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TIT TS INDIANAPOLIS JOURXAL,' SATURDAY.--. AUGUST 23. 1002. fit HACRLETT CfFTKIOHT 11 BT D. APPLETÖ.H A CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ciiaitj:k IV. WHEN JL'STICi: 18 BLIND. August court lud been In session three days. In the decade following the civil war the only thins comparable to Aupruft court in the county ''scat was February court. The judge? came from the next county on the first' Monday in the month. ani the trials began the next day. This one -was a particularly interesting: term on account of the Rutherford murder trial, and the attendance was preatcr than for years. The quarrel had culminated at Raccoon Church, and its termination had begun ex actly as a hundred fishts had started, but It had ended differently from the other ninety-nine. There was a protracted meeting which had lgrun at "Watch Night and continued through the month of January, with its end indefinite. The congregations were made up of the elderly and middle-aged church members, and, across a sharp di viding line, the young folks for whom the protracted meeting replaced the theater of their city cousins as a place of amuse ment. The girls went In a few groups, and the boys arrived singly and by twos and threes on horseback. The girls by turns giggled and looked down dermirdy at hymn books; and the boys did their bet to fur nish something for the girls to giggle about, unless some genius invented a plan the carrying out of which made a nenration and practically demoralized the m--etin. After the benediction the boys arranged themselves In two rows leading from the door far out toward the road, and through this lane the girls, and everybody else, walked. The girds always looked straight at the ground thirty races to the front, as a well-drilled soldier tries to do, and walked raridly, as if running a gauntlet; rmt that was only the characteristic co quetry of womankind, for each knew very well that she would be captured by a gal lant frng before she reached the end of the line next the road, where the younger boya stood. The girls left the door In groups, each of which formed a phalanr. with arms interlocked, and now one never sees a mass play on the gridiron without thinking of those girls. Tom Rutherford had not Ftopned to talk Ions with the young fellows loafing1 out fide, and had gone Into the church soon after the preacher began his sermon. lie pat down not far from the door by the middle atale and kept quiet. Ills Intention was not to disturb the meeting, for he had a more important play to make; things had come to the pass hat it was a neces Fity for him to take the particular girl in the case home that night in spite of Sam Uionson. And that took all of his atten tion. The night before he had lost the inning, and he was furious. As the girls had come out of the church one boy aftr another had stepped from the opened ranks, and. walking clo?e by the side of his particular girl, had paid in her ear, "May I see you home?" The formula never varied for twenty years and two thousand occasions. The particular sirl had acquiesced by drop ping out of the feminine football phnlanx find slipping htr arm through that of the young fellow whose attentions she was en couraging. Young IIulherfoM was close to the door, having" maneuvered to get a position sv- tral paefs- to the fpol of Sam Drowon, who was FCQTYliris in the m!M!e of the line on the other dt'se. When the plrl for whom they were rivals came out of the door she was in the mMdle of an interlocked group of three, and walked more rapidly than usual, with h :t eyes straight ahead. Tom Kutherford hurried after her ami said over her rUht thoulder, "May I oe you home?' The srlrl hardly seemed to hear except for a little contemptuously coquettish toss of the head, and kept on tinder guard of hr two friends. Almost Instantly she was opposite Sam Bronson, who stepped in front of her, com pelled her to stop for an instant, said the Fame words in a low but clear tone, and the next moment was walking with her toward the road, while her two guards closed In to the centfr. locked arms again, and with in the next ten feet were themselves borne apart by the whirlpool of society repre Bented by two rather young boys. Tom Rutherford grew crimson, stepped hack of the line on his side, muttered a few words, and then went to his horse, which was tied to the hitching rack a little down the road. Once mounted, he gave a series of whoops, that were followed by whoops from the others who were not walking in the road with their girls one's girl might be his sweetheart,- his friend, or only the feminine creature he taw most of. Tom pulled his horse around and started the party of young fellows in the direction taken by Ram Rronson and the girl "who was at the bottom of all the trouble. The pair were overtaken within two hundred yards, and the boys on horses tore past at a lumbering run. yelling like ravages and forcing the couple to walk cloe to the side of the road. Tom kept up the shouting for half a mile this was the recognized code expression of defiance, carelessness. Injured pride and readiness for the next round In the