The San Francisco call., 1906-05-27
Themufder at the Old Bulls Head
By

for the desperate looking fellow at the
bar. who was held mainly ne said. be-
cause he had borne a bad reputation ana
partlv because he had no money or
friends to support him.
At the end of the third day two OF the
doubtful jurors had been won over put
the third still stubbornly resisted. he
was in a pitiful condition At the outset
of the deliberations he had appeared
man of about so years. but now. worn oy
his seepIess nights, he was wreck ana
looked fifteen years more than MS age.
The other eleven men had been able 10
get fitful bits of sleep that kept them up.
but the obstinate juror was harried night
and day by the others. The moment his
heavy eyes closed he was proddeo, tor-
mented and bullied with questions
The jury had been out four days. Pub
lie indignation. wrought up TO the highest
degree. was about ready to break On the
fifth day, after the crier had called his
Hear yer and word was sent out tnar
no verdict had been agreed upon, tnere
was a hiss of disapproval from the audi
ence. and the Judge, firm inhis belief or
the guilt of the prisoner, took no acton
to suppress the murmur- At last the
twelve men came into court. The Old
Juror weak and exhausted by the torture
of sleepless nights. had given way 10 tne
TRADES against him and had announced
that he would vote for conviction
Gentlemen of the jury. have you
agreed upon yerdict?
Eve have"
what is it?'
1--WE find the prisoner guilty Of"
"Your Honor interrupted the old Juror.
as be arose slowly and feebly, Il know II
is out of the usual proceedings Of court,
but have been so impressed by the pos
sibilities of the innocence Of this young
man that I want to cite a hypothetical
case-the case of an old clerk who mur-
dered his employer and fed leaving an
other so tangled up in the skein Of cir
cumstantial evidence that he could not
escape conviction"
The Judge. apparently, was greatly per-
turbed by this breach of court etiquette.
but he. after looking at the other jurors
and receiving no sign of disinterestedness
in the old mans tale, deigned to hear him
out.
This employer" continued the juror.
"often carried large sums of money with
him, and the clerk stole some Of IL. He
was detected and dismissed. One night
he tracked his employer to an inn- He
killed him and eseaped-from the second
story window by sliding down the low
roof to the edge. grasping the ridge pole
of the grape arbor and swinging down
to the ground. 1t was raining on this
night, but the clerk had carefully COW
when ne dropped on the soft earth he
left only a slight impress. wide and
round, which the rain soon effaced. The
murderer was about your build and
weight, your Honor"
The Judge shifted uneasily. He had
tried to appear disinterested up to this
moment. but suddenly his eyes were di-
rected upon the juror with a nervous
and penetrating stare. The crowd in the
tently.
''On the night of the tragedy" the juror
went on cautiously. the lights were
out when the murderer reached the
ing good his escape when he tumbled over
was growing weak in his grasp"
The courtroom was absolutely silent:
the old man. wrought up by the interest
that was being taken in his narration. un-
consciously began to half act the part he
darkness. he went on in scared. husky
tones:
THE employer leaped for the robber.
grasped him by the throat. His hand
frightened until the thief was sinking help
less. He gave one violent shove toward
the window: I pulled away. drew the
knife and plunged it into his chest"
The audience and the Judge held their
breath. The old man. seeing that he had
trapped himself, turned ghastly white, his
bony hands shook pitifully. he raised them
to his temples. his head sank and he had
to support himself against his chair The
Judge started to speak. but the juror
broke in ahead:
Yes-yes-I-I-" he gasped as he
choked and gulped down the deathlike
terror that was sitting him-'I-r-did
- plunge-it-in-his-ch - and he
oh!-h-hv' The old fellow feebly shook
his stopped frame as il to rid himself OF
the horror that had seized him; his hands
crept to his face again. and he continued
as he cringed: 'He-gave-one-shriek
fell-dead-I-"
The faltering voice was choked on sud-
denly like a dying spark, the old man
tumbled back into bis seat in a heap.
When the court attendants hurried over
to his side to give him aid they found
that his case was out OF the hands of
any earthly judge.