The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-09-19
The Eyes of the Woman
By EDGAR WELTON COOLEY.
Copyright, 1901, by Authors syndicate.j

WOru OF the eNlueHCe anu udu mar
veled that men could so ight-heart
eddy give utterance to words that were
TO end brothers life.
She was not handsome; hardly
pretty, but her eyes were like twin
daggers, for they seemed to pierce
one through and through She was
a slender woman. small and young
and delicate, and her trim figure was
gowned in somber black from head to
foot.
Day after day she sat in the same
rear seat, emotionless, calm, dispas-
sionate, and rested her eyes upon the
face of a man who sat opposite to
her. Not once did she remove her
gaze from his face; not once did she
cease her cold, constant stare at his
features.
He was a big, broad-shouldered fell
low, with a bronzed face and a mass
of hair He kept his eyes riveted upon
the court and the jury and the pris-
oner. He hung upon every word that
was uttered, leaning anxiously for
ward, rigid and motionless.
But at intervals he turned his face
towards the woman in black, only to
be transfXed by the CLEAN of her
eyes. Then he would start, turn a
shade paler and grasp the arms of his
chair.
The prisoner was young man with
fire, clear cut features and blue eyes.
as beardless as a boy and as stoical
as craven image. Although he knew
his life was in the hands of the 70 men
at his right hand, not once did the ex-
preston of Indifference leave his face,
though against him was given the
most damaging testimony
Twice only. each day, did he show
any interest in his surroundings. At
: the opening of each session. when he
entered the courtroom handcuffed to
the sheriff, he cast one quick, search
ing glance towards the rear of the
room. His glance met that of the
woman in black. and for brief in
slant a softer CLEAN shone in the
eyes of each.
Tightly and relentleSsly was he
bound with an unbroken chain of cir
cumstantial evidence. Not link was
missing. Every movement, every ut
ferance of his on the night of the muir
der were described in detail. From
the moment that he had quarreled
with the man who was afterwards
murdered, to the hour when he was
arrested, every step he had taken was
traced.
It was shown that he had followed
his victim with murder gnawing at his
heart; that, in the presence of nu-
merous witnesses, he had sworn to
take the mans life; that after the
quarrel the man who was slain had
turned his steps towards his home,
taking roundabout route: that the
prisoner had made use of short cut
and had lain in wait behind a thicket:
that he had suddenly leaped upon him
and had stabbed him TO the heart with
knife that was afterwards found in
the prisoners possession, the blade
still scarlet with blood, and that he
was later seen running away from the
scene of the murder.
Against this awful array of evil
dence, the defense made no resist
;ance, introduced no testimony. The
arguments were made. The attorney
for the state welded anew the chain
of guilt; the counsel for the defense
weakly attacked the reliability of evil
dence purely circumstantial, and
begged that the jury be slow to hang
a man when all direct evidence of his
guilt was lacking. Then the jury re-
tired.
The sheriff unlocked the door and
entered the cell. The prisoner was
sitting on the edge of his cot. He
had not been asleep. He had been
pacing back and forth between the
window and the door and had taken
"a seat only when he heard the Off
GERS footsteps in the corridor.
"Well?" he said.
The jury has agreed" replied the
sheriff. Come"
The prisoner held out his right
arm. The officer snapped a handcuff
on his wrist. Then they walked side
by side out of the dark cell and along
the half-illumined hall. When they
reached the outer door, the sheriff
pulled bunch of keys from his coat
pocket, inserted one in the lock and
turned back the bolt. Then they
stepped out into the night, and the
tofficer locked the door behind them.
The courthouse was across the
~treet from the jail. A new moon
threw an unnatural light upon the
earth, and here and there a lamp
-fiickered in a window. The hands on
the illuminated dial of the clock in
the courthouse tower pointed to Is
minutes to midnight. The prisoner
glanced upward at the star-spangled
sky. The air was soft and pleasant,
and a drowsy quiet hung everywhere.
what a beautiful night" said he,
in voice steady, strong and emo
tionless.
Eyes" replied the sheriff, "a sine
night"
Turning to their right they en-
Eered the courtroom. Two lights on
a central chandelier sent feeble rays
staggering through the darkness. The
attorneys, newspaper reporters and
n bailiff were seated inside the rail-
sng.
The prieonar fhrOuUb foroa -