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Show (Tr nn it n r n r Lai LMJ U j, : . By BEn nmES mininm5 ? HaPTER IX Continued j 21 ,j.ran cleared his throat. " he said, "Mr. Sentry stood cross-examination surprisingly 1 And s Dan Fisner rnoved, 'wet insisted, smiling: "01 or our friends the reporters i 'ras the high spot of the trial, 'iey made the most of it. But 'jj. Sentry's counsel, I was proud i an." is. Sentry nodded without speak-' speak-' ' Falkran challenged Dan, : 'isn't that your impression as a :;end of the family?" ;3n started to answer honestly, ;ne caught Phil's eye with en-' en-' -tj in it, and said only: "I was ' busy taking notes to think of it side of it. Our job is to re- ttthe case, not to decide it." He ;ed guardedly, "But I thought r' Weldon shook him once or nee." falkran said: "I'm glad to have , 3 opinion. Weldon is of course a Jpul tross-examiner, makes ev-,-j possible effect. It is conceivable conceiv-able that some of the jurors may 511 be undecided; but Mrs. Sentry's stimony tomorrow will turn the !es our way." rjan protested, "I don't think you -id call her." I know," Falkran agreed. "You i all her friends have a natural ye to spare her. That is to be iscted. And believe me, Dn, I :ot insist. But Mrs. Sentry un--'.ands that an acquittal may de-:i de-:i upon her testimony; and of :ie she wishes to do whatever ; can for her husband, no matter the cost to herself." lis. Sentry watched them both, lace expressionless, saying noth- Phil came to sit on the arm of r chair, his eyes holding Dan's, i-ding what Dan might say. Dan said, "You claim her testi-:ny testi-:ny may acquit him?" 1 have promised her it will." 'What can she say that will Fiian hesitated. "Well, Dan," kansiered at last, "you heard Mr. .ilrs testimony this afternoon, a understand that the only mo-t mo-t lie State can suggest was Mr. ::ry's tear of his wife's attitude. : if Mrs. Sentry testifies that he : no cause to be afraid of her, : that he knew it, then that mo-: mo-: disappears." " ere was a silence that extended ong minutes. Dan watched Mrs. ::ry. She sat with her head a lit-bent. lit-bent. !.jd she looked at them, at Dan i then at Falkran. Dan stared ?uick surprise. There was some--g in her eyes he could not read; -sthing like serenity. "So I must -ie," she said quietly. Then to j-Sran: "You wish me to testify?" "Yes." Jitr eyes held his for a moment. -f" she said, half smiling, looking ; at Phil, "Son, a curious thing has opened to me." The room was 7 still. "Phil, I have suddenly Men in love with your father. :S so alone, so helpless. I st help him." She met Falkran's ss; she said: "I want to do every-J8 every-J8 1 can. Ask me whatever you M" He came leaping to his feet,' -'Jed that great blustering smile of J- "Splendid!" he exclaimed. "I 'd on you, counted on your J-'e8th and courage. Be easy, Mrs. -ty. Your testimony will set your -sand tree." aerose to face him; but, on her !t weakness swept her. She iDed on Phil, said to ''them aU: 'rE've me. I am tired. Phil, J you take me upstairs?" li the morning Falkran did call -i. Sentry to the stand. At her ;X she rose and walked steadily taess box. She was sworn, I Falkran approached her. 8l asked simply, "You are Mrs. r Sentry?" "! am." wife of the defendant?" 1 am." ;'5ran turned, he bowed to the ;;-lct Attorney, he said, "You ':? inquire." the District Attorney said in-"No in-"No questions." smiled triumphantly; but 'is c'17 stood dazed and incred-s incred-s Strong for the ordeal she had " fd, this deliverance drained ", strength away. Falkran 10 lead her to her seat again. 'ft0"gn the remaining days of the ; she listened inattentively, even ..! 1 r- Loran, during the State's "j la'. took the stand. His testi- J Was brief. He denied any : nal relations with Miss Wines; e never saw her after her work ., office was ended He testi. 