social combat. He turned off toward home at the first cross-road, and by the time his horse was stabled he had planned the campaign for the next night, which was now at hand, as Tom sat so quietly in church that the members of the quarterly conference felt real hopes that he might be reached. The sermon was on resistance to evil, and the preacher was using his artillery against the forces of sin in the audience. He was a man of medium size, with long whiskers, and a strong voice- rising and falling in unison with his gyrating arms. Tom Rutherford was listening a little for want of something else to do, when a young man with a peculiar chin came in and slid into the beat just behind him. As soon as the Treacher had faced the other side of the church this newcomer leaned forward and said In Rutherford's tar: "Sam Dronson's outside, and says he'll lick ye if ye take Mollio home. Says he'll take her away from ye If ye git her fust." Ton did not reply, and the other fellow Foon walked nut again. Three people took qoii.iI notice of the incident the preacher, who thought Tom was really too earnestly considering his eternal alvatin to make the usual disturbance talking to a chum; Mulli-. the girl. wh.e intuition was not far wrong; and one of Hronson's friends outside, who had w et. bed through the win dow and at nr.ee warned lironson that Tom Intend 1 to fight. The preacher now aimed all his batteries at Tom. who had decided, to stick to his original pl.m of capturing the girl inside the church instead of waiting until she came out a plan remarkable then and there for its .taring originality. The preach er was haying: Fight the g-.od fight and finish the faith! Do not let sin carry you into eternal damnation without resistance; and resit with all your might. Fight sin! Fight it hard, and fight It ttr&t; It has you down The Evolti- I tion of a I Statesman I "I Walter Barr now because you have been weak and let i It get away with you; roue yourself and strike it from you; knock off the chains that bind you; force your way out of its clutches, that will drag you down Into everlasting ehame and confusion and hell!" Tom heard the words without much at tention to the idea, for they fit another idea that was slowly forming In his slug gish mind. He would have to fight, and he wanted to fight. "Tight him hard, and fight him first," is what the words of the preacher were by the time they penetrated to Tom's cerebral cells. That might not be a bad idea. "He has me eiown now be cause I let him get away with me; get up and strike him so hard he'll stay away from me; force off his grip on Mollle, and send him into everlasting shame and con fusionand hell!" That was the transla tion of the preacher's words back into an idea that Tom accomplished. The preacher kept on, still louder and with cy clonic force, as he saw Tom fidget in his seat: "Let the s-pirlt work its way Into your heart and cast out the devil. There is room for but one; see that the one Is the right one; there is room for only one for only one for only one and the other must go. It is hard to dislodge the devil, but it is easy when once you make up your mind to do It, Do It to-night; do it at once; de lays are dangerous, and, oh! how danger ous is the delay that loses what is worth more than money, or crops, or land, or the things of the flesh! Do it NOW!" The preacher had been talking with more and more impassioned loudness, and the last word fairly made a tremor in the walls of the building, as It did in the hearts of the leading members of the church, who had punctuated the exhortation liberally with their own ejaculations. The words were boring Into Tom's mind, and by the time they got there they were twisted Into: "Turn myself loose at him and cut out the damned devil. There's room for only one of us around Me'lie, and I'm going to see that It's the right one; only one only one only one cf us can get her, and he's got to go. It's hard to cut him out, but It's easy enough if I just go at it right. I'll do It to-night; I'll do it at once; delays are dangerous, and It's mighty dangerous when it's about what's worth more to me than the whole farm. I'll do it right NOW!" The last word came with puch force that Its representative idea in Tom's mind lifted him to his feet and carrieel him out the door before Its Initial velocity was lost. He had no consciousness of the preacher, the sermon,, the church, even of Mollie's position In the congregation no perception whatever, and only the conception of the strategic fact that It were better to whip Sam Bronson before church was out and then take Mollle home than to whip him after church was out and have Mollle go home by herself while they were fighting. Tom Rutherford walked over to where the young fellows were standing looking into the church through the windows; and as he approached the group slightly and casually rearranged itself. The young man with the peculiar chin quickly slipped around the party so as to be close to Tom, and at the same time another fellow with a - scar on his upper lip movetl over by Bronson and faced Rutherford's "pardner." The others separated slightly and all faced toward the center, where