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Show , o-, HALLfE ERMINIE RVES J- Ij CHAPTER XXXVIII. A Day for tho State i ( In communities such ns Smoky Moun tain the law moves with fateful rnpid-f rnpid-f ity. Harry had boon formally arraiencrt ! the second morning after his sclt-ur- render and had pleaded not puiltj. The 4 ffrand jury was in session indeed, had about finished its labors and thero had been no reason for delay. All j uocessary witnesses for the state wero on tho "round and Folder for his part i had no others to summon. So that i when Dr. Bronl, ono keen forenoon, i fwunf himself off a Pullman at tho 1 i station, returning from his ton days' i absenco, ho found tho town thrilling i with tho excitcmont of tho first day ' of tho trinl. Boforo ho left tho station ho had learned of Prcndergast Js doath 1 and accusation and knew that Tom 1 Feldor had como to tho prisoner's do- fonse. Dr. Brent had taken no stock in tho young lawyer's view of Hugh Btircs. Tho incident that thoy had witnessed on tho mountain road it had troubled him during his trip had boon to him only ano'thor chapter in t,ho hacknoyeel ' tragedv of romantic womanhood flat tered "bv a rascal. Ho was inclined now to "lay tho championship as much to interest in Jessica as in tho mnn who had won her love. I Ho walked thoughtfully to his friend's deserted office, and "leaving his J suit-caso thero, betook himself to tho filled court room, whero Smokv Moun- i tain had gntherod to watch "Fcldor's ' fight for tho life and liberty of tho man ! who for days past had boon tho center of interest. Tho court had opened two hours boforo and half tho jury had j boon selected. Ho found a seal with j some difficulty and thereafter his at- ji tontion was given first to tho bench ) whero tho prisoner sat and second to 1 a chair closo to tho railing beside Mrs. ,i naloran's, whore a cirl's face glim- mored palely under a light voil. Toward this chair the hundreds of eyes in tho room that morning hal often turned. Since tho day Mrs. Hal j loran had surprised Jessica at work I upon tho rock statue, sho had kept her I counsel, but as tho physician had con jectured, tho monument had been I stumbled upon and hnd drawn curious visitors. Thus tho namo on tho grave had become common propert' and tho coincidcnco had been chattcrod of. 1'hnt l Jessica had chiselled tho statuo was i 'not doubted sho had bought tho tools in town, and old Paddy Wise, tho blacksmith, black-smith, had sharpened them for her, Tho story Prcndergast had told in tho general" gen-eral" store, too, had not been forgotten, 5 and tho aid sue had given tho fevor- i stricken man had acquired a new sig nificance in faco of tho knowledge that sho had more thnn onco been admitted to tho jail with Folder. No one in . Smoky Mountain would havo ventured I to "pump" tho lawyer, and tho town i had been too mindful of its manners to catcchizo her, but it had bur.zcd with I theories. From the moment of tho opening of tho trial sho had divided I interest with the prisoner. (l Tho first appearance of tho latter, between two deputies, had caused a murmur of surprise. In tho weeks of wholesome toil and mountain air tho i sallow, haggard look that Ham- had ) brought to the town had gradually ! faded; his stop had grown more clastic, his cheok ruddier, his cyo a clearer blue. Tho scar on bis templo had be-I be-I como less noticeable Day by dav ho ! had been growing back to the old look. '. Tho beard and mustache now wore I gone; tho faco thoy saw was smooth : shaven, calm, alien and absorbed. Ho had bowed slightly to tho judgo, 6haken , hands gravely with Folder and sat down with a quick, flashing smile at tho quivering faco bohind the voil. He had i seemed of all thero tho ono who had J least personal concern in tho dclibera- i tions that were forward. Yet beneath j that mask of calmness Harry's every I ncrvo was stretched, every sense res- lj tive. t In tho interviews ho had had with J his client, Felder had been puzzled and 7 nonplussed. To tell the truth, when Y he had Jirstcome to his defenso it had jj been not with a conviction of his in- 1) nocenco, but with a belief in tho pres- ij ent altered character that made tho ft law's penalty seem excossivo and bu- f pererogato.y ; in fine, thnt whatever he -J might hae deserved when ho did it $ assuming that ho did it ho did not do lt servo hanging now. But tho man's i manner had mado him lean moro and A moro upon an assumption of aotual in- S nocence. In tho end, whilo discarding 7 Josfncas reasoning, ho had accepted her v . conclusion. The man was certainly j guiltless. Since this timo ho had felt his position keenly. It