that
blood that cries to heaven for vengeance upon the murderess. May the
righteous God who rules the destinies of the universe guide you, and
enable you to perform faithfully your awful duty."

Painfully solemn was the profound silence that pervaded the court-room,
and the eyes of the multitude turned anxiously to the grave countenance
of the Judge. Mr. Dunbar had seated himself at a small table, not far
from Beryl, and resting his elbow upon it, leaned his right temple in
the palm of his hand, watching from beneath his contracted black brows
the earnest, expectant faces of the jurymen; and his keen, glowing eyes
indexed little of the fierce, wolfish pangs that gnawed ceaselessly at
his heart, as the intolerable suspense drew near its end.

Judge Parkman leaned forward.

"Gentlemen of the jury: before entering that box, as the appointed
ministers of justice, to arbitrate upon the most momentous issue that
can engage human attention--the life or death of a fellow creature--you
called your Maker to witness that you would divest your minds of every
shadow of prejudice, would calmly, carefully, dispassionately consider,
analyze and weigh the evidence submitted for your investigation; and
irrespective of consequences, render a verdict in strict accordance
with the proofs presented. You have listened to the testimony of the
witnesses, to the theory of the prosecution, to the theory of the
counsel for the defence; you have heard the statement of the accused,
her repeated denial of the crime with which she stands charged; and
finally you have heard the arguments of counsel, the summing up of all
the evidence. The peculiar character of some of the facts presented as
proof, requires on your part the keenest and most exhaustive analysis
of the inferences to be drawn from them, and you 'have need of
patience, wisdom and courage'. While it is impossible that you can
contemplate the distressing condition of the accused without emotions
of profound compassion, your duty 'is prescribed by the law, which
allows you no liberty to indulge any sentiment, inconsistent with its
strict performance'. You should begin with the legal presumption that
the prisoner is innocent, and that presumption must continue, until her
guilt is satisfactorily proved. This is the legal right of the
prisoner; contingent on no peculiar circumstances of any particular
case, but is the common right of every person accused of a crime. The
law surrounds the pris