Bronson stood blowing into his hands to warm them. Rutherford walked into the group slowly and deliberately and with the force of a locomotive which seemed to be too graceful to have rauch power. He walked past Bronson so that their left arms rubbed hard together, swerving not a hair's breadth, and apparently being destined for the county seat ten miles away. At the contact Bronson threw out his crooked elbow into Rutherford's side with considerable force. Tom bore against the pressure, and with a slight turn of his whole body brought his right fist over and down into Bronson's face. Not a word had been spoken by anybody, and not a sound was made until the fight was over. But in Tom's head was ringing, "Only one only one only one see that it's the right one only one only one." And with the cadence of this refrain the blows were going hard and straight. Neither knew any fistic science, but both knew how to hit hard straight from the shoulder and take what the other gave. Rutherford's partrrer, with the peculiar chin, and Bronson's partner, with the scarred lip, preserved the balance of power against each other, and the rest stood a3 close as possible to see which was whip ping. In ten seconds both Rutherford and Bronson had abandoned boxing, and were clutched together, wrestling like savages. Each jabbed the other when opportunity offered, but the tactics were for a fall and then for the urper man to pound the head of the under man at his leisure and to his own satisfaction. Once Bronson had Tom nearly down, but by a tremendous effort Rutherford lifted his adversary clear of the ground and would have hurled him to the frozen earth had he not clutched a fence post. There was little for the others to see, and little advantage on either side. apparently. Out into the moonlight they struggleel, and back again into the shadow of the church. Bronson tore himself away with such an effort that he nearly fell backward, and in recovering his balance thrust his hand through a window at the height of his head. Rutherford had let go with one hand, and that one hand now swung through the air in the trail of a dim, bluish Hash of light as it passed above the window sill. Bronson's knees bent, his arms fell down, his head went forward, and he was a mass of darker fchadow on the ground by the time some of the more muscular members of the church militant reached the spot. Tom Ruther ford was keeping his hand in his side coat pocket, and rive seconds later was riding at top speed down the road toward home. The next morning he met the sheriff at the edge of the county seat, and as they rode together between the rows of wood liies toward the jail he told the ofllccr that he and Sam were jst having a light, and he didn't know how Sam came to get killed. That was the most he ever said about the occurrence, and when the sheriff found that Tom talked In his sleep the only words a week's careful listening disclosed were : "Only one force your way out of its clutches that will drag you down into ever lasting shame and confusion and hell." "Sounds like the preacher when he's ex hortin'," smiled the sheriff to himself. "Reckon he thinks he's mockln him at Raccoon Church." When the court convened and the time of his trial approached nobenly expected young Tom Rutherford to be convicted, bat everybody had a lively interest in see ing how he would be acquitted. The fam ily had withstood the inquisitorial schemes of the community for even months, and the attorneys looked so excessively impor tant and secretive that It was evident that something new was being hatched. The ordinary way waa for Lawyer Fletcher to go on the bond of the rrlsoncri taliC a eleed for several farms, find some way of escaping judgment on the bond when the prisoner disappeared, and credit the value of the tarms to his legal earnings. Rut this time the prisoner had not run away, and preparations for the trial had pro ceeded as if it were nothing but a case of carrying concealed weapons or assault with intent to kill. All the county had been talking for weeks of nothing else than var ious suggested cards which Fletcher had up his sleeve this time. "Mr. Fletcher, Tom's my namesake and my favorite nephew; he's going to get all I have when I die," had been Uncle Tom my Rutherford's words that day in the dingy law office. "I don't want him to skip out, for I want him to live on the old place after a while when he settles down. I want you to clear him at a trial. I've got plenty to pay you, I guess, and leave plenty for Tom. and I can stand good for what you charge. There'll be no kickin if you get him off, but you're to get him off with out fail. Anything you say I'll do, and everybody knows my word's as good as the bank, I gruess." The astute lawyer of many parts had smiled confidently, but said that it would be about the hardest Job ' he had ever tackled. It could be done, he thought, but it would take not only money but influence, and it might be necessary to promise all sorts of things for Uncle Tommy to do. "Anything anything at all," Uncle Tom my had replied; "anything you say I'll stand to and back up. I think a thousand ought to be plenty, but If you must