had been ono ."I . thing to do the very best possible for a presumptively guilty man to got him olV against tho evidenco if he could; it was a vastly different thing to defend ono whom ho believed actually ac-tually guiltless against damning circumstance. cir-cumstance. With tho filling of the jury box tho court adjourned for an hour and Dr. Brent saw tho two women's figures disappear with Felder into n side room, whilo tho prisoner was takon in. charge by tho deputies. The doctor lunched hastib' at tho Mountain Valley house, irritated out of his usual urbanity by tho chatter of tho crowded dining room, realizing thon how busy gossip that had been with" Jessica's name. llo walked back to tho court room moodily smoking. smok-ing. Tho afternoon session commenced with a conciso opening by the district attorney; Folder's reply was as brief and the real business ot tho day began with tho witnesses for tho slato. Circumstantially speaking, tho evidence evi-dence was llawless. Dr. Moreau, whilo little known and less liked, had figured in tho town as a promoter and an in-vontor in-vontor of "slick" stock schemes. Ho hnd como thero with Hugh Stires from Sacramento, whero thoy had had a business busi-ness partnership of short duration. There had been bad blood between them there, as tho latter had onco admitted. ad-mitted. Tho prisoner had pre-empted tho claim on Smoky Mountain iu an abortivo "boom." which Moreau had engineered, and over whoso proccods tho pair, it was believed, had fallen out. Ho had then, to uso tho attorney's phrase, "swapped tho devil for tho witch," and had taken up with Prcndergast, Prcn-dergast, who by tho manner of his taking tak-ing off had finally justified a Jail record rec-ord in another state. Soon atter this break Hugh Stires had vanished. On tho da i allowing his last appearanco in the town tho body of Moreau had been found on tho Littlo Paymaster claim, shot by a cowardly bullot through tho back a fact which precluded pre-cluded tho possibility that tho deed had been dono in self-defense. Thero was ovidenco that ho had died a painful and lingering death. Suspicion had naturally pointed to tho vanished man and this suspicion had grown until, after somo mouths' absence, ho had returned, alloging that ho had lost his memory of tho past, to rcsumo his life in tho" cabin on tho mountain and his partnership with tho thief Prcndergast. Tho two had finally quarrelled and Prcndergast had taken up his abode in tho town. Subsequent to this tho lat-tor lat-tor had been heard to mako dark insinuations, in-sinuations, unnoted at tho time, but sinco grown significant, hinting at criminal crim-inal knowledge of tho prisoner. Tho close of this chapter had been Prcndergast Prcn-dergast 's dismal end in tho gulch, when ho had produced tho scrap of paper which was tho crux of tho case. lie declared ho had found Moreau dying; that tho latter had traced with his own hand tho accusation which fastened tho crime upon Hugh Stires. Specimens of Moreau 's handwriting vjcro not lacking lack-ing and seemed to prove ucyond question ques-tion its authenticity. Such wcro tho links of tho coil which wound, with each witness, closer and closer nono knew hotter how closoly than Harry Sanderson himself. As wit-ucss wit-ucss succeeded witness, his heart sank. Jessica's burden was not to be lightened; light-ened; Hugh must remain a Cain, a dweller in tho dark places of tho earth. In the larger part, his own sacrifice was to fail! In his cross examination Felder had fought gamely to lighten tho weight of the evidence: Tho prisoner's old associations asso-ciations with Moreau had been amicable, amic-able, elso they would not havo como to Smoky Mountain together: if ho had been disliked and avoidod, tho circum-stanco circum-stanco was referable rather to his companionships com-panionships than to his own actions; whatover tho pervasivo contempt, thoro had beon nothing criminal on tho books against him. Tho lawyer 'a questions touched tho baleful whisper that had become allegation and indictment, a projudged conviction of guilt. They mado it clear that tho current belief had been the fruit of antipathy and bias; that it had been no question of evidence; so far as that went, he, Felder, Fel-der, might havo dono tho deed, or Pron-dergast, Pron-dergast, or any one there. But Smoky Mountain would havo said, as it did Bay, "It was Hugh Stires!" Ho compelled com-pelled the jury to recognize that but one bit of actual evidenco had been offered thero had been no eye witness, no telltalo incident. All rested upon a Binglo scrap of papor, a fragment of handwriting in no way difficult of imitation, imi-tation, and