as defrauded may very
likely have to whistle for his revenge. Many a scamp has gone free by
producing some sweetly demure maiden who faithfully swears that she
knows him to be an honest man. A blush at the psychological moment and
a wink from the lawyer is quite enough to lead the jury to believe that,
if they acquit the defendant, they will "make the young lady happy,"
whereas if he is convicted she will remain for aye a heart-broken
spinster. Like enough she may be only the merest acquaintance.

The writer is not likely to forget a distinguished lawyer's instructions
to his client who happened also to be a childhood acquaintance--as she
was about to go into court as the plaintiff in a suit for damages:

"I would fold my hands in my lap, Gwendolyn--yes, like that--and be
calm, very calm. And, Gwendolyn, above all things, be demure, Gwendolyn!
Be demure!"

Gwendolyn was the demurest of the demure, letting her eyes fall beneath
their pendant black lashes at the conclusion of each answer, and won her
case without the slightest difficulty.

The unconscious or conscious influence of women upon the intellects
of jurymen has given rise to a very prevalent impression that it is
difficult if not impossible successfully to prosecute a woman for crime.
This feeling expresses itself in general statements to the effect
that as things stand to-day a woman may commit murder with impunity.
Experience, supplemented by the official records, demonstrates, however,
that, curious as it must seem, the same sentiment aroused by a woman
supposed to have been wronged is not inspired in a jury by a woman
accused of crime. It is, indeed, true that juries are apt to be more
lenient with women than with men, but this leniency shows itself not in
acquitting them of the crimes charged against them, but of finding them
guilty in lower degrees.

Of course flagrant miscarriages of justice frequently occur, which, by
reason of their widespread publicity in the press, would seem to justify
the almost universal opinion that women are immune from the penalities
for homicide. It is also true that such miscarriages of justice are more
likely when the defendant is a woman than if he be a man.

One of these hysterical acquittals which give color to popular
impression, but which the writer believes to be an exception, was the
case of a young mother tried and acquitted for murder in the first
degree, December 22, 1904. This young woman, whose history was p