have fifteen hundred I'll give it if you get Tom clear. If you don't I'll feel sore at payin you so much." As a matter of fact It was a pretty hard task that came to Lawyer Fletcher. Tom had always been much in evidence in the neighborhood and the surrounding towns. He had been fined innumerable times in the courts of 'Squire Watson and 'Squire Ross, besides having been Indicted twice for disturbing the. congregation at Raccoon Church. When he killed Sam Bronson he got a strong influence down on him. The Bronsons were intermarried with the Rob ertses, and Bill Roberts had been county treasurer so long that he knew some tricks himself when it came to court business. He was determined that Tom Rutherford should be convicted, and, besides crossing the palm of the state's attorney to put more energy into the work of that officer and Incidentally to prevent the defense from buying him off, the shrewd and prac tical man had retained to assist in the prosecution a bright young lawyer whose fortune was made if he once beat Fletcher In the Circuit Court. Then the girl's family was against Ruth erford, too. The girl whose smiles and frowns had caused the ill feeling between Rutherfoxd and Bronson, resulting In the f.ght which terminated fatally, suddenly found herself in a different kind of prom inence from that which she desired. Her folks felt that the fight over the girl was to be considered as something of an im pertinence, and the killing of Bronson was little less than impudence to themselves. Lawyer Fletcher had been worried about the case, but when he beheld Bergman nominated at the county convention that clay he saw hi3 way out. As the county had been talking of the case ever since the murder the regular venire was soon exhausted, and the sheriff was duly directed to summon special tales men. That official went out with a piece of paper and a handful of blanks, and in half an hour returned with a list of names gathered as he saw the men in town, in the courthouse square and on the side walks. Not that he took people indiscrim inately as he met them. The man who had scratched the sheriff's vname off his ticket at the last election lost an opportu nity of hearing the trial from a box feat and receiving a dollar and ten cents a day during its continuance. The man in the other party who had held a conference with the sheriff at 11 o'clock one night dur ing the last campaign had his name placed near the top of the list and was duly grate ful. Two places at the very top, however, were left blank for some time, and one of them was finally filled with the name of George Peyton. When the list was com plete except for the other blank the officer wandered around into stores and black smiths' shops and up to the vacant lot where teams were hitched, apparently so preoccupied that he saw nobody. Noel Shacklett was genuinely surprised when he was tapped on the arm and had read to him a summons to appear forthwith to serve as a juror in the case wherein the State of Illinois was rlaintiff and Thomas "W. Rutherford was defendant. Shacklett went at once to the courtroom, but before he reached the top of the stairs he heard his name loudly called three times from an upper window. He hurried In and advanced Inside the bar, looking around expectantly. Fletcher was absorbed in some writing at one of the tables and did not glance up Uncle Tommy Rutherford looked at Noel keenly as he came down the aisle, and won dered how he felt to ward Tom. The state's attorney impressively and suavely mo tioned him to the kitchen chair which served as a witness box, and the little clerk with a white shirt and no collar raised his own right hand as a signal that an oath was to be administered. Shacklett swore to answer truthfully any questions asked him, and sat down. In reply to interrogatories of the state's attorney he said that he had heard of the killing, but had not talked about it much, for he did not like to meddle in the bus! ness of others; besides, he felt that the truth would riot come out until the trial He had formed no opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant, and was not opposed to capital punishment. Lawyer Fletcher put him through a long and de tailed examination, and nobody noticed that, while Shacklett was asked about his whole past life, relationships and religion, nothing was said about his acquaintance with the Rutherford family, nor his opinion of them. Both sides accepted him, and in the middle of the forenoon the jury was completed, Shacklett sitting between George Peyton and a man from the far thermost corner of the county, in the front row. The opening statement of Fletcher devel oped self-defense as the main reliance of his side, and the testimony began. The cross-examinations were the really inter esting points. Seven young men were the principal witnesses, and they detailed the quarrel at Raccoon Church, ending in Tom Rutherford's stabbing Sam Bronson with a big pocketknife. Two of them at first said Rutherford pulled the knife from his pocket, but on cross-examination testified that ho might have got it from the outside of hi.s trousers over the pocket. Six of tln-ni could not remember whether