this in turn upon tho allegation alle-gation of a thief, struck down in an act of crimo, whose word in an ordinary ordi-nary caso of act would not bo worth a farthing. No motive had boen alleged for tho killing of Moreau by tho pris oner, but Prcndergast had had motive enough in his accusation. It had been open knowledge that he hated Hugh Stires, and his own charactor mado it evident that ho would not havo scrupled scru-pled to fasten a murder upon him. But as Folder studied tho twelve gravo faces in tho jury box, who in tho last analysis were all that counted, ho shared his client's hopelessness. Judgment and experience told him how futilo woro all theories in tho faco of that inarticulate but damning witness that Prcndergast had left bohind him. So tho afternoon dragged through, a day for tho state. Sunsot came early at that season. Dark fell and tho electric bulbs mado their mimic day, but no ono left tho room. Tho outcomo scorned a foro- fjono conclusion. Tho jurymen no onger gazed at tho prisoner, and whon thpy looked at ono another it was with grim understanding. As tho last witness wit-ness for tho Btato stoppod down nnT tho prosecutor rosted, tho judgo glanced at tho clock. "Thero is a baro half-hour," ho said tentatively. "Perhaps tho defenso would prefer not to open testimony till tomorrow." Feldor had risen. Ho saw his opportunity oppor-tunity to bring out sharply a contrasting contrast-ing point in tho prisoner's favor, tho ono circumstance, considered apart, pointing toward innoconco rather than guilt to leavo this for tho jury to tako with them, to offsot by its effoct tho weight of tho ovidenco that had been given. "I will proceed, if your honor pleases," he said, and amid a mstlo of surprise and intorest called Jessica to tho Btand. As sho went forward, to tho witness chair sho put back tho shielding voil and hor face, pale aa bramble-bloom undor her red'bronzo hair, mado an appealing ap-pealing picture. A cluster of whito carnations was pinned to her coat and as sho passed Harry sho bent and laid ono in his hand. Tho slight act, not lost upon tho spectators, called fortE a sibilant flutter of sympathy. For it woro no touch of designed effect; itB impulse was as pure and .unmistakablo as its meaning. Harry had utartod uncontrollably as sho ro30, for ho had had no inkling r..,',. . . j- , " X .. of tho lawyer's intention, and a flush darkened his cheek at. the cool touch of tho ilnwer. But this fnded to a settled set-tled pallor as tinder Folder's gravo questioning she told in a voico as clear as a child's, yet with a womnn's emotion emo-tion struggling through it, tho story of her disregarded wnrning. Whilo sho spoho pain ami shame tra veiled through his every vein, for though technically sho had not brought herself into tho porploxing purview of tho law sho was laving baro tho secret of her own heart, which now he would have covered at any cost. ''That is all. your honor." said Folder, Fol-der, wheu Jessica had finished her story. "Do you wish to cross examino?" asked tho judgo porfunclorilv. Tho prosecutor looked at nor an instant. in-stant. Ho saw the faintness in her oyes, tho twitching of tho glovod hand on thu.rail. "By no mcaus." ho snid courteously, and turned to his papers. At tho same moment, as Jessica stepped into tho open aisle, the ironic chanco which so 'often relieves the strain of tho tragic by a breath of tho banal, treated tho spell-bound audioucrt to a novel sensation. Evory electric light sudUonly weut out, and darkness swooped upon tho town and tho court room. A second's carelessness at the power houso a half-miln dropping of a bit of wasto into a cogwheel cog-wheel and tho larger mechanism that governed tho issues of life and death was thrown into instant confusion. Hubbub arose people stood up in their places. Tho judge's gavel pounded viciously and his stentorian voico bcllowod for order. "Keep your Beats, everybody!" ho commanded. "Mr. Clerk, get somo .candles. This court is not yet adjourned!" ad-journed!" To Jessica tho sudden blaukncss camo with a nervous shock. Since that first meeting in tho jail sho had pinned hor faith on .the rcassuranco that had been given her. Sho had fought down doubt and questioning and leaned hard upon her trust. But in her overwrought condition, con-dition, as the end drow near with no solution of tho enigma, this faith sometimes some-times faltered. Tho mystory wos so impenetrable, tho peril so imminent! Today in tho court room her subtle sense had told her that, belief and conviction con-viction aside, a pronounced feeling of sympathy existed for tho man sho loved. Sho had not needed Mrs. Hallorau's