Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-03-05

You told me once IlaT ought TO
look after my own property. and now
| will Don't you sect" she cried to
Joe eagerly Its my work!' She
resolutely set aside every other prop
osition, and this was the quality of
mercy which Martin Pike found that
night
There was a great crowd to hear
Joes summing up at the trial, and
those who succeeded in getting into
the courtroom declared that it was
worth the struggle. He did not crate,
he did not thunder at the jury" nor
did he slyly flatter them. He did not
overdo the confidential, nor seem so
secure of understanding beforehand
what their verdict would be that they
felt an instructive desire to fool him.
He talked colloquially, but clearly,
without appeal to the pathetic and
without garnitures, not mentioning sun
sets, birds, oceans, homes. the glorious
old state or the happiness of liberty,
but he made everybody in the room
quite sure that Happy Fear had fired
the shot which killed Cory to save his
own life. And that, as Mr.. Bradbury
remarked to the colonel, was what
Joe was there for!'
Ariel's escort was increased to four
that day. Mr.. Ladew sat beside her,
and there were times when Joe kept
his mind entirely to the work in hand
only by an effort, but he always sue
ceeded. The sight of the pale and
worshiping face of Happy Fear from
the corner of his eye was enough to
insure that. And people who could not
get near the doors, asking those who
could, whats he dom now?" were
answered by variations of the one
formula, "Oh, jest walkin' away with
tip
once the courtroom was disturbed
and set in an uproar which even the
judges customary threat failed to sub
due. Joe had been talking very rapidly
and having turned the point he was
making with perfect deXterity, the jury
listening eagerly, stopped for mo-
ment to take a swallow of water. A
voice rose over the low hum of the
crowd in delirious chuckle, why
don't somebody head him Off" The
room instantly rocked with laughter,
under cover of which the identity of
the sacrilegious chuckIer was not dis
covered, but the voice was the voice Of
Buckalew, who was incredibly sur
prised to find that he had spoken aloud
The jury were out after the case
10
minutes and thirty seconds by the
watch Claudine held i'll her hand. The
little man, whose fate was now on the
knees of the gods looked pathetically
at the foreman and then at the face of
his lawyer and began to shake vio-
lently. but not with fright, He had
gone to the Jail on Joe's word. as a
good dog goes where his master bids.
trustfully and yet Happy had not been
able to keep his mind from consider
ing the horrible chances Don't wor-
ry," Joe had said Its all right. I'll
see you through" And he had kept his
word
The little man was cleared.
1t took Happy a long time to get
through what he had to say to his at
torney in the anteroom, and even then,
of course, he did not manage to put it
In words, for he had broken down"
with sheer gratitude. why, d-n me,
Joe," he sobbed, 'if ever I--if ever you
we'll by God, if you ever This
was the substance of his lingual ac-
complishment under the circumstances
But Claudine threw her arms around
poor Joe's neck and kissed him.
Many people were waiting to shake
hands with Joe and congratulate him.
The trio, taking advantage Of seats
near the rail, had already done that
(somewhat uproariously) before he had
followed Happy, and so had Ariel and
Ladew, both, necessarily, rather hur-
riedly. But In the corridors he found,
when he came out Of the anteroom,
clients, aequaintances, friends = old
friends, new friends and friL-4ds he
had never seen before-everyb body
beaming upon him and wringing his
hand, as if they had been sure of it all
from the start
They gathered round him If he stop
ped for an instant and crowded after
him admiringly when he went on
again, making his progress slow. When
he finally came out of the big doors
into the sunshine, there were as many
people in the yard as there had been
when he stood in the same place and
watched the mob rushing his clients
guards. But today their temper was
different, and as he paused a moment,
looking down on the upturned, laugh
ing faces, with a hundred jocular and
congratulatory salutations shouted up
at him, somebody started cheer, and
it was taken up with thunderous good
will.
There followed the Interrogation Gus
tomary in such emergencies, and the
anxious inquirer was informed by four
or five hundred people simultaneously
that Joe Louden was all right.