it was moonlight, and the one who did remember that the moon shone brightly had his fore head beaded with perspiration before he admitted that he was not sure in what part of the heavens the moon was at the instant the blow was struck with the knife. On such occasions Fletcher looked triumphantly at the jury, and Uncle Tom my nodded his head with satisfaction after glaring at the witness vindictively. But the fight was over what Sam Bron son was doing at the time. A young doc tor, with tlatly brushed hair, and a silk hU In ducord with hi heavy boots and sack coat, testliled that the wound was through the posterior part of the chest, In j the tdxth intercostal space, and had pene trated the pericardium. He was disap pointed that he was not cross-examined. An old doctor with frowzy whiskers, long hair and a paper collar, bore witness that the wound was in the back of the chest, between the sixth and seventh ribs, and went into the heart-sac. All seven of those who saw the fight testified that Bronson was starting to run away from Rutherford when the latter drew the knife. All these things, however, did not keep Fletcher from asking each whether it was not pos sible that Bronson was whirling around with a club when the knife thrust was given. The eld doctor was treated with great consideration of manner, as being the family physician of three of the Jury, but Fletcher put him through a long cross examination: "You say, doctor, that the heart-sac was cut; is it not possible to cut the heart-sac from the front?" "Yes; but this one " "One moment, doctor; please answer my question by 'yes' cr 'no and stop there. If a knife were to be stuck into the chest at the proper point from in front, would it not puncture the heart-sac, too?" "Yes; but it wouldn't " "I thought so. Now, doctor, in all your wide experience did you ever know the heart-sac to b cut with a knife from be hind?" "I never" "Doctor, It's a scientific fact, isn't it, that most stabs that reach the heart are given from the front?" "Yes, sir." "That will do, doctor. I thank you for the light you have thrown on this case," and Fletcher turned to Uncle Tommy with a smile of intense satisfaction, and to the Jury with a look which was the very quint essence of triumph. But everybody in the crowded courtroom knew that the stabbing of Sam Bronson was a cowardly, premeditated murder long before the defense reached Its last hours with a deng procession of witnesses. When the arguments began the room was jammed full to the doors and windows. The young lawyer made the first speech, and people were interested in discovering what quality of speaker ho was. He con fined his attention to the law points chierly, for In Illinois confidence In general educa tion is so high that the jury is the judge of the law as well as of the evidence. Then Fletcher's turn came. He was sur rounded with law books, and had a glass pitcher full of water near at hand. The heat of the room was sweltering, and he had taken off his coat some time before; now he pushed his shirt sleeves tightly up nearly to his elbows. His handkerchief was laid, bunched, on the corner of the table. His voice was large enough to be heard in the square outside before he had completed the first sentence. He spoke of inconsistencies In the testi mony and the trifling character of the evi dence given by the men who could not re member whether the moon was shining or not when this was going to be a most im portant point in court later. He talked for an hour on the text that the defendant must be proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before he could be convicted. Fletch er knew the full value of this doubt maxim in the jury room in the hands of a consci entious man. "Gentlemen, can you say that there Is not the least chance of Tom Rutherford's being innocent in the eyes of the law? Can you listen to the evidence given by Dr. Harris, an old physician of experience and that education which comes from the school of experience, a man of high at tuinrnents in the medical profession, re spected all over this county" and Fletcher turned to the three men who employed the doctor regularly "a man who is so honest as well as intelligent, that, although he was subpoenaed here by the State, he gave the strongest testimony for our side be cause it is the truth" and Fletcher's voice rose to the proportions of the thunders of Jove; "can you recall his evidence that the wound might have been made from in front while Bronson was in the act of swinging a murderous club to strike the defendant in this case can you do this and say that the defendant is guilty beyond a doubt?" Fletcher's voice was as loud as a country lawyer with a big chest can accomplish. The state's attorney became confidential antl fraternal with the jury in the begin ning of his speech, and waved his arm? frantically as he swam through a sea of blood in philippics against the ruthless de stroyer of a happy home, but Shacklett did not hear much of his address to the jury The first thing the state's attorney said to his young confrere after he closed was: "We've lost it; that damned Shacklett will hang the jury till next Christmas if they don't