deliberately turns back the pages
Of his notes, while the whole audience
seems to throb with emotion
''it's fearful SUMMING up one
lawyer whispers to another
'Brutal-dead against him.. poor
devil' his companion replies. glancing
at the prisoner. who, pale us death
gazes before him with eyes that see
nothing
''While for him, the judge impas-
| sivcly continues, you have The line OF
defense that he 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-
IF 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 is
usually pleased: to :tar1nent . man whose.
life or death is to*be: settled within the
next hour. But we are mistaken.
"Gentlemen Of the :jtry,'' he says
1.-The case is in Your hands v And that
is all The summing mp 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 It seems as if they
are going to decide without leaving it
But perhaps the seriousness of their
task comes over them. and they slowly
leave. and the prisoner is conducted
FROM the courtroom
Dead against hinr' is the general
opinion. Fair and just. but dead
against him' 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 to? Against the
prisoner you have-everything; for
him-nothing!
The Verdfct
The jury re-enter the box: the Judge
returns: the l---soner. between two
Deputies. takes his place in the dock.
Gentlemen OF the jury, have you
agreed upon your verdict?''
1--WE have"
"Do You find the prisoner, Astray
Marsden. guilty or nor guilty of the
murder Of Josiah Marsden?''
"Guilty!'
A WOman's scream, half stiaed in its
birth, breaks the fearful silence of the
court-a scream followed by a gasp
The assembled throng breathes hard as
what it knew must happen comes.
Then the deathlike silence falls like
pail again
ing, and it seems to come from some
where miles away. even to us-what
must it seem to him ?-''have you any
thing to say why sentence of death
i should not be passed upon your"
! All eyes are turned with one impulse
toward the dock, and the spectators
start with anazement
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 q glow
upon his cheeks, nearly a 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.
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 as
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 risrs
and faces Astray Marsden, and as she
does so even the heavens add to the in
tensity Of the scene il:
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 floods 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
i ''Ethell''
| Only the lifting of the face, more to-
ward him shows that she has heard.
I DO you believe me guilty1 Do you
believe that am a murdererf'
"Noi''
| It is only whisper, but it thrills.