so within the line of Racquette County. Only a little
of the extreme southeastern corner of that county had been burned over
in the recent fire and in general it had meant very little to these
people. In Tupper County where Jeffrey Whiting had lived and which had
suffered terribly from the fire it should have been nearly impossible
to select a jury which would have been willing to convict the slayer
of Rogers under the circumstances. But to the people of the villages
of Racquette County the matter did not come home. They only knew that
a man had been killed up the corner of the county. A forest fire had
started at about the same time and place. But few people had any clear
version of the story. And there seemed to be little doubt as to the
identity of the slayer.

There was another and far more potent reason why it was unfortunate
for Jeffrey Whiting that Samuel Rogers had died within the lines of
Racquette County. The Judge who sat upon the bench was the same man
who only a few weeks before had pleaded so unctuously before the
Senate committee for the rights of the downtrodden U. & M. Railroad
against the lawless people of the hills. He had given the District
Attorney every possible assistance toward the selection of a jury who
would be at least thoughtful of the interests of the railroad. For
this was not merely a murder trial. It was the case of the people of
the hills against the U. & M. Railroad.

Racquette County was a "railroad" county. The life of every one of its
rising villages depended absolutely upon the good will of the railroad
system that had spread itself beneficently over the county and that
had given it a prosperity beyond that of any other county of the
North. Racquette County owed a great deal to the railroad, and it was
not in the disposition or the plans of the railroad to leave the
county in a position where it might forget the debt. So the railroad
saw to it that only men personally known to its officials should have
public office in the county. It had put this judge upon this bench.
And the railroad was no niggard to its servants. It paid him well for
the very timely and valuable services which he was able to render it.

The grip which the railroad corporation had upon the life of
Racquette County was so complex and varied that it extended to
every money-making affair in the community. It was an intangible but
impenetrable mesh of interests and influences that extended in every
direction and