comforting assurances on this score, for tho atmosphere was surcharged with it. Sho had felt it whon sho laid tho carnation in his hand, and oven moro unmistakably whilo she had givon her testimony. Sho had realized tho value of that ono unvarnished fact, introduced intro-duced so effectively that ho had had timo to got away, and instead had chosen to surrender himsolf. Yet even as sho thrilled to tho responsive re-sponsive curront. Jessica had not been deceivod. Sho felt tho pitiful impot-enco impot-enco of mcro sympathy against tho apparent weight of evidenco that had frightened her. Surely, surely, if ho was to save himself, tho truth must come out sneedily! But tho ond of it all was in sight and ho had not spokon. Todaj' as sho watched his faco Iho thought had como to hor that perhaps his reassurance had beon givon onlv to comfort her and sparo her anguish. "Tho thought had como again and again to torturo her; only by a great effort had sho beon ablo to givo her testimony. As tho pall of darkness foil upon tho court room it brought a sonso of pro-monition, pro-monition, as though tho incident pro- ; I figured tho gloomy end. Sho turned I sick nnd stumbled down tho aisle, feeling feel-ing that sho must reach tho outor air. A pushing handful opened tho way to tho corridor, and in a moment moro sho was in tho starlit out-of-doors, fighting fight-ing down hor faintness. with tho babblo of talk behind her and tho cool breozo on hor cheek. CHAPTER XXXIX. Tho Unsummoned Witness. In tho room Jessica had left tho turmoil tur-moil was simmoring down; hero and there a match was struck and showed a circlo of brightness. The glimmer of ono of them lit tho countenance of a man who had brushed her bIocvo as ho entered. It was Hallelujah Jones. Tho evangelist had prolonged his stay at Stiiok' Mountain, for tho town, thrilling to its drama of crimo and judgment, had scorned a fruitful vino-yard. vino-yard. Ho had no local intorest in tho trial of Hugh Stires, and had not attended at-tended its session; but ho had been passing tho place whon tho lights wont out and in curiosity had crowded into tho confusion, where now ho looked about him with eager interest. A candlo llamo fluttered now, liko a golden buttcrfl3', on tho judge's desk, another on tho tablo insido tho bar. Moro grow along tho walls until tho room was bathed in tremulous j-ollow light. It touched tho profile of tho prisoner, turned now, for his look had followed Jessica, and was fixed qucs-tioningly qucs-tioningly on her empty scat. In tho unseeing darkness Harr3 had held tho whito carnation to his lips before ho drew its stem through his lapel. Tho street preacher's jaw dropped in blank astonishment, for what ho saw boforo him brought irresistibly back another scene that, months boforo, hnd bit into his mind. Tho judgo 's high desk turned instantly to a chapel altar, and the tablo back of tho polished railing rail-ing to a communion tablo. Tho minister min-ister that had looked across it in tho candlo light had worn a whito carnation carna-tion in his buttonhole. His face Hallelujah Jones started forward with an exclamation. A thousand times his zealot ipiagination had pictured tho recreant clergyman ho had unmasked as an outcast, plunging toward the lake of brimstone. Hero it was at Inst in his hand, tho end of tho storyl Tho worst of criminals, skulking beneath an alias! Ho sprang up tho aisle. 'Wait! waitl1' ho cried. "T havo ovidenco to givo!" llo pointod excitedly ex-citedly toward Harry. "This man is not what you think! IIo is not " Foronsic thunder loosed itself from tho wrathful judgo 'b desk, and crashed across tho Btupeficd room. His gnvol thumped upon the wood. "How daro j-ou," ho vociferated, "break in upon the deliberations of this courtl I lino you $20 for contempt!" Feldor had leaped to his feet, every sonso on tho qui vivo, ijiko a drown ing man ho grasped at the straw. What could this man know? Ho took a bill from his pocket and clapped it down on the clerk's desk. "I beg to purgo him of contempt." ho said, "and cull him as a witness." The district attorney broke in: "Your honor, I think I am within my rights in protesting against this unheard of proceeding. Tho man is a vagrant of unknown character. 1 1 is very action proclaims him mentally unbalanced. un-balanced. Beyond nil question ho can know nothing of this case.'' "I havo not my learned opponent's gift of clairvoyanco," retorted Folder tartly. "I repeat that I call this man as a witness." Tho judgo pulled his whiskers and looked at the evangolist in sovero an noynnce. "Tako tho stand," he said gruffly. Hallelujah .lones snatched tho Bible from tho clerk's hands nnd kissed .!. Xnowledgo was burning his tongue. Tho jury wcro leaning forward in their scnts. "Havo 3ou over seen tho prisoner before?" asked Feldor. "Yes." "When?" "When ho was a minister of the gospel." 