Evening star., 1925-06-28

provoked and inexcusable brutality.
The one element which did not fit
in with this Interpretation was the
physiognomy of the prisoner him
self. OF any one of a number of
minor offenses he might have ap-
peared guilty-pickpockets were no
toriously mild-mannered. for eX-
ample-but of this particular as
sault in a crowded theater he seemed
physically incapable. He did not
have the kind of voice or the kind
of clothes or the kind of mustache
that went with such an attack
Charles David Stuart" said the
Judge, you've heard the evidence
against you?"
Yes"
And you plead guilty."
YES"
Have you anything to say before
l sentence you?"
No" The prisoner shook his
head hopelessly. His small hands
trembling
Not one word in eXtenuation OF
this unWarranted ASSAULT"
The prisoner appeared to hesitate.
Go on said the judge. Speak
up-its your last chance"
We'll" said Stuart with an effort
she began talking about the plumb
er stomach.
There was a stir in the courtroom
The Judge leaned forward.
What do you mean?'
why. at first she was only talking
about her own stomach toto those
two ladies there"-he indicated the
cousin and Miss Ingles-"and that
wasn't so bad. But when she began
talking about the plumbers stomach
it got different
How do you mean-differento"
Charles Stuart looked around
helplessly.
Il can't explain" he said his mus
tache wavering a little, but when
she began talking about the plumb
er's stomach you-yau had to listen"
:: x i;
A SMOKER ran about the court
room. Mrs Robinson and her at
tendant ladies on the bench We're visi-
bly, Mortified. The guard took a step
nearer as if at a nod from the judge
he would whisk Off this criminal to the
dingiest dungeon in Manhattan
But much to his surprise the judge
settled himself comfortably in his
chair.
Tell us about it, Stuart" he said.
not unkindly. Tell us the whole
story from the beginning
This request was a shock to the
prisoner and for moment he looked
as though he would have preferred
the order of condemnation. Then,
after one nervous look around the
room, he put his hands on the edge
of the desk, like the paws of a fox
terrier just being trained to sit up,
and began to speak in a quivering
voice.
Well, I'm a night cashier. your
honor, in T. Cuchmael's restaurant
on Third avenue. I'm not married"
he smiled a little, as if he knew
they had all guessed that-"and so on
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons
l usually go to the matinee. 1t helps
to pass the time till dinner There's
a drug store. maybe you know, where
you can get tickets for a dollap
sixty-tive to some of the shows, and
usually go there and pick out some
thing. They got awful prices at the
box Office now" He gave out a long.
silent whistle and looked feelingly at
the judge. -Four or five dollars for
one seat"
The judge nodded his head.
Well continued Charles Stuart,
when I pay even a dollar siXty-five
expect to see my moneys worth.
About two weeks ago I went to one of
these here mystery plays where they
have one fella that did the crime and
nobody knows who it was. Well, the
fun at thing like that is to guess
who did it. And there was a lady be-
hind me that'd been there before and
she gave it all away to the fella with
her. Gee''-his face fell and he shook
his head from side to side-''I like to
have died right there. When / got
home to my room l was SO mad that
loI 30 ooly
walking up and down. Dollar sixty
five of my money gone for nothing.
We'll Wednesday came around
again, and this show was one show /
wanted to see. I'd been wanting to see
it for months, and every time I went
into the drug store I asked them if
they had any tickets. But they never
did" He hesitated. $50 Tuesday I
took a chance and went over to the
box office and got seat. Two seventy
five it cost me-" He nodded impress
sively. Two seventy-five. Like
throwing money away. But I wanted
to see that show
Mrs. Robinson in the front row
suddenly arose to her feet.
II don't see what all this story has
to do with it," she broke out a little
shrilly. I'm sure I don't care"
The judge brought his gavel sharply
down on the desk.
sit down. plea se'' he said. '"This is
court of law, not q matinee"
Mrs. Robinson sat down, drawing
herself up into a thin line and sniff
ing a little as If to say she'd see about
this after a while. The judge pulled
out his watch.
Go on" he said to Stuart. Take
all the time you want"
II got there first" continued Stuart