'n h n those days 1 August sne was out of town, he was ;6S w the Maine woods; and he ' J that on the night she was ; ; Qe went to New York on toe m. train, boarding it at ' ' ''inv and going to bed at f iv "1S "mpartment. His guide t;v "e and the Pullman porter, grated his testimony. tlal sped; the arguments be gan. At half-past three on Thursday Thurs-day afternoon, the jury retired. To wait for the verdict, Mrs. Sentry Sen-try and Phil went to a hotel, took a room. At five, and at seven, Falkran Falk-ran telephoned; and at a quarter of ten, he phoned again to assert that the jury stood ten to two for acquittal. acquit-tal. ' At eleven, he came himself to say that the jury, still unable to agree, had been locked up for the night. "So there will be no verdict till morning," he said. "A verdict in less than first degree, or a disagreement, disagree-ment, is possible; but I expect acquittal ac-quittal I will give odds that to morrow night Mr. Sentry will sleep in his own bed! You can go home and rest easy." Mrs. Sentry and Dan went down in the elevator, out to where old Eli waited with the limousine, and so came home. CHAPTER X Mrs. Sentry woke next morning wearily, from sleep that had brought no repose. While she dressed, she thought: I must hurry, hurry. Perhaps already the jury has decided. I must hurry, hurry to be there. Her breath was short; it was a conscious effort to fill her She Swayed Toward Him, and He Held Her Close. lungs; and within her body there seemed to be a crawling, writhing knot, as though her nerves were in actual physical motion like the tentacles ten-tacles of an octopus. She came downstairs bravely; but while they were at breakfast Dan telephoned to urge them not to come to court. "It can't possibly do any good now, you know," he reminded PhiL "The thing is settled, one way or the other." Phil, returning to the table, repeated re-peated this advice. Mrs. Sentry cried instantly: "No, Phil! No. I must be there, must do everything I can." "Being there can't do any good, . mother," he reminded her. "When the jury does come into court again, they will have decided. The sight of you can't change them." She looked at Phil acutely. "That means you think they will convict him? Find him guilty?" "Gosh, no!" "But Phil, if there's any least chance of his acquittal, I must be there. There to take him in my arms." She colored like a girl. He put his arm around her. "I'll be there," he promised. "To bring him home. If he can come. If he cannot then for you to be there would just break you down." And to be miserly with your strength, mother. Keep it to spend when it will do real good." It may have been two hours before be-fore he came home. Mrs. Sentry had waited in a surface calm, consulting con-sulting with cook about meals before be-fore she went upstairs to sit with Barbara. When she heard the car, she descended, slowly, holding to the stair-rail, walking carefully. Each step was a voluntary action that required to be planned and with the utmost caution carried through. She met Phil in the front haU. so that his back was to the light and she could not see his face clearly. Nevertheless she saw that he was alone. So no word from him was necessary. She swayed toward him, and he held her close. ' He said in a low tone, evading thfdirect statement: "Mr. Falkran wants to see you, to discuss the appeal. ap-peal. I told him to wait, to come in a day or two." So she knew; and after a moment she shivered suddenly, as a sleep.ng dog shivers to keep warm, and she felfhim stiffen into a frozen r.g.di-' r.g.di-' y and knew he was afraid for he so she freed herself, and smiled to reassure him. -d "I'm all right, son, she saic "But I shall lie down for a little while. I'd rather be alone just now. You might go sit with Barbara" He nodded, assenting; and they parted in the upper haU. When he came into Barbara's room, she turned her head on the pillow to look at him, and he thought how thin she was, her eyes lucent, her lips pale; and he thought, almost grateful grate-ful for this task to do: Barbara needs me. We've left her too much alone. I must be with her now. And he sat down on her bedside and held her thin fingers tight in his, and felt them cling and tug. She croaked something, some question; ques-tion; and he said: "Yes, Barb, old girl. And now we've got to help mother, take care of her. That's our job, yours and mine." She muttered: "Yes; mother." This was one of those days when she could manage half-formed syllables, sylla-bles, could make herself intelligible in brief phrases. Then after a moment mo-ment she said, in a sudden passion, her voice a husky croak: "But he didn't do it, Phil!" Phil nodded automatically, more to content and quiet her than in assent. He stayed a .long time with Barbara; Bar-bara; and she lay watching him. holding fast to his hand, her eyes flowing tears, as though tears were balm. He was still with her when Doctor Mainton came; and the doctor doc-tor talked quietly to her for a while, and almost