The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-17


 earnest, that it was more trying to Charles Darnay than all that had pre- Iceded. Standing, as it were, on the edge of his grave, not all his courage could nerve him to stand quite still.
 The testimony of the spies, assiduous and damaging though it was, left some thing for the Crown prosecutors to de- l sire, because that curious bulwark of liberty, the jury, showed plainly by it's collective faces that while 1t was pa lriotcally willing to hang. draw and quar- ter the prisoner, it would be rather more enthusiastic in favor of hanging, drawing and quartering the spies. And Miss Ma nettes testimony, though still more dam- aging to the prisoner. had been given with such evident reluctance, she had showed so plainly that she believed him to be an innocent man. that the Prose- cutor was doubtful whether the jury would be more impressed by her testi- mony against Charles Darnay or by her very evident opinion in his favor.
 If he had sent the case to the jury as it stood probably he would have won.
 He had fitted the testimony so very skill fully to the prisoner. as if he were tail- or anxious to fit him with a very close fitting suit of clothes, that even Darnay's s counsel thought it looked uncommonly like a suit of grave clothes. But the Prosecutor made the mistake of wishing to make sure.
 He called another witness to prove that l the prisoner had been at certain naval dockyard on certain date. None of thu previous witnesses had been able to give such direct evidence, even with the It- most liberality in the way of perjury. The gentleman who was called now swore cheerfully and candidly that on the le- sired date he had seen Charles Darnay in secret and of course reasonable com munication with unknown men in the desired backyard. Darnay could only re- | ply that at that hour and day he was some hundred miles away from that locality, and that never in his life had he been near it. He had no witnesses to prove his alibi.
 His counsel, MT. Stryver, rather felt that the grave clothes were finished and Aelvered.
 At this point, just before he concluded some rambling perfunctory questions that ke asked in cross-examination, another bewigged gentleman of law, a very lin- tidy, careless, dissipated looking gentle man, with wig awry, hands in pockets and l legs stretched out, withdrew his eyes lazily from the ceiling at which he had gazed through most of the trial He 1 scrubbed something on a piece of paper, crumpled 1t up and tossed 1t idly to his chief.
 MT. Stryver started little when he read the note, looked sharply at the wit ness and then at his learned friend. who sat as indoent and negligent as before. and promptly turned back to the confi- dent and smiling witness with new vigor.
 You say again that you are quite sure that it was the prisoner whom you saw?" he demanded The witness, honorably l zealous to earn the Crowns money, was sure, quite sure, and willing to be as sure as the case might demand. Mr Stryver, a florid. pushing shouldering gentleman. pushed and shoIldered at the witness and pushed and snouldered at the jury till he had pushed and shouldered the case into position where everything depended on this dockyard identification.
 When he had the case where he wanted | it, he prayed My Lord the Judge to bid his learned friend, the Hon. MT. Sydney Carton, lay aside his wig and stand up. My Lord the Judge giving not a very gracious assent, the Hon. MT. Sydney Carlton tossed his wig aside smoothed his rumpled hair slightly, and arose.
 There was q little gasp of astonish- ment in the court. The lawyer and the prisoner. except for tbe slovenliness and l debauched appearance of the former were l wonderfully alke-not with family re- 1 semblance, but alike in that curious way in which two utter strangers sometimes resemble each other feature for feature, 1 figure for figure. bearing for bearing. | The of this was to smash this witness like ascrockery pot. And the ef- | feet on the enlightened jury of this smashing was to make it forget all that had preceded and view the Crowns case with vigorous distrust.
 l It was in vain that the prosecutor tried l to fit his grave clothes on Charles Dar- nay now. MT. Stryver hardly needed to turn the grave clothes inside out and show the jury how they had been made -out of whole cloth, so to speak.
 After the jury retired, the Honorable | Sydney Carton sank back in his chair and looked so extremely ill kempt, negli- | gent, reckless and dssipated that the spectators, staring at him in curiosity, began to wonder how they could have thought there was any resemblance be- tween him and the trim, resolute pris- oner, with the clear, steady eye and the firm, earnest face. Yet the indifferent than he looked, for suddenly he said sharply to court official: Look to that young lady. Help the gentleman to take her out!' He had seen Lucle Manette droop. even before she quite yielded and fell forward.
 And again, it was this man, apparent ly bored with the whole case, the court and the client who stroled to the pris- eners side after a while and said, curt ly, that Miss Manctte was quite recov- cred again; and it was he who told her. with equal brevity,A the news that the jury had acquitted the prisoner.
 And later, when Charles Darnay and he sat, together over bottle of wine, ard Darnay thanked him for saving his life, he answered, almost roughly: ''lt was nothing to do, in the first place; and I don't know why I did it, in tle second. MT. Darnay, let me ask you