George Barr McCutcheon

“ She is the cleverest, shrewdest young woman I've ever seen. She is the best judge of men that I've ever encountered—far and away better than I or any one connected with our office. When that jury was completed I realised, with a sort of shock, that it was she who selected it. She made but one mistake—and that was in you. There is where we were smarter than she. I knew that you would do the right thing by us, in spite of your very palpable efforts to get off. If there had been some one else in your place, Mr. Sampson, James Hildebrand would have been acquitted. ”

“ He no longer smiled; no more did he exploit his wit, and as for his brisk moustache, it drooped.
To the amazement of every one, the defendant's counsel announced that they had but one witness: the prisoner himself. And every one then knew that no matter what the prisoner said in his own defence, his testimony would be unsupported; it would have to stand alone against odds that were overwhelming.
Slowly but surely it became evident to these more or less discerning men that James Hildebrand's plea would be for sympathy and not for vindication. ”

“ He could not deny himself a stare of incredulity on beholding this well-dressed, even ascetic looking man who strode haltingly, almost timidly through the little gate and sank into the chair designated by his counsel. Once seated, he barely glanced at his lawyers, and then allowed his eyes to fall as if shame was the drawing power. Somehow, in that instant, Sampson experienced the sudden conviction that this man James W. Hildebrand was no ordinary person, for it was borne in upon him that he despised the men who were employed to defend him. ”

“ Every man there envied him. He had a nice job, and he looked as though he rather liked being connected with an inhuman enterprise. He was immune. He was like the man who already has had smallpox. Lazy court attendants in well-worn uniforms ambled about freely. They too were envied. They were thoroughly court-broken. A couple of blithe, alert looking young men from the district attorney's office came and, with their hands in their pockets, stared blandly at the waiting group, very much as the judges at a live-stock show stare at the prize pigs, sheep and cattle. ”

“ Sampson hadn't the faintest idea how to describe a nose. Noses, he maintained, are industrial or economic devices provided by nature for the sole purpose of harbouring colds, and are either lovely or horrid. There is no intermediate class in noses. You either have a nose that is fearfully noticeable or you have one that isn't. A noticeable nose is one that completely and adequately describes itself, sparing you the effort, while the other kind of a nose—such as Miss Hildebrand's—is one that you wouldn't see at all unless you made an especial business of it. ”

“ There is nothing so difficult to fight against as the force of feminine appeal. Men are simple things, you see. We boast about our righteous strength of purpose, but along comes a gentle, frail bit of womanhood and we find ourselves—well, up in the air! Miss Hildebrand had a decidedly agreeable effect on all of us. It is only natural that she should. We realised what it all meant to her, and I daresay there wasn't one of us who relished the thought of hurting her.
“Her devotion was really quite beautiful,” observed Sampson, feeling that he had to put himself on record. ”

“ Sampson always had wondered why the men from the district attorney's office were so confident, so cocky, and so spruce looking while their opponents invariably appeared to be a seedy, harassed lot, somewhat furtive in their movements and usually labouring under the strain of an inward shyness that caused a greasy polish of perspiration to spread over their countenances. ”

“ We, as individuals, are all sorry for the person we are obliged to punish, Mr. Sampson. But the law is never sorry. The mere fact that one man disregards the law is no reason why the rest of us should do the same, is it? ”

“ We cannot be governed by sympathy or conjecture.
“When I left the court-room with the rest of you gentlemen to deliberate on a verdict, I will confess to you that I had in my heart a hope that you men would do just what you have done all along: vote for acquittal. When I came into this room seven hours ago, I was eager to vote just as you have voted. Then I began to reflect. I asked myself this question: how can I go back to that court-room and look the district attorney and the Court in the face and say that James Hildebrand is not guilty? ”

“ They made no pretentions. They fell in love with her just as they would have fallen in love with any pretty girl—and, Heaven knows, pretty girls are always being fallen in love with. But that he, the unimpressionable, experienced Sampson, should lose his heart—and head—over a girl who had never spoken a word to him, whom he had never seen until six days before, and who doubtless would go out of his life completely the instant the trial was over—why, it ought to have been excruciatingly funny. ”

“ The jury was in the box, awaiting the opening of court. Sampson surveyed them with some interest. They were a youngish lot of men and, to his way of thinking, about as far from intelligent as the average New York jury. They looked dazed, bewildered and distinctly uncomfortable. He knew how they were feeling—no one knew better than he!
The prisoner entered, followed by his counsel, and took his seat. Sampson favoured Dorr with a smile of derision. Rodriguez was a most ordinary looking fellow—swarthy, unimposing and at least sixty years of age. ”

“ Wilks smiled. “That verdict, at least, is universal. Justice, however, has miscarried in more cases than I care to mention, simply because some little woman proves herself to be a brick. No doubt you will recall any number of such cases right here in New York. If we had had the remotest idea what Miss Hildebrand was like, we would have put up a strenuous kick against her sitting beside the prisoner where you all could see and be seen. She made it hard for you to convict the old man, and she certainly wormed the recommendation to the Court out of you. ”

“ Her gaze shifted from the Court to him almost in the same instant, and it seemed to express astonishment, even incredulity—as if she were saying (although he was sure she would not have expressed herself so vulgarly) : “Well, can you beat that!”
“And now, Mr. Stevens,” went on Mr. O'Brien, after taking the usual exception, “you testified in direct examination that you and Mr. Drew purchased the defendant's Manhattan property. Did you buy it for the Cornwallis Realty and Investment Company, or for yourselves as individuals?”
“We bought it for ourselves, as individuals.” ”