cheerfully. "You've had a long siege, Barbara," Barba-ra," he said. "But now you've turned the corner. You're going to be better right along. Be yourself again soon, won't you?" Phil went downstairs with the older old-er man, and he asked, "Is she as sick as she looks, Doctor?" The other said gently, "She was worse yesterday morning than she had been at any time; but she's better today." And he asked simply, sim-ply, "Did you tell her your father was convicted?" Phil said, "Yes." And he said: "A strange thing it seemed to make her feel better, to reassure her. But she believes he is innocent, inno-cent, of course." "Fine!" Doctor Mainton agreed. "You stay with her, Phil; and if she shows any inclination to talk, encourage her. Miss Dane has been much with her, hasn't she? And you and your sister are pretty close to one another?" "Yes, sir." "Try the clock, this afternoon; and one of you stay with her. If she tries to talk, answer her; get her to confide in you. I could come myself; but she has been afraid of me, afraid of being cured. It had better be one of you, whom she trusts." "You think she'll be all right?" "Try," the doctor repeated, and drove away. Phil did not at once return indoors. in-doors. He stood under the porte cochere for a moment, thinking of Barbara; and then he realized that even without an overcoat, he was comfortably warm. The sun shone, there was no wind, and the air had promise in it. He walked at random down the drive to the street, noticing without emotion how the shrubbery was broken where curious curi-ous children or adults like ghouls had broken off souvenirs; and old Eli had neatly clipped the ragged ends and touched them with paint to protect them against decay. Here and there he saw buds swelling; and returning by the other side of the drive he noticed in a sunny corner cor-ner crocuses just bursting through the sod. March was well begun. Four months till July. In less than four months, the week of July I would have come and gone. The week of July 1! The Judge's phrase slid like a snake through the dulled channels of his mind. He walked out toward the garage, of which the doors stood open, and saw the cars there. The old limousine limou-sine which was Eli's pet and pride. The depot wagon which he and Barbara Bar-bara were apt to use. The roadster road-ster which his father had driven that night. The limousine and the roadster road-ster had low number plates, three digits in the-one, four in the other; one of the mild forms of ostentation ostenta-tion in which he knew his mother took a secret pride. He went in to look at the roadster; road-ster; and he stared at it with a rooted root-ed physical distaste. He made a sudden decision to be rid of it. Eli came in from the garden, and Phil started to speak to him and then remembered that he would have to shout, because Eli was deaf; and if he shouted, his mother, even in the house, might hear. Instead, he took an envelope from his pocket and wrote on it orders for the old man to drive the roadster into the Country, find a dealer somewhere who would buy it at any price, then surrender the number plates, give them up for good and all. He realized real-ized as he wrote that the plates had been renewed since his father last drove the car; but the number was the same, had been the same each year since before he himself was born. Get rid of them! Eli read the instructions, and he nodded his assent, silent as always. Phil took the registration, endorsed the report of transfer of ownership in blank, scribbled a note giving Eli authority to sell the car. He brushed his hands together in a deep reliei and turned away, and it did not occur oc-cur to him till years afterward, looking look-ing backward on these months, thai the moment was a milestone. It was the first time in his life thai he had ever made a concrete decision de-cision involving definite action or an adult plane and carried the action ac-tion through. He thought in latei years that his own maturity dated from that moment when, almosi without consideration, he assumed the headship of the family. He left Eli and went out past the tennis court, littered with last year'! dead leaves, the remains of a drif; of snow still persisting in one cor ner; and he stood in the little sum merhouse above the muddy strearr on which stained and rotten ice stil persisted, and looked down where his father that night had thrown the gun. (TO BE COWIMED) |