Evening star., 1921-02-20
The Case of the. Hat
By Pierre Mile.

including the respect owed the court.
to escape the honor which counsel
wished to put on me and to avoid this
experiment. Moreover. the hat hadn't
been disinfected. for fear that impru-
dent manipulation might shrink or
enlarge it, Yet the lawyer succeeded.
in the course of the trial,rin getting
others to make the test. The hat fit
! ted several of them perfectly-much
better. at least. than IL fitted Barton
Inc edefense drew the conclusion.
therefore. that evidence of this sorf
was manifestly worthless
You viii say: The frs: thing to
do was to ask Barton If the hat was
| MS But you speak as. a French
man: not an Eng:ishman.o BY virtue
or English law judges first duty is
TO tell the accused that every word
that comes out of his mouth rnays be
used against him and that he has
the right to remain silent. / didn't
! iail IN that duty. and Thomas Obadiah
Barton was only too well disposed to
listen to me. OF all the brutes who
have ever been charged with murder.
from London to the antipodes. he was
tne most complete, the most positive
and the most incurable. He didn't
speak. not only because he had been
told not to speak. but because he no
longer had any more ideas in his
brain. 1t seemed, than the OK which
ruminates, the oyster on its rock or
the stone along the roadside. He ap-
peared congenitally destined never 10
say anything and never to think
anything. 1t was hard to know
whether he understood that he was
facing the gallows. He was there:
that was all.
HCO the hat, the hat alone. had be-
come the accused. Witnesses were
called and put on the double grill of
the defense and the prosecution. They
were asked: DO you recognize this
head? - o ~"
some said yes; some said no. Some
hau never seen Barton except bare
headed. Some were very confident.
'Barton? they said. Let me have
4 !, LOOK a at ms cap. | would recognize
And it wasn't cap. but hat.
some exclaimed: is it his? Ger
he bought it,
But another witness swore: 1T is
ms! He won it in a billiard pama
leyr i"ch-
There were many Others who
couidn remember anything. The hat
was put under a cloth,
You know Barton's hatp
Yes
"What color was ito'
They answered green. ve,Iou,
orange, blue-all the hues Of ths
When the testimony was over and
lne pieadlngs were made / summed
up lmpartially. as was my duty.
put aside what seemed to me not
evi9entia! and emphasized what was
eVioentIal. 1t was for the fury fo
Ieclae whether the hat belonged to
The jurors retired. Tbsv ,..,
in an hour.
l. Cen Gentlemen:' said to them. what
Not guilty. your lordship..
didn't move.
Don't you heare You are ac-
still he didn't move. He didn.t
understand. any more than he had
understood wat had happened dn-
HIS lawyer shouted in bis ear.
You are acquitted. That means
that YOU :-e free. vou can go.
"'th. That's good. he answered
He seemed to awaken rointed IN
the hat. and asked. trarupiIlv.
Theu. my lord, may 1 take NV
hat'' my
Tho hat was his. So he was pu;,..,
But the verdict was otherwise. Ha
Went away ,indisturbed.
You see. my honorable friArd. Sir
Roland. Concluded. we English are
like that. We never understand what
1t is to onr interest not to under
stand. 1t is that which gives us our
strength. When the nthers tire them
se3Tes out We profit By IT," :
y =. - -.