A Scene In A Jury Room

I once had the extreme felicity of leiving tny business to serve upon liihe jury." I p'eajj in al! mnnner ol ways for reJeaee, but to no effect. I could not pwear hat I was doaf, nor blind, nor yet non cninpos ünt. I did say that I had aiready íormed nn opinión - Tbey ásted me if my opinión vvould prevent me from recevving the testïmony in good faith and renduring a verdict aecórdíng to it I replied that of course I phould weigh the evidóüce carefully, and be govemèd by it. 1 was then inforrred that I " would do " The cuse to he tried wus oneof aron - thcn u capital offense - and the prisoner ai thf bar was a young man named Charles Anibold, whom I had known fro:r. bovhood, and who was naturally one of the ftnest youths of the town wliero he resided He bad a widowed mother, who depended npnn him For support and bis c;ircleóf Iriends was large und ehoice 1 was rnorally certaíñ that he did not commit the oiiti.e, llKi henee, I un sure, those who ut'ie frieodly to him got me on the panel, nnd had tne retained. The trial cominenced, and we tsvelve men took ur seats in the jury box. I liad a very respectable set with me - onfv there was one mal) whom I didn't like Ui mí' lliere. Thi man was Moniton Wjirren. He was a dark faced, fíinister-li" -king fellow - at least to n,e. I Unew that young Ambold had one fiíiijt. fie had rectnlly lieen addicted t'i drink, and had been knov'D to visit disi t'nitallt; houcos. It was one oí tlose housen hat fiad been bi.ñied, for setting fire to which he had bten appre hended Now I had olten tried to persuade Challes Auihold frum the course lie was ursiiing He had repeatedlv preinised tur that he wouid reform, and as re[)ea':v!ly had he broïen away. I had olten talked to him of his poor rnoth' r until he had wpt like a ehild; but the e'floct was tiot lasling There u as a power of temptation nióie effec tive tliau aiiv i; Jlnelico I could wu-ld. He vou!i] ia!l away lito tlis evil coiupaaion.-tiip, and for a n hife his maphi d was gene. One or two abandoiied worr.en bad gained great power over him, and ujion them he wated much of his substahee. And I knew that this very man who as now upon the jury - this Moulton U airen - was the one who had done niW'e than all othera to lead the poor youth away It was Warren who had drank with him, and wlm had led him away to those abominable haunts of sin ard pollutlon. Why was he upen the jury ? I could only account for it i:pon the greund that Charley etill supposed him to be hisfriend The porr seorched insect was still ignorant of the fl. me that seorched him. He rea'ly believed that Moulton Warren was his friend. The tria] eonimenced. The indict ment set forth that Charleo Ambold had, "with malice aforétHpught," and with all aorta oí wicfted and íelunious intente, sel fire to a certain dwelhng house, thereby endangering human ufe. This kwelling, as I have already intimated, was a iow sink of iniquitv whcre the abandom.d of both Bexes wore wont to congrégate and where the youtliful priaoner liad spent much of his lime. The evídence for the prosecntion carne od and I was startled One after another gave in tbeir testimony, some of them very reluctan'ly, and I was fiightetjcd wlien I saw how plainly it sil pointed dlit the ptisontr as the guilty party. Severa] creditablo witnesses swore that they had heard hiin threaten to burn the house down; and oihers had heaid him eay repeatedly that ho wi-hed it was burned devvn! Then carne several witnesse? - three oí the prominent eitizens - who saw him luikiiig about the premisos on the night ol the fire With regard to the provoention on tte prisoner'p part, it was proved npon his own ndtnission, that he had been ill-treated there and that he had sworn to liave revenge. And furthermoie, it was proved that he had been heard to aay that his salvaticn of soul and body depended upon the destruction of that house. Next carne tefititnony stronger stlll; Q ' The fi'o had been fot in a back basement room whore phavings and nlher siuti tay kndlipa ero kcp'. Emrance had (iöen gained through i bi.ck window, whicli trad been partly pried open with a btílte. Tli b bueniert w;ill w;is bniek, mjd benenth th Mish wüm tho bludt; oí a Ui.ifu which hiid been broken off in Irying tp ruise thtj f ush. The blafle was recoórnized as l)i;longinp to thu 'risoücr'.s knife. - A rauker of cutlery had nwde a knife to ordur for Ainhuld only a month previous, und lio know tba blado at 'o.nuo, and svore to it. But tHife was tiot all. The fire had beau evklWrrtfy se! floit 10 the st.