Black, I asked him pointblank whether in face of
the circumstance that the victim of this murder was my best
friend, he would not prefer to plead his case before Judge
Grosvenor. He answered no: that he had more confidence in my
equity even under these circumstances than in that of my able, but
headstrong, colleague; and prayed me to get well. He did not say
that he expected me on this very account to show even more favour
towards his client than I might otherwise have done, but I am sure
that he meant it; and, taking his attitude as an omen, I obeyed
his injunction and was soon well enough to take my seat upon the
Bench.
No one will expect me to enlarge upon the sufferings of that time.
By some I was thought stoical; by others, a prey to such grief
that only my duty as judge kept me to my task. Neither opinion was
true. What men saw facing them from the Bench was an automaton
wound up to do so much work each day. The real Ostrander was not
there, but stood, an unseen presence at the bar, undergoing trial
side by side with John Scoville, for a crime to make angels weep
and humanity hide its head: hypocrisy!
But the days went by and the inexorable hour drew nigh for the
accused man's release or condemnation. Circumstances were against
him--so was his bearing which I alone understood. If, as all felt,
it was that of a guilty man, it was so because he had been guilty
in intent if not in fact. He had meant to attack Etheridge. He had
run down the ravine for that purpose, knowing my old friend's
whistle and envying him his watch.
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