“ Politeness alone kept them from yawning. Afterwards it was revealed that only one of the twelve was good at figures of any sort: the automobile salesman. He was a perfect marvel at statistics. He could tell you how many miles it is from New York to Oswego without even calculating, and he knew to a fraction the difference in the upkeep of all the known brands of automobiles in America. He made Sampson tired.
Despite the damaging testimony that seemed surely to be strangling her grandfather's chances for escape, Miss Hildebrand revealed no sign of despair, or defeat. ”

“ Is it to be expected of him, therefore, that he should say anything else but that he did not rob his partners?
“Only the criminals who are caught redhanded confess that they are guilty. The guiltiest of them go on the stand, as we all know, proclaiming their innocence, and, not one, but all of the men who go to the chair after making such pleas maintain with their last breath that they are innocent. Gentlemen, this is the bitterest hour in all my life. I want to set this old man free, but I cannot conscientiously do so. I took my oath to render a fair and impartial verdict. ”

“ She was not at all interested in the men who failed to come up to her notion of what a juror ought to be. It was always she who put the final stamp of approval on the jurors selected. Two or three times she unmistakably overcame the contentions of her grandfather's counsel, and men got into the box who, without her support, would have been challenged—and rightly, too, thought Sampson. No. 7 for instance. He certainly was not an ideal juror for the defendant, thought Sampson. ”

“ Hildebrand's honour untouched; he had it in tatters by mid-afternoon and at four o'clock, when court adjourned, there wasn't anything left of it at all.
Sampson was gloomy that night. He did not go to sleep until long after two, although he went to bed at eleven—an unspeakably early hour for him. Things certainly looked black for the old man. If Stevens was to be believed, James Hildebrand was a most stupendous rascal. ”

“ Why should he be hounded like this when the city was full of men eager to earn two dollars a day and who would not in the least mind sitting cross-legged and idle all day long in a jury box—snoozing perhaps—in order to do their duty as citizens? ”

“ What makes it all the harder for us, gentlemen, individually and collectively, is that we believe in her. Now, what are we to do? Live up to her estimate of us, or live up to a prior estimate of ourselves?”
“Well, let's sleep over it,” said the foreman uneasily. “I guess we're all tired and—”
“I guess we won't sleep much,” broke in No. 7 miserably. “Damn' if you'll ever get me on a jury again. I'm a nervous man anyhow and now—I'm a wreck. I don't know what to do about this business.”
“If it were not for Miss Hildebrand, gentlemen, we'd all know what to do,” said Sampson. ”

“ He withdrew his gaze from the vanishing taxi-cab and allowed it to rest in sheer amazement upon the bleak countenance of No. 7.
“She's going away,” said No. 7 in sepulchral tones.
“Evidently,” said Sampson. “Exceeding the speed limit while she is about it, too.”
“I mean,” said the other, “she's going to take a long journey. She's leaving New York! That taxi is full of satchels and valises and stuff, and the driver has orders to get her to the Hudson tube by eleven o'clock. I heard that much anyhow, hangin' around here. Say, do you know there is another woman in that cab with her? ”

“ His hair, carefully brushed, was sleekly plastered into an enduring neatness, and his moustache was never so smartly trimmed and twisted as it was on this sprightly morning. One might have been led into believing that it was not winter but early spring.
The deputy clerk had taken too much pains in shaving himself that morning, for in his desire to scrape closely in the laudable effort to curb the sandy growth on his cheek and chin, he had managed to do something that called for the application of a long strip of pale pink court-plaster immediately in front of his left ear. ”

“ He decided to return and face his accusers. He did not hope to convince them that he was innocent. He only wanted the opportunity to stand before the world and proclaim his innocence. He had no testimony to offer. He could only say that he had not done this monstrous thing of which he was accused.
His testimony was given as a simple statement. He was allowed to tell his brief story without the interpolation of a single question by his counsel. Succinctly but with scant bitterness, he recited the story of his own unfair treatment at the hands of his former partners. ”

“ I'm as hard as nails. My wife says I'm as hard as all get-out. And she ought to know. She's heard me talk about crime here in New York for nearly fifteen years, and she knows how I feel. Well, if I am willing to give the old man a chance, it ought to stand for something, oughtn't it? Hard as I am? Just reason it out for yourself, Mr. Sampson. Now, we all agree that the evidence against him is pretty strong. But it is circumstantial. You said so yourself in the beginning. It was you who said that it was circumstantial. You said—just a minute, Hooper! ”

“ If I did that, gentlemen, I am quite sure I could never look an honest man in the face again. We have all been carried away by our sympathies—I quite as much as the rest of you. I am convinced that there isn't a man among you who can stand up here and say, on his honour, that the evidence warrants the discharge of the defendant.
“God knows I want to set him free. I am inclined to believe his story. He is not the sort of man who would steal. But, after all, we are bound, as honest men, to carry out the requirements of the law. The Court clearly stated the law in this case. ”

“ There will be no more attractive, thoroughly upsetting young ladies to cast spells over judge, jury, and lawyers if I can help it. I hope you will pardon me for saying it, Mr. Sampson, but I am firmly convinced if there had been no Miss Alexandra Hildebrand in the case you gentlemen would have brought in your verdict in twenty minutes. ”

“ Moreover, there were men who actually needed the money, and there were lots of them who were quite as honest as the prisoners on trial or even the witnesses who testified.
He was quite sure that if he ever was sworn in as a juror, his entire sympathy would be with the prisoner at the bar, for he would have a fellow feeling for the unhappy wretch who also was there because he couldn't help it. The jury system was all wrong, claimed Sampson. For example, said he, a man is supposed to be tried by twelve of his peers. ”