As he pointed out, the
well-known vices of the rich make every household unsafe unless
they are sternly checked by the dread hand of the law.
He called upon the jury to inflict on the Lothario a verdict that
would not only insure comfort to the poor little woman whose home
had been destroyed, but would also be severe enough to make even
a multimillionaire realize and remember that the despoiler of the
American home cannot continue on his nefarious path with impunity.
The judge gave a long and solemn charge to the jury. It was fair
according to the law and the evidence, but the evidence had been
juggled by the fates.
The jury retired and remained a hideous while.
CHAPTER XIV
It was only a pleasant clubby discussion of the problem of Jim's
and Charity's innocence that delayed the jury's verdict. One or two
of the twelve had a sneaking suspicion that they had told the truth,
but these were laughed out of their wits by the wiser majority who
were not such fools as to believe in fairy-stories.
As one of the ten put it: "That Dyckman guy may have gone out into
the rain, but, believe me, he knew enough to come in out of the
wet."
A very benevolent old gentleman who sympathized with everybody
concerned made a little speech:
"It seems to me, gentlemen, that when a man and wife have quarreled
as bitterly as those two and have taken their troubles to court,
there is no use trying to force them together again. If we give
a verdict of not guilty, that will leave Mr.
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