1' elder stared. Tho judgo frowned. Tho jury looked at ono another and a laugh ran round tho hushed room. The merriment kindled tho evan gelist's distemperod passion. Suddon nngnr flamed in him. Ho leaned for ward nnd shook his hand vchemenllv at tho tablo whoro Hariy sat, his face as colorless as tho flower he wore. That man's name," ho blazed, "i not Hugh Stiresl Tt is a cloak he has chosen to cover his shame! Ho is tho llov. Henr3' Sanderson of -Aniston! ' ' CHAPTER XL. Pate's Way. Harry's pulses had leaped with excitement ex-citement when tho street preacher's first exclamation startled tho court room; now thoy wcro beating aa though U1C3- must burst. He was not to finish fin-ish tho losing strucrle. The decision was to bo takon from his hands. Fato had interfered. This bigot who hnd onco boon tho means of his undoing was to bo tho dons ex machina. Through tho stir about him ho heard tho crisp voico of the district attorney: "I ask j'our honor's permission, boforo bo-foro this extraordinar3 witness is examined ex-amined further," ho said caustically, "to read an item printed hero which has a bearing upou tho testimony." IIo held in his nand a newspapor which, earlior in tho afternoon, with cynical disregard of Folder's tactics, hb had been casualty perusing. "I object, of course," returned Folder Fol-der grimV. "Objection overruled!" snapped tho irritated judgo. "Read if, sir." Holding tho newspaper to a candlo, tho lawvor read in an oven voice, prefacing pre-facing hiB reading with tho journal's namo and date: 1 ThI.i city, which was nrouspd tn the nlnht by tlio burning of SL Jamc3 Chapel, will bo frreatly Phockcd to learn that Its rector, tho Reverend Henry Sanderson, who lias ben for somo months on a prolonged pro-longed vacation, was In tho bulldinp at the timo, nnd now Hon at tho city hospital, sufforlnpr from injuries from which It Is rumored thero is gravo doubt of his recovery. re-covery. In tho tittor that rippled tho court room IIarr3' felt his heart bound and swell. Ti'nder tho succinct statoment ho clearly discerned tho fact. IIo saw tho pitfall into which Hugh had fallen tho trap into which ho himself had sont him on that fntal errand with tho rub3r ring on his finger. "Gravo donbt of his recover'!" a surgo of relief swept over him to his finger tips. Dead men can not bo brought to bar so Jessica Jes-sica would cscapo shame. With Hugh Sassod bc3"ond human justico ho could eclaro himself. The bishop had guarded guard-ed his socrot, and saved tho parish from an unwolcomo scandal. He could ox-plain ox-plain could tell him that illness and unbalanco lay bonoath that chapel game! no could tako up his career I Ho would bo freo to go back to bo himsolf again to bo Jessica's if Hugh died! Tho reading voico drummed in his cars: Tho facts havo not as yot been ascertained, ascer-tained, but It seems clenr that the popular popu-lar younp minister returned to town unexpectedly un-expectedly last night, nnd was nslecp in his study whon the fire startod. Tils presence In tho building wns unguesscil until too late, and It was by little short of a mlraclo that ho was brought out alive. As wo ro to press wo learn that Mr-Sanderson's Mr-Sanderson's condition is much moro hopeful hope-ful than was at first reported. Hany's heart contracted as if a giant hand had clutched it. His elation ela-tion fell liko a rotten trco girdled at the roots. Tf Hugh did not die! Ho chilled as though in a spra3- of liquid air. Hugh's cscapc tho chanco his conscience had given him, was cut off. Ho had not bctraj-cd him when tho wn3 was open; how could ho do so now when flight wns barred 7 If to deliver him then to tho hangman would havo boen cowardice, how much moro cowardly now, when it was to snvo himself, and when the other was helpless? help-less? And tho law demanded its victim! vic-tim! As a drowning man sees flit before him the panorama of his lifo. so in this clarifj'ing instant thoso lurid pictures of tho tanglo of his past flashed across Harry's mental vision. Tho judgo reached for, tho nowspaper tho law3'cr held, ran his 030 over it, and brought his gavel down with an angry snort. h "Take him awa3'," ho said. "His testimony is ordered stricken from tho records. Tho fino is remitted, Mr. Felder Fel-der wo can't mako 3rou responsiblo for lunatics. Bailiff, soo that this man has no further chanco to disturb thoso proceedings. pro-ceedings. Tho court stands adjourned." (To bo continued.) |