ut what were the facts? When the loss of the ship was reported, the
Brazilian authorities sent men to the wreck, on the chance of saving
the cargo; and, days afterward, there the ship was found, just as
the captain and the crew had left her."--"Don't forget, sir, that the
diamonds were missing when the salvors examined the wreck."--"All right,
but that's no proof that the captain stole the diamonds; and, before
they had saved half the cargo, a storm did come on and break the
vessel up; so the poor man was only wrong in the matter of time, after
all."--"Allow me to remind you, gentlemen that the prisoner was deeply
in debt, and therefore had an interest in stealing the diamonds."--"Wait
a little, sir. Fair play's a jewel. Who was in charge of the deck when
the ship struck? The second mate. And what did the second mate do, when
he heard that his owners had decided to prosecute? He committed suicide!
Is there no proof of guilt in that act?"--"You are going a little too
fast, sir. The coroner's jury declared that the second mate killed
himself in a state of temporary insanity."--"Gently! gently! we have
nothing to do with what the coroner's jury said. What did the judge say
when he summed up?"--"Bother the judge! He said what they all say: 'Find
the prisoner guilty, if you think he did it; and find him not guilty,
if you think he didn't.' And then he went away to his comfortable cup
of tea in his private room. And here are we perishing of hunger, and our
families dining without us."--"Speak for yourself, sir, _I_ haven't got
a family."--"Consider yourself lucky, sir; _I_ have got twelve, and
my life is a burden to me, owing to the difficulty of making both ends
meet."--"Gentlemen! gentlemen! we are wandering again. Is the captain
guilty or not? Mr. Foreman, we none of us intended to offend you. Will
you tell us what _you_ think?"

No; the foreman kept his word. "Decide for yourselves first," was his
only reply.

In this emergency, the member afflicted with fidgets suddenly assumed a
position of importance. He started a new idea.

"Suppose we try a show of hands," he suggested. "Gentlemen who find the
prisoner guilty will please hold up their hands."

Three votes were at once registered in this way, including the vote
of the foreman. After a moment of doubt, the chorus of five decided on
following the opinion which happened to be the first opinion expressed
in point of time. Thereupon, the show of hands for the condemnati