The Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser. — 1881-10-22 (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England)

CHAPTER XXI.  What would lie-tli-e-iejil;g ;i7); gentlemen before him if, after ,hanging the unhappy prisoners, it was found that they were guiltless? Better, they would cry, to let a murderer escape than to destroy au innocent man. They had to-day no murderer or murderess to try. They had two different peopk, deficient in moral qualities it might be true, but free of the great crime ascribed to them.  It WM no part of his duty to show who did murder Ezra Bindloss. His instructions were that the deceased was quietly sleeping in his bed when the female prisoner quitted the house. It was after she had left that the crime was committed. Someone more powerful, more determined, and more brutal then the prisoner entered the shop, and then ensued the d.:sperate struggle of which there were so many indications.  No man in his senses could believe the weakly, stunted woman before them capable of destroying the life of the man named Silliness.  Whatever conclusion they elm to with regard to the female prisoner, he trusted that he had conclusively proved the insanity of her husbind. There must be something very wrong somewhere, if sane people could be confined in asylums. He left the case of these unhappy people with all confidence in the hands of the jury, convinced that they, as conscientious men, would vindicate justice and establioh truth. There was only one way of doing this—they must acquit his clients of the monstrous charge preferred against them: send them forth to retrieve their past errors, and to become sober, virtuous, and useful citizens. Mr. Diggs replied calmly. He could not, he declared, emulate the fervid rhetoric of his learned Wend. His case was so strong that he could dispense with bursts of eloquence and sentimental appeals. and direct the attention of the jury to certain hard and incontrovertible facts which, unfortunately for his learned friend, completely upset his ingenious speculations. Mr. Diggs proceeded, with great complacency, to demolish Mr. Sackville's arguments, and to prove conclusively to the jury that two greater cilminals thsu the prisoners never stood in the dock. "I also ask you," said Mr. Diggs, in conclusion, "to vindicate justice and to estab'ish truth; but I do not ask you to do it by casting loose upon the world a pair of murderous scoundrels. Let the jury remember that what to-day is the fate of poor old Bindloss may be theirs to-morrow, if du 211 people are to be permitted to enter our homes and to gain our confidence." The jury retired to consider their verdict, and immediately there was the hum of busy speculation in the court.  Annie preserved her calmness. It seemed sometimes as though it were all a dream, and there was an indescribable dullness at her heart; h r reflections nearly maddened her, and she longed earnestly for the end. There was, though, no outward sign of the racking emotion which tore her—not a hint of the fire consuming her within. She was prepared for her fate—she knew it would be death! Still it was terrible. this waiting for the verdict. Fred, as he recognised how strong the evidence against him was, completely broke down, and during the whole of Mr. Diggs Speech he sobbed bitterly. As the jury left their box, Norman passed his hands over his eyes as though in pain, and then buried his face in them. Many people had watched his wild, a nxious look, and many looked at him in terror: he was so fierce, and he seemed so agonised. The jury were not long away, but the time appeared interminable to three anxious watchers. They had agreed upon their verdict. Very silent was the Court as the foreman said— "We find Annie Ringwood guilty of the murder of Ezra Bindloss."  And Fred? What of Fred? ' His heart leaped into the poor trembling wretch's mouth as he heard their conclusion.  He was an accessory to the crime, but strongly recommended him to mercy on account of the weakness of his mind. _  What matter the platitudes and he euphonisms of the judge? The one overwhelming and hideous fact stood before them. They were to be hanged by the neck until they were dead! " Liars !" shrieked Toni Norman, as he reeled out of the building.  The morning's newspaper was a highly spicy one. There was the trial of the Ringwoods, and a very sensational account of the murder of the chief witness against them—Mr. Sims Stoker, who was found in a dreary street near the river with a bullet through his skull.  '