üv nirs liic-li lay upon the steno fluor but pilecj up again.st a ouden paititinn. - The flo'T was damp, and some of the outer siumtius, eren, w'ere lint w.holly burned tip. Büt just at the ecfge, whure the (ira om merced , lav :'. pieöfe of paper rulled ui, and tiliout half duined, and from the in iiiiit in uhich it lay, it wat veiy evident lliat the fire had heen set ui li it. Tliis pie. -u of rolled paper h.id heen ignited bv a match, a nuti.ber of which fene s.-at tered around, and as sooü as it was on fire it had heen laid upon thefloor. with the burning end jusl in the Ifíá'víiigs. Oí' course, these shavings ere in i lila.e iristantly; tint tlie paper tOïeti Ik irür upon rlie damp stones, had not turned whl]y np. An.l this paper was founó! to be n pui' of a letter bclonging to the pris oner; - t letter whfc-h he had received frfim u friend i f his (and a friend f njinej only a week be'ore. That friend had toet ti, e forward and swore that that piece of eharred paper ivas a part of a letter he had written to the prisoner This friund's namu was Stephen Grant Ile was a young merehant and the letter had been written for the of indueïng Am3old ló recría Stephen tried hard to ivoid tetitifyino-, for ho knew, as did thërs, that the fire must have been set with that idéntica! paper; but he was summoned, and he coulil not deny his own chirography. The cae looked dark. Many w't nesses were willing to testify to the arisoner's good qualitiep, bnt no one cotild swear that he was dot dis-iputed and degraded That house had been to him indeed a reg:on inlernal. lts lestruction cried out for his bodily life;. and its exi-tenoe had long been eating away his soul. Poor Cburjey! I had lefore been snre oi his innocenoe; but now I eould only shake rby' bead and )it him. Finally he was a-H o wed to speak for limself He said he was innoneent o' he crirre inptitd to him. Ho said hat he bad tnrentened to burn that louse doun- that he had said about all that had been sworn to. And ur. hermore, he was rouud the house nthenightoi the fire. JJe was not, en rod.s off when the ilames burst brth, and he was one ol the lïrst to give the alarm. Hé had uttensd one ery of fire when he noiiccd ulieiaihe flatnes mest have originatolj, and the thought carne to him ií he - ;s found there, he tnight be sÜErpected f having set the fire, so lui r:in vay. He atb said that three liours briore tl, e fire he had been rojb.bed. ia that hlilJBU. iiis poc-kets had been enj tiid of'everythiog in them, and is pocket book, con tai. ing fony dnllní-e in n.oncy, and serne valuable papers had beêL taken, üe had gone there on the night ot' tlie lii e to try airi persuade them to give Inni buck his nioney and papers - 01 at least to fet whdt tie couhl. When he got there, he saw a rn.ii) g, in wti tn hu did not wish t:i see, s he had hung aroiind, waiting lor liiin to depait. li u as around bv tht) back of the buildiiig once - and that was ah liour befo re ihd fire broke out. He kuew notbiiig - noth'ng. He claSjjed his hands, and with his tearless eyes raised toward Huaven, he called on Gud, to witrass that he was innocent! I have told you that I knew him well, I kntwhim s well.that from that moment 1 knew him to be imiueentl I kuew lus veiy sottl- lenföw how f reu aml open t was - .h, tiow sintuily sn! 1 knew there was no ialsehood in the sl ry he told us '' My boy is innocent. ! My boy is innotent !'' I lieard thu cry - and I saw an old woman si nk back ulo tlie an'na 't a male eoilipaiiion. It was hfe po r lllDthtr Hc;r heait w:s wel. Iligh bfuken. 