Argosy, Vol. 122, No. 1 — page 137: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE HOUSE passed. What followed seemed so common- place, so trivial, so incongruous to the dig- nity of the business that her spirits sank with foreboding. For the State the prosecutor reviewed the charge against Frank La Salle. He was a youngish man with good looks and a fight- ing jaw, but he spoke indifferently and with- out apparent interest. Jean saw Devree prompting his chief with notes scribbled on slips of paper and laid in range of his gaze on the table. When he had done she could have cried with vexation, so trivial did his effort seem. Barr entered the usual motions on behalf of his client. He, too, seemed strangely in- different to the nature of the business. Even the judge, ruling on the motions, appeared bored. ‘The trial passed on to the exami- nation of jurymen, and the long morning dragged in seemingly senseless cross-ques- tioning of men who were made to appear more than usually stupid. The audience breathed heavily, yawned, and blinked; even the judge seemed to doze behind his papers. The air was thick and . Over-warm with steam heat. The terrible curse of utter inanity seemed to blight everybody. Just before lunch the tally of the jury was completed, and Jean hoped for better things in the afternoon. Court convened again with all the pre- liminary whirring and creaking of the pon- derous mills of justice. its case and called a witness to the stand. Jean wondered that Barr paid so little heed to the examination. He seemed absorbed in whispering to La Salle, and glanced occa- sionally toward the rear of the court-room. He appeared to expect something. And something did happen, with dramatic sud- denness. One of Barr’s assistants bustled into the room, late. His tiptoeing progress down the aisle attracted many eyes. He bent over his chief and whispered earnestly. Then Barr was on his feet, speaking to the court. What was it? Jean craned forward, trying to catch the meaning of Barr’s words. The judge made a reply, and Barr’s arm rose, the finger pointing at a man in the jury-box. “That man, your honor’—Barr de- The State opened © OF FRAUD. 127 claimed in full voice. ‘‘ In view of this new - and astonishing information I demand that Juror Number Eleven answer certain ques- tions by this court.” The trial had stopped dead. Counsel and court attendants exchanged astonished glances. A murmur ran through the audi- ence, and several people in the rear rows of benches rose to crane their necks. A bailiff rapped testily for order. At a word from the judge the witness chair was vacated, and the juror whom Barr had so dramatically accused quit the box and climbed to the chair. He was an insignificant little man with a bristling, short-clipped blond pompadour, and huge blond mustache. His watery blue eyes blinked with fright. Counsel closed about him, and the judge addressed a few questions in a guarded tone. He nodded, and gulped anxiously. Abruptly, at the court’s orders, a bailiff escorted him from the room. ‘¢ What is it—oh, what is it?” Jean whis- pered to Diana. ‘‘ I can’t hear them. What are they saying?”’ Diana hushed her with a warning grip on her arm. “1 don’t know dear—listen!” The two women, clasping each other, craned forward. But they could not hear clearly. Talk of counsel was a confused murmur. Barr’s face was red with suppressed emo- tion. He seemed about to burst with tri- umph. Jean caught his phrase ‘“—because of the statements of this juror the defense moves’ for a dismissal.’”’ The prosecutor entered sharp: ‘“ Objection,” and the court ruled as sharply: “ Objection overruled.”’ Then a moment of silence. Now the judge spoke, addressing the eleven staring jurymen. Through a haze of astonishment Jean caught the import of his words. He was dismissing the jury from duty. The trial had ended! Even as she grasped it the court rose. With ad- journment a buzz of talk came. A word was bandied about from lip to lip—‘‘ Mis- trial.”” Behind her Jean heard a comment: ‘“A damned smooth trick. That Barr’s a stem-winding wonder, I’ll tell the world.” ‘‘ Diana,” she gasped, shaking Diana’s arm, “‘ we—we have lost—failed. Diana!’’ But Diana did not heed her. Diana’s cComiclbooks.com