come his way or agree to disagree. "Yes," the young attorney replied; "he paid no more attention to what you were saying than you did to the birds outside Fletcher's got him solid." The bustle in the courtroom and the sheriff's calling out "O-o-r-rder in the court!" btought Shacklett back to his sur roundings when the state's attorney sat down. He. tried to remember what the lawyer had said and could not recall a word, nor a thing that had happened since he had caught sight of his mother over by a window. He had thought that an easy way to earn the county clerk's office was to keep a man from serving the rest of his life in the pen Itentiary. He had wished that Fletcher had not dwelt so much on the reasonable doubt proposition, and had spent more time In picturing the horrors of the state prison to a young man sent there for the rest of his days. There was no reasonable doubt of the cowardly and complete guilt of Tom Rutherford, but there were objec tions in the breast of the warm-hearted young man to sending another to prison for unnumbered years. This thing of inexora ble law was something of an abstraction anyhow, and what good would it do the Bronsons to have Tom Rutherford pun ished so severely? He had been scared into being a better man anyhow, and would never kill anybody else. All Shacklett's good-hearted feeling of the brotherhood of man urged him toward voting acquittal and sticking to it; and the fact that it would make him county clerk was an example of being well paid for a pleasant service. He would stand out for acquittal if he hung the jury, and that would be just as well, lor nobody ever had a second trial in that county; public sentiment considered that one failure to convict made it useless to put the county to the expense of another trial. But when he saw his mother the thing took on a different tone. He knew what she would say if she knew what Lawyer Fletcher had spoken to him the day of the county convention, for now Shacklett un derstood that conversation thoroughly That she was in the courtroom showee that she was interested in the case, at least to the extent of desiring a righteous verdict. He would have given a horse, he thought, to know which side she was on. But a second thought decided that ques tion. There was but one side under the law and the evidence in the case. All the time the state's attorney was go ing through the latter two-thirds of his speech Shacklett was trying to decide what to do. He wondered what his father would have done. He suspected that he would be arguing the same question with himself. for his father had been morally strong only with second-hand strength received from his wife. Shacklett almost wished that his mother was not such a thoroughly and sincerely good woman. In the jury room the first ballot showed ten for conviction and two for acquittal. It was after five similar ballots that it de veloped that the two for acquittal were Shacklett and George Peyton. Then an hour was taken up with arguments by the ten against the two, without result, for the seventh ballot still had ten slips of paper marked "Guilty" and two marked "Not guilty." The others noticed that, while Peyton was good-humored and inclined to be jolly In his fixedness of purpose, Shack lett was grim and had little to say. After the entire night had been spent in fruitless argument and balloting and the jury was still out, people who came down town early began to agree that the Jury would disagree. Fletcher walked along the street to the courthouse square with hU head a little higher than usual and with a slight exaggeration of his usual dignity. The state's attorney remained in his own office, and his young temporary assistant walked quickly from his boarding house to the courtroom by the back streets. Several came in to ask the state's attorney who he thought was doing it, and that repre sentative of the law said he had no idea. Fletcher, when appealed to for information about what caused the delay in the verdict, said he supposed there was a rascal on the jury that had It In for the Rutherfords. When the sheriff could be heard calling names from the window again, showing that another day's session of the court was under way, the foreman of the jury pro posed that two more ballots be taken, and then. If no verdict was reached, that they go in and report a disagreement. The first of these ballots came out ten to two, like the preceding ones. Then Shacklett took Peyton over in a corner and spoke in his ear' for less than a minute, after which1 he placed the hat on the- table again ready for the ballot and tore a corner off a sheet of paper, while the rest looked for the only other pencil in the room. As the jury opened the door of their room the word flew through the square and into the streets that they were coming in. Be fore they had traversed the forty feet to the door of the courtroom a crowd was on the stairs. As they marched into court one of the lawyers stopped in the middle of a sentence, and the sheriff ran from behind his desk crying out for order. By the time the jury had taken their seats in the chairs to the left of the judge the room was packed to suffocation, and