y and addressed
them collectively--

"Gentlemen of the jury, the prisoner at the bar stands indicted by the
name of Reuben Hornby, for that he, on the ninth or tenth of March,
feloniously did steal, take and carry away a parcel of diamonds of the
goods of John Hornby. To this indictment he has pleaded that he is not
guilty, and your charge is to inquire whether he be guilty or not and to
hearken to the evidence."

When he had finished his address the clerk sat down, and the judge, a
thin-faced, hollow-eyed elderly man, with bushy grey eyebrows and a very
large nose, looked attentively at Reuben for some moments over the tops
of his gold-rimmed pince-nez. Then he turned towards the counsel nearest
the bench and bowed slightly.

The barrister bowed in return and rose, and for the first time I
obtained a complete view of Sir Hector Trumpler, K.C., the counsel for
the prosecution. His appearance was not prepossessing nor--though he was
a large man and somewhat florid as to his countenance--particularly
striking, except for a general air of untidiness. His gown was slipping
off one shoulder, his wig was perceptibly awry, and his pince-nez
threatened every moment to drop from his nose.

"The case that I have to present to you, my lord and gentlemen of the
jury," he began in a clear, though unmusical voice, "is one the like of
which is but too often met with in this court. It is one in which we
shall see unbounded trust met by treacherous deceit, in which we shall
see countless benefactions rewarded by the basest ingratitude, and in
which we shall witness the deliberate renunciation of a life of
honourable effort in favour of the tortuous and precarious ways of the
criminal. The facts of the case are briefly as follows: The prosecutor
in this case--most unwilling prosecutor, gentlemen--is Mr. John Hornby,
who is a metallurgist and dealer in precious metals. Mr. Hornby has two
nephews, the orphan sons of his two elder brothers, and I may tell you
that since the decease of their parents he has acted the part of a
father to both of them. One of these nephews is Mr. Walter Hornby, and
the other is Reuben Hornby, the prisoner at the bar. Both of these
nephews were received by Mr. Hornby into his business with a view to
their succeeding him when he should retire, and both, I need not say,
occupied positions of trust and responsibility.

"Now, on the evening of the ninth of March there was delivered to Mr.
Hornby a parcel of ro