Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-02-26
DAILY SHORT STORY
Control of circumstances.
Copyright. 1902. by the s. s. Mcclure

was facing a situation that even he,
philosopher though he Was, admitted
was unpleasant Indicted for murder
in the first degree, with agchain OF cir
scumstantial evidence thattwas without
Il flaw, locked securely in a newly
built Jail, with no means or escape and
no pal within thousand miles to fur
nish such means, it was but natural
that he should mutter to himself that
he had gone de pace ard must walk
de plank fer it" Yet hel accepted his
fate with stoicism that twas admira-
BILE. Always expecting arrest and
dreading detection. he had come to
consider that the events (which consti-
tuted his life must naturally and nee
essarily terminate upon the gallows.
And now that the blows had fallen he
accepted it resignedly.
The door swung open, and John Mar
vail, attorney at law, stepped inside.
The warden locked the door and left
them together.
For moment each man stood meas
uring the other. NarvaIl saw man
of great physica; strength. whose bet
ter nature had been warped by cir
cumstances. Burton saw a slight, ath-
letic man OF perhaps twenty three or
twenty -four. with pale, aristocratic fea-
lures and an inscrItable countenance.
Burton was il :hs. presence Of a supe
rior and realized il,
These two were representatives of
the extremes or society.
Il sent fer you. Gur'ner, to see what
you could do fer me. You see, it's like
desc: I'm slightly MP against it dis
time and began Burton, but Mar
vail stopped, him.
"Wait ard let Ine state your case to
you. You are indicted for murder in
the first degree Tho evidence is all
against you. AID you haven't single
witness. The indictment states that
you administered poison TO your late
employer, Mr.. Hartford. The poison
was nitric acid, and the prosecuting at
tOrneys have in their possession half
bottle Of the acid left which will be
introduced as evidence"
Oats straight, gunner"
And. now, will you pay me $4,000
il have you acquitted:"
"Don't jolly me, guv'ner. You know
II can't be did. I've got de swag all
right; but, say. swaE don't go wild dat
judge ncr wild de jury OATS to try me.
/ knows"
AZ don't bribe judges and juries,"
said Narvall coldly. "ETin you pay me
that fee?:'
Yes. but say
Ill
now, listen. ! will not see you again
until your case comes up for trial. 1t
IS set for next Wednesday. six days
from today. No matter what l do at
that trial, you are not to show sur
prise" NarvaII turned and called to
the warden.
Just CT minute. gunner. Do you
b'lieve I'm guilty."
'4The judge and jury will decide that.
My duty is not to determine whether
or not you are guilty, but to establish
your innocence" He turned and walk
ed cut.
The six days passed by slowly to
Burton. AT times he thought that aft
er all Narvall must have been Jolly
ing' him, but in the end the first i'm
preston of him ztiII remained.
AT last the day for which his trial
| was set arrived. He was taken into
| the courtroom and his case called. The
| jury was drawn and impaneled and
the witnesses for the state wee exam
| ined. Every iota of the testimony was
against Burton. When the state solic-
itOr rose to make the opening argu-
ment, the net of circumstances that
surrounded Burton was without a bro
ken strand. Not Il man on the jury
doubted that he was guilty. The state
solicitor ended with u smile of tri-
umph. This would be one more con-
viction to his credit.
Then Narvall rose. He was slightly
paler than usual, but faint smile
mouth.
eff it please your honor and gentle
men of the jury, in the face of such evil
dence as has been introduced l have
but one argument to make. They tell
you that deceased died from the eff
| fects of half the contents of this bot
tie, administered by the defendant"
He picked up the little vial and looked
at it thoughtfully. 'And now, gentle
men, If that be so it must necessarily
follow that the remaining contents
will have the same effect upon hui
man being as the other half is alleged
to have had. This, assert, it will not
do" Every ear was strained to catch
his speech; every eye was fixed on
NarvalPs cold, inscrutable face. No one
saw the small capsule that slipped from
between Narvalls fingers into the vial.
Yes, in spite of the fact that learned
chemists have testified to the contrary.
say that this is not poison. And now
! for the proof He raised the vial to
his lips, and before the astonished at
torney, who sprang forward, could
reach him he had drained every drop.
| A low murmur of horror went up
from the crowd without the bar. A
stiffness as of death reigned for few