Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-09-09
The Daily Short Story
JUDGE AND JURY.

1 WHO IuOuS0I she knew lie.
Il believe they are absolutely happy
and have great self CONTROL" said the
girl who thought she did not.
81 believe they are an extremely or
binary couple who at the bottom of
their hearts do love each other and
who yet manage to have some very bad
ways-meaning rows-like everybody
else" said the girl who really did.
| They were speaking of Mr.. and Mrs.
Fanshaw, known among their ac-
quaintances as the Judge and jury"
Nobody quite knew why they were
so called-Or, rather, nobody remem-
bered. The name had originally been
chance remark made by a witty
young barrister, who had an oddly
clever trick of knocking off his ac-
quaintances in some little catch phrase
like this one of Judge and jury
"She's the jury, you know-really
settles everything. But he imagines it
all his own doing. and in any case he
gets the credit of it, you know"
The judge dearly loved his wife, but
he never told her so. In his own mind
he had agreed that the fact of his hav-
ing chosen her from a world of girls
and in his youth the judge had been
much sought after-of having told her,
and that more than once during his
brief engagement. he did love her. and
finally having made her his wife-all
this was sufficient.
She was rather passionate and also
in some ways n very proud woman.
But she had no children, and, above
all, was she woman to whom not only
Z he fop ut Of
tie caress was an absolute pleasure;
but, moreover, she pined-if that word
or caress were hers-that all her world
should see and hear it. 1t was a spe-
cies of unconscious conceit. very COM
mon, did one only know it, to most
women. Often did she tell her friends
how the judge would almost ignore
her in front of people. but when he got
her alone Indeed she had laid some
quite passionate love scenes at the
judges door.
Her younger friends looked at her
husband with great wonder, at herself
with envy, and the jury, noting this.
was then happy. She would move
about with a smile on her lips, cheat
ing herself almost into the belief that
the judge really had kissed her with
tears in his eyes when, in very truth,
the two on meeting had but shaken
hands, for, though the judge did occa-
sionally and on such occasions en-
brace his wife if they met as they had
then done, before the servants he al
ways treated her in this stranger fash
ion.
There was one particle of truth in
Mrs. Fanshaw's romance.
As have before said. her young
friends en7ied, her contemporaries
smiled, and the old people softly said,
Poor thing!"
And the judge and jury went their
ways. She, being a clever woman,
ruled him in all but the one point
which would have made her happy.
There came one very hot summer TO
| the town this couple lived in that dread
disease typhoid fever.
And one of the earliest to take it was
Mrs. Fanshaw.
At first the doctor thought it would
be slight attack. The jury herself
was not anxious, and the judge. as usu-
al, said nothing.
"Dick," said she to him when she had
been i'll few days, IF 1 were going to
die, and you knew it, what would you
do?"
You are not going to die" said the
judge dryly.
:But If I were, Dick?' petulantly.
The jury felt i'll.
Il cannot imagine. my dear, such an
unhappy state of things. Don't you
think you had better go to sleep for a
little?"
nv
ami say you loved me?" the invalid
| asked.
She was worse than either of them
knew and fever gave her n courage she
would not otherwise have possessed.
II think--my dear" the judge repeat
ed, rising from his chair preparatory to-
leaving the room, you had better
Mrs. Fanshaw caught hold of her
husbands hand as he turned away.
Anyway, Dick" she said in a shrill-
er key than her wont was to speak in,
"even if I'm not going to die. and of
course I'm not (as the judge made an
impatient gesture), it wouldn't hurt you
to say you loved me now. Dick, do
just once" And she pulled at his cool
hand and pressed her hot cheek against
1t.
But the Judge did not answer her
and presently left the room.
The next morning the doctor looked
graver, and three days after the poor
jury was raving in delirium.
And through il all she was having
passionate love scenes with her hus-
bard. or, worse still-for now the judge
did not leave her night or day-she was
imploring him TO say he loved her, and
could not understand when he did do
so.
And this he did, regardless of nurse
or doctor.
Day after day the jury grew worse
and worse, and from delirium she sank
into unconsciousness and from uncon-
| sciousness into death.
And tho Judge was left alone.