The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-07-02

terrogation like this before It made her
proud soul culver in revolt, notwithstand-
ing the patience with which she had for
titled herself. With red cheeks and glist-
ening eyes she surveyed the man who had
made her suffer so, and instantly every
other man there, suffered with her; ex-
cepting possibly Durbin, whose heart was
| never his strong point But our hearts
were moved, our reasons were not con-
WINGED, as was presently shown, when,
with a bow of dismissal the coroner re-
leased her, and she passed back to her
seat.
simultaneously with her withdrawal
the CLEAN Of sensibility left the faces of
the jury, and the dark and brooding look
which had marked the countenances from
the beginning returned, and returned to
stay.
What would their verdict be? There
were present two persons who affected to
believe that it would be one of suicide
occasioned by dementia, These were
Miss futile and Mr.. Jeffrey, who, now
that the critical period had come.
Strengthened themselves boldly in their
seats and met the glances concentrated
upon them with dignity, If not with the
assurance Of complete innocence. But
from the carefulness with which they
avoided each others eyes and the almost
identical expression mirrored upon both
faces, it was visible to all that they guard
| ed their cause as a common one, and that
| the link which they denied, as having
existed between them prior to Mrs.
Jeffrey's DEATH had In some way been
supplied by that very tragedy; so that
| they now unwittingly looked with the
! same eyes, breathed with the same breath,
and showed themselves responsive to the
same fluctuations of hope and fear.
The celebrity with which that
jury arrived at it's verdict was
a shock to us all. 1t had been quiet
| h01 off arire hui 10 ~ ~,
coroner in his questionings; but when it
| fell to these men to act, the precision with
| which they did so was astonishing. In
a half-hour they returned from the room
into which they had adjourned and the
foreman gave warning that he was pre-
pared to render verdict.
Mr. Jeffrey and Miss Tuttle both
clenched their hands; then Miss futile
pulled down her veil.
I'VE fnd,' said the solemn foreman
that Veronica Moore Jeffrey, who on the
night of May eleventh was discovered
lying dead on the floor of her own unoc-
cupied house in Waverley avenue, came to
her death by means of bullet, shot from
a pistol connected to her wrist by a length
of white satin ribbon.
That the first conclusion of suicide is
not fully sustained by the facts;
"And that attempt should be made to
| identify the hand that fired this pistol. y
1t was as near an accusation of Miss
futile as was possible without mentioning
her name. A groan passed thru the
assemblage, and Mr.. Jeffrey, bounding to
his feet, showed an inclination to shout
aloud in his violent indignation. But Miss
futile, turning toward him. lifted her
hand with commanding gesture and
held 1T so till he sat down again
1t was both majestic and an utterly
incomprehensible movement on her part,
| giving to the close of these remarkable
proceedings dramatic climax which set
all hearts beating and, / am bound to say,
all tongues wagging till the room cleared.