Waterbury Democrat., 1901-09-09


 were turned upon them.
 The prisoner gazed calmly at the wall back of the judge; the woman stared at the man with the bronzed face. The 5urymen took their seats in the box and the judge said:
 ''Gentlemen, have you decided upon a verdict?"
 "We have, your honor," replied the foreman.
 The man with the broad shoulders glanced nervously at the woman ln black. Calmly, intently, she was peering into his face, the gleam in her eyes seeming to pierce the dark ness like the light from burning coals. He shrank from her gaze; his hands clutched the back of the chair in front of him so tightly that the nails cut. the wood. He tried to turn his face away from her, but could not. Her eyes held him; their glimmer ate its way through him, and he grew pale and trembled.
 ssWhat is your verdict, gentlemen?" asked the judge.
 Again the broad-shouldered man vainly struggled to tear his gaze from that of the woman. An icy coldness clung round his heart and cold per- spiration sprang from his forehead. But still the woman in black gazed silently at him, and in her eyes was sign of deadly reproach, of unpity- ing censure.
 The foreman arose and began speak ing. His voice, sounding loud and clear in the quiet room, startled the man with the hronzed face, and he sprang from his seat, white with fear. eve, the jury" read the foreman from a paper in his haRd, find the defendant"
 "Hold, your honori" cried the man with the broad shoulders, raising his hand as though commanding silence. ''Hold, your honor!"
 The voice, ringing through the dark ness, sounded weird and ghost-like. Two of the jurymer visibly trembled. All present, except the prisoner, turned to look at the man standing like a specter in the uncertain light.
 For moment he paused, covering his eyes with his hands. Then he staggered down the aisle and leaned against the railing. The clock in the tower began the stroke of 12..
 eff your honor please he said, with voice that shook with fear, eff your honor please, let not this verdict be rendered. For I am guilty of this murder. Tiny God, I killed that man!''
 A sudden movement swept through the room as though each one present caught his breath.
 .He had grievously wronged me-" the man resumed, "so waylaid him and stabbed him to death. The pris- oner here, your honor, heard his dying l yell and ran to his assistance. I had dropped the knife, but he picked it up. IT I pulled my gun, and he ran away
 Again there was silence-deep, aw- ful silence. The judge spoke: Do you fully realize the conse- quences of this confession, sir?"
 "I do, your honor," replied the man, slowly, deliberately. "I have tried to leave here, but something held me back. Some resistless power has | dragged me into this courtroom every day of the trial; has compelled me to hang around tonight until the jury should agree, and has forced me back into this room to listen to yer dict that I knew would be lie. l am guilty, your honor, swear it."
 Then the judge turned to the fore man of the jury.
 "You will find for the defendant" :" he said. 'Mr. Sheriff, release the pris- oner and place that man under ar- l rest"
 When the shackles. had been re- moved from his wrist, the young man with the clear-cut features walked calmly up the aisle with the light of a great joy on his face. In the rear of the room he found the woman in black leaning forward against the back of a chair, handkerchief pressed against her epes. He rested his hand tenderly upon her shoulder.
 '.Sweetheart,1 he said. Brave it- ! tie woman"
 She arose to her feet and locked her arms around his neck "John," she sobbed, "John!" When he had been locked in cell, the sheriff said to the man with the bronzed face:
 "What ever possessed you to vo1un- tarily make that confession?'
 And the man. looked at him with a 1 frightened face
 "The eyes of the woman," he an- swered. .'The eyes of the woman! My God, they cut the secret out of my hao1ffO