Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-07-19
"The Gates Of Silence >
roDAY's INsTALLMENT.
By Meta Simmins, Author of "Hushed Ub''

TODAY INSTALLMENI.
rhen her eyes fastened themselves on
49,. iurv The foreman was tall, thin
with an elusive resemblance to
o,s much carcatured politician. She
roticed certain mannerisms that had
,raared vaguely familiar, and now. in
~ moment of hideous tension, she real
.a the source from which they had
ING she could see that he was in
.rselv disturbed by the task laid upon
IL, and she hated and loved him both
t,r his agitation His face was livid, and
trop, time to time he wiped his brow
s,r+tvelv with his handkerchief. which,
NE nervous woman, he had rolled into
tight bail
gentlemen. are you agreed upon your
verdict
To the man in the dock: to Betty Lums-
der with her eyes fixed on him in that
last glance of despair; to others, less out
rardlv moved in that vast crowd, the
silence seemed to hiss with one word Yet
The stiffness of the court was not broken
tor couple of seconds. The foreman es
eaved 10 speak: his voice cracked and he
rubbed his brow nervously. Then the an
euer oame-came in a voice so shrill, so
staccato and unnatural. that at another
moment It might have raised smile.
We are"
no YOU find the prisoner guilty or not
guilty.
Guilty"
The faint rustic like the rustic Of wind
over grass. which had passed over the
ootrt at the first breaking of the silence,
Increased. Somewhere In those packed
benches women gave cry; second
answered it. to be siienced instantly,
There was an aaltsted movement. The
woman who had cried first had subsidized,
4srrtlno No one needed her, not even her
companion Of yesterday with the smelling
salts andy" against such contingency.
"And that is the verdict of you all?"
"of every one Of U.s."
once again the old fierce justice had
been done A life for nfe-a life given
FIR life taken-even if the life to be
paid out we're an innocent one. once
more blind Justice ploughed on in her car,
the sharp blades of it's wheels moving
down the innocent and the guilty alike
Caught On.
rcuitv,'' The words came to Jack
Rimington's ears accompanied not by
tears. but by gust of Fate's laughter
Caught on And not a commissioning
word or look from one of those friends
who would have crowded round him had
Fate smiled and not frowned; if Fate had
shared that holocaust at Westport and the
tragic comedy of the house of the clocks.
Then like stab Of agony, the thought
of Betty, she was staring at him, and
the sight Of her face was like a knife
turned in his heart What did that look
mean Why did she stretch out her hand
and let it fall? Heaven.-she was not
gong to make a sceneA-a useless scene
that would result in nothing but the
bringing about her of the bloodhounds of
publicity. His lips moved in a Voiceless
PRAYER not for himself hut for the women
he loved God help her to he brave help
herto he silent
Not guilty." The same clear. ringing
voice in which he had uttered his plea,
responding now to the usual question as
10 whether he could adduce any reason
why sentence should not he passed against
him I declare before God that | am
not guilty"
Nothing dramatic. nothing sensational.
only 3 brave man meeting his fate as an
Englshman should, and showing an I'M
broken front to friend and foe alike.
'N'tF 9piiitillii4S III JAIN IlillluElNil >
demeanor a that supreme moment which
shook the conviction Of more than one
SPECTATOR. something in the carriage of his
upright form, his unruffled look that
helped TO dispe the unfavorable impress
sion that had grown steadily through the
two DAYS of the trial
The intense silence of the court was
broken by the sudden rustling of crisp
paper Like man forgetfu Of his sur
roundings, Paul SAKE had crushed some
papers on which he had been making
notes from time to time in his slim, yell
low hands
HE Judge began to put on the black
car He was a tall, lean man. with
parchment -hued lined face and vivid.
piercing ewes the very ideal Of a hanging
31age according to popular fancy and the
sHaH square of black velvet gave him
dreadful and sinister look But it was not
al The Judge that the myriad eyes of the
court looked. but at the prisoner in the
dock
JOHN RlMlNGTONl" The ludae's
voice was very solemn sounding in the
oeafhllke silence "The Jury have found
me only verdict which il seems to me was
possible according to their oath and their
conscience. It only remains 10 me now to
pass the sentence Of the law upon you, It