urland is at the bottom of this
affair, everyone but yourself, judge. This lad was the accepted
sweetheart of that wayward miss. This man Slocum is one of the rough,
loud-spoken men of the village, schooled in vice and fisticuffery. You
can well imagine, gentlemen of the jury," he turned to them abruptly,
"you can well imagine the kind of a greeting this town loafer would give
this high-spirited boy on that morning after the night when his
_inamorata_ disappeared with a married man. The boy has in him somewhat
of the knight of the old time, your Honor; he has never opened his lips
in dispraise of his faithless love. He has refused to repeat the
insulting words of his assailant. He stands to-day at a turning point of
his life, gentlemen of the jury, and it depends on you whether he goes
downward or upward. He has had his faith in women shaken: don't let him
lose faith in law and earthly justice." His first gesture was on the
word "downward," and it was superb.

Again he paused, and when he looked up again a twinkle was in his eyes
and his voice was softer. "As for all this chicken roasting and melon
lifting, you well know the spirit that is in that; we all had a hand in
such business once, every man Jack of us. The boy is no more culpable
now than you were then. Moreover, Excell has had too much of the
mischief of the town laid on his shoulders--more than he deserves. 'Give
a dog a bad name and every dead sheep is laid at the door of his
kennel.'

"However, I don't intend to review the case, y'r Honor. My colleague has
made the main and vital points entirely clear; I intend merely to add a
word here and there. I want you to take another look at that pale,
handsome, poetic youth and then at that burly bully, and consider the
folly, the idiocy, and the cowardice of the charge brought against our
client." He waited while the contrast which his dramatic utterance made
enormously effective was being felt; then, in a deep, melodious voice,
touched with sadness, he addressed the judge:

"And to you, your Honor, I want to say we are old men. You on the bench
and I here in the forum have faced each other many times. I have
defended many criminals, as it was my duty to do, and you have punished
many who deserved their sentences. I have seen innocent men unable to
prove their freedom from guilt, and I have known men who are grossly
criminal, because of lack of evidence--these things are beyond our
cure. We are old, your Honor: w