Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-04-02

ready gone by since the jury retired.
Another half-hour passed while he
studied the face of the clock, but the
door of the jury room, near which
Deputy Sheriff Brockett had taken
up his station, still remained closed
and no sound came from beyond 1t.
At his back he heard one man whis-
per to another that the jurymen's
dinner had just been brought in from
the hotel.
THAT means another three-quarters
of an hour-it's their last chance to
get square meal at the county's
expense!" the speaker added, which
earned him neighboring ripple of
laughter.
Judge Langham and Moxlow had
Withdrawn to the formers private
room. Sheriff Conklin touched North
on the shoulder.
T guess we'd better go back,
John!'' he said. "If they want us
tonight they can send for u.s."
Morbid and determined. the spec
tators settled down to wait for the
verdict. The buzz of conversation
was on every hand, and the air grew
thick and heavy with tobacco smoke,
while relaxed and at ease the crowd
with it's many pairs of eyes kept
eager watch on the door before which
Brockett kept guard. No man in the
room was wholly unaffected by the
sinister significance of the deputys
presence there, and the fat little man
with his shiny bald head and stubby
gray mustache, silent, preoccupied,
taking no part in what was passing
about him, became as the figure of
fate.
The clock on the wall back of the
judges desk tucked off the seconds:
now it made itself heard in the hush
that stole over the room, again its
message was lost in the confusion of
sounds, the scraping of feet or the
hum Of idle talk. But whether the
crowd was silent or noisy the clock
performed its appointed task until its
big gilt hand told whoever cared to
look that the jury in the JohnNNorth
case had devoted three hours to its
verdict and its dinner.
The atmosphere Of the place had
become more and more oppressive.
Men nodded sleepily In their chairs,
conversation had almost ceased. when
suddenly, and without any apparent
reason, Brockett swung about on his
heel and faced the locked door. His
whole expression betokened a feverish
interest, The effect was immediate.
A wave of suppressed excitement
passed over the crowd, absolute
silence followed; and then from be-
yond the door, and distinctly audible
in the stiffness, came the sound of a
quick step on the uncarpeted floor.
The clock licked twice, then hand
dealt the door a measured blow.
The moment Of silence that fol-
lowed this ominous signal was only
broken when a deputy who had been
nodding, half asleep, in his chair,
sprang erect and hurried from the
room. AS the swinging baize doors
banged at his heels the crowd seemed
TO breathe again.
Moxlow was the first to arrive. The
deputy had found him munching a
sandwich on the court house steps
His entrance was unhurried and his
manner quietly. confident; he put
aside his well-worn overcoat and took
his seat at the counsel table A
little ripple of respectful comment
had greeted his appearance; this died
away when the baize doors at the
back Of the room swung open again 70
admit North and the sheriff.
North's face was white, but he wore
a look of high courage. He under
stood to the full the dreadful hazard
of the next few moments. With
never a glance to the right or to the
left, he crossed the room and took his
seat; as he settled himself in his chair
Belknap hurried into court
Judge Langham had not yet APP
peared, and the crowd focused its at
tention on the shut door leading into
his private office. Presently this
door was seen to open slowly, and the
judges spare, erect figure paused or
the threshold. His eyes, sunken
yet brilliant with strange light
shifted from side to side as he
glanced over the room
Marshall Langham had not quilted
his seat. There in his remote corner
under the gallery bis lblanched face
framed by shadows, his fathers
glance found him. With his hand
resting TREMENDOUSLY ON the Jamb OF
the door, as if to steady himself, the
judge advanced a step. Once more
his eyes strayed in the direction OF
his son, and from the gloom of that