when the foreman arose the people were so still luat the chattering of a tame squirrel could be heard in a tree outside. The judge put on his most geomet rically Judicial manner: "Gentlemen, have you agreed upon a ver dict?" "We have," replied the foreman. "The clerk will read it." And the little clerk had the chance of his life as he bustled over and received the folded piece of paper, which he opened and perused through twice with a face from which nothing could be made, before he cleared his throat and read in his best elo cutionary style: "We, the jury, find the defendant guilty as charged in the Indictment." The face of Tom Rutherford grew first red and then ashen. Uncle Tommy's head fell to the table, and he did not move for ten minutes. When Fletcher touched his arm and spoke in his ear he raised a face that had grown aged in the time in which he appreciated what the verdict meant. Fietcher had risen and sauntered over to the Judge's bench in easy confidence in his having the jury leavened with two friends, and now he stood transfixed first and then glowering at Peyton and Shacklett in the front row of the jury. N The people began to crowd out of the room, despite the perfunctory efforts of the sheriff to keep order while the jury was being discharged. Sam Bronson's father pushed through the dense mass of men surging toward the door, and, uttering dis connected words of thanks, clasped the hand of each juryman as the twelve came without the railing. Shacklett avoided him by going up a side aisle, and noticed that Peyton went a little out of his way to greet Bronson and say something about doing only his duty. At the gate of the court house square Shacklett found his mother waiting for him. "I came in this morning thinking you would get out last night and would want an arly start home. What kept you so long in the jury room after you went out?" she said, as soon as she saw him. "Two men wanted to free Rutherford," he said, "and it took some time to talk them over." To Be Continued. COLLEGES AID TO CHURCHES. Rev. 31 r. Ellerdlee Spenks at Hoyt Arenue Church. The Rev. H. L. Ellerdice, president of Westminster Seminary, talked last night before the Indiana Methodist Protestant Conference on "The Seminary and the Student." His address was devoted large ly to the influence exerted by the seminary in sustaining the church and the necessity for liberally supporting it. He said the most helpful of the contributors to the seminary were those who had been stu dents and wanted to perpetuate its work. The whole evening was devoted to educa tional interests and several college repre sentatives spoke of the great help col leges are in advancing church work. To-day the programme includes addresses by J. G. Smith and W. H. Flagg, in the morning; Edward Hawkins and J. S. Swenk, in the afternoon, and devotional services in the evening, conducted by Thomas Whittaker. This evening, also, there will me a meeting of ministers' wives. To-morrow will be the big day of the conference. There will be a large number from near-by cities. At the Hoyt-avenue Church there will be ordination at 10:3', the sermon being preached by the Rev. W. H. Fisher. At the Villa-avenue Church, at the same hour, the Rev. G. E. McManl man will preach. In the afternoon there will be a meeting of the Christian En deavorers at Villa-avenue Church. In the evening the Rev. T. J. Ogburn will preach at Hoyt avenue and the Rev. G. II. Sisson at Villa avenue. There is a special pro gramme for the Y. P. S. C. E. meeting. The conference will end with Mondays sessions. BAD TOR TOMATOES. CnnninK Men Sny Cool "Wrnther Cnusen Dnninxe. A canvass of the local canning factories discloses the fact that this season promises to te a poor one for tomatoes. As yet few shipments have arrived and it is sal 1 the cool weather may have a depress ing effect on future shipments. A few of the towns along the I. & V. Railroad have sent in large consignments and these are said to have been a fair sample of the product. The grade of tomatoes from other parts of central Indiana has not been very good and thes? will be turned Into tomato catsup. One firm In this city will need 30.f) barrels of tomato pulp for this year's output of catsup. Mt'Cormnrk Settle Strike. Labor Commissioner McCormack has set tled the strike at the Bedford quarry an 1 the men are at work. The men walked out a few days ago. claiming the company was not keeping its promise to reinstate them as agreed at the settlement of the first strike several weeks ago. n August iUY FURNITURE NOW Better than putting money dollar for dollar. This sale and frequently two for o ne. ANOTHER. CHANCE Lace Curtains AT PRICE THIS MORNING ONLY A larj;e number of broken lott wlii be closed out at just half original price, ssomo rich picking here. Every pair first-class. Arabian Brussels, Cluny, Irish Point, saxony and others nil Kojiut a If they were common every -day stufi". You'll isr.y they're beauties when you see them. Sale v price l.tsr. S O O, Ü.ÖO. O.TCJ, ß.OO, 10.00 and upward. BADGER 5T HALF -...Topics in the Churches... SUNDAY-SCHOOL WESSON AND CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR WORK. THE SLMJAY-SCIIