The more thoughtful spirits were inclined to believe in the
innocence of the prisoner; but the lower elements of the town,
moved by class prejudice, were bitterly antagonistic to his cause
and loud for his conviction.
Did the judge realise his position and the effect made upon the
populace by his very evident leaning towards this dissipated but
well-connected young man accused of a crime so brutal, that he
must either have been the sport of most malicious circumstances,
or a degenerate of the worst type. The time of Judge Ostrander's
office was nearly up, and his future continuance on the bench
might very easily depend upon his attitude at the present hearing.
Yet HE, without apparent recognition of this fact, showed without
any hesitancy or possibly without self-consciousness, the sympathy
he felt for the man at the bar, and ruled accordingly almost
without variation.
No wonder he paced the floor as the proceedings drew towards its
close and the inevitable hour approached when a verdict must be
rendered. Mrs. Scoville, reading his heart by the light of her
recent discoveries, understood as nobody else, the workings of his
conscience and the passion of sympathy which this unhappy father
must have for misguided youth. She began to fear for his health
and count the days till this ordeal was over.
In other regards, quiet had come to them all and less tempestuous
fears. Could the judge but weather the possible conviction of this
man and restrain himself from a disclosure of his own suffering,
more cheerful days might be in store for them, for no further
missives were to be seen on the lawn, nor had anything occurred
for days to recall to Deborah's mind the move she had made towards
re-establishing her husband's innocence.
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