'et saw that ni this hnd butlitilü efï'ect u()ou the mass of spec tators. J'he pi ibOaer's uoursi cf' distipation ; his many threats against ihe house; and tht) very fact of hú haviiiü been robbed and abiised ihere wei e heavy aguioét him. 1 he counsel f, ,r the prisoner made his speech, whiuh w is labored and hard. He tras looiish enough to intiinate that f his chent ivas around at the back of the h 'Use uniré than once he lliiist have been intoxicated. In short, his plea had better been lei't. out. Thoevidence hu could not shake, at;d he did all hocoüld to suppose ttie evi der.vcer -omu ot it, most absurd and ndiculoup. I akorwards learnea that Aloultdn Wr:.rren engage 1 that huvyer lor the youthlul pHaopw ! The goverument attorney made his plea. It was plain, straight forward, and very conclusive. Thejudge finaily gave his chai'ge. Ho was fair and cand.d. Ho revieweo: the evidence carelully, and p óntcd out stich as bore heavily upon the case, He to'd us if there was a lingeriug diubt in Wir minéis we must give the prisoner the benefit of it. Uut I coukl plainly see that there was no doubt in his mind. We - the jury - wcre conductcd to our room by au ofllcer, and there lockcd up. Asilenceof some minutes ensut-d. Moulton Warren, was the tirst to speak. "Well," he said, "I s'pose there's no need of our bein' here a great while. Of course we all knovv that the prisoner must have set iire to the house V" There was sometlnng in tne mannor of that man as he said this w'bieh excited my curiosity - I won't say it was suspicion then- otily euriosity He spoke with a forced etlort at ealmness which I at once perceivcd. The more J looked at him the more 1 becan.e strongly nervous and anea,y, uoucci bd why he should be so anxious to gel iil of the case, and have Ambokl convicted. I knew that he liequented that evi! house, and that he liad done muoh tovyílivj.'.yjiíkpUii'í 'Jhailcy to dissipaVion. I kuew that he was in thal house on tho n ght on which the prjsoner was robbed; for Charley had told me so when I vi8itf him in fije celi. I hnd Iheii ínked t lio nnf irtunate youth f he waa suri Wirreii was hs frieno. O, he was sut"Ö of it. líe should háv'e hunted liim up on the night. of (he robbery nly Üiey Lo!d him Warren had gou,.. By and by, (hu foremnn prnposed that ive sliould (;ach tako up :i píece of pnper and write dftwb out opinión, and tlien oompare lióles. I went to my hnt', which 1 had placed upon a tuble witli a nutnber oí' others, and (ook out t sheet of paper. I hud gol half wav back lo the. tabla uhen Ifound I had made a mistake I had so part of a kotter trorn anoiher mun's bátl I was nbout ti turn back, when the nnirio of the writer of tbo letter arrestcd rny tentiitn. I looked rhnrö Élosely, and read - "Stephan Grant." Nest tcaught this Bentflice: ' And iiow, dear Cimillos, if èot for vour pwn, vet tpf v;ir [nother'fl 0 ;i k e , iet me hope ycu will do bet er." Í starled as thmigh a shot had strüo' me I held iri my hnhd the other half of the sheet whieh liad heen nsed tr h're the burned house ! I went tp th ■■■ (.Ijle, and ionnd that I had taKon it f'iom Wairen's hnt! I liiókod np to see it I had bèëri ribservëa - and 1 had not. I put tho pttper back, an 1 thèri tiuik a piree fronj my own hut, whieh was the sanie patleni as the 01 her, and bv is sido. I returned to the table and sat down Warren was by my sifie. He had wri.ten his opinión, and took a ktiife frofn his pocket to out it from the large bh eet " Let me take your knife .1 moment, if yon ploase," I süid tó htirt'. Witriont hos i 'a;iin he did so. I took it - il. was Chailcs A.hol.dl kwfr! - the largc b!alc wns gonc ! With all the power I possesed I restrained my deep efliotion ; and, Fiaving out my paper, I handed back the knife. hy ahould he havo that knife S' boluly about hun? I afterwards learn ed. He had not vvorn thoso pautaloons beforé fiince the night oí tho fire; and now he used the knife probably without the least remembrarme of the loss it had sustained during a very peculiar piece of wuii;, to the esecution of which it was made subservient. We talkcd for sorne ten minutes, and I found thai eieven of the jury tröt" bent on rendermt; a verd'ct of guilty; though most of thetn were in favor of recoinmending tlie piisonei'to mercy. - Móultoh Warren was decidid. He had no mercy at all. Presentí i I started u, and pretending to ba f'aint. I said I mut go out for a lew ir.oments I kii ked at the dooi1 and the députy sheriff carae. He heard iny plea and let me out. As soon as we had pained B safe dixtaoce, I told liini all. ife as astonished, and went BWay; vhen he caruo back he brought the district attornev and the district judixe and the sheriff. I t ld ihem ngain what I had seen- I assnred them ihat I knew that it w:m ro mere suspicion. And I e.xplained too, War ren marmer in the jury rooqri, and his foniier connection with tho prisooer, and his known ijhutaoter. Tlio oflïi-ers went away, and at the end of ten minutes they returnec, a consta!)!(! added to their ninriber, ;.nd ihis consta'tk had a fVeshly written ins'riiment in his hand. The sheriff bade me to prtlnl out the hatto thuin a& soon as he entered tho room. The door of room rtpenpCT, and 1 pninted theua to thu haf. Tlie sheriff to)k it and asked whose it was. War ren loaped to his leet and seized it, but was held back . Word uaainstantly sent tpthe.iu.dge. that t: ey could not agrpti. Thcy were di-cliaroed and then Moultnri VVarren was searuhed. Tlie kuife found npon iiim and his behavior at once exposed his guil}. The presence of that letter was aecoun'ted for by hirn ih a dozen ditterent ways within an hout'. A new jrfry was impanneled, and Chai los Auibold was acquitteti. Shortly afifiwa'd Warren was tried. It was plainK' prove. I that tho woman who kept it was to have lieen burnod up in it, as he contrived to lock her mío her room shortly átter settinir tho fire. 8he had incurred his ispleasure D va; ious ways. and this as iiis reveno. Not only she but two of her tfirls liad siispected him f. om tlie first, but thev dared not comjilain for fear he would not be convicted, and would be sure to murder tliern. ÏJje liardened vilüan . confessed his gililt af'ter ho had been condemned. and then it was that he told how he happeued lo beso carcless in regard t ' the paper and knife It was v:e who had rolibed Ambold, and when he took the old letter from his hat to uso it f a toich in set ing tho fire, hfi did not notice what it was, and even svhen that partly burned half' had beei; exhibited in court, he had entirelv forgotten that he had torn off the other half and put it back in his liat, a he must have done. The letter had been found in Ambola's pocket book, nnd he hátí kept it, bétíáiihéin it the vouth was warned against his iufluence." II ; confessed that he held a sliht i'lea oí calling the wriier to to an account wlifin it should bcome convepioni itli regard to l!-,o knife, i t was as befo: e stated. Hu took that' al'so from AtnboldV pocket, and put it in his own; and on U'o night of the üre ha aifed it to pry up the eash, ptwd when he had broben it he pat it back in his pocket and had forgQ.tten it. Thus was Charley saved - and saved from more than an ignómihioüa death, too. Fio was paved to bo a noble, virtuous mai" and his m t her once more took ampie deliüht and jov in the lqy.e and tender care of her only child. When Charles Atnbold knevv that Il'oulton Warren had expiated his crimes upon ihe pallows, he sat down and pondered upon his past lift. Thethough s of his old companion being hanged sent a strange thrill through his frame. Bnt he was able to trace out clearly and logically, this terrible r. snit from the eourse of life the illfateil nan had jjursued. He shnddei ed as he remembered how lar he had gone in the same eourse himselt; and he was ablo to see the safe path for any youth. Not onh' must ho shun temptation - not only keep eleM1 of even the apntarance ol vice - but above all, must he .-hun ovil cnuipanionship. A youth may maki; all tfood 1 esolut ions thought can affrd,'but if he continúes oue evil viin'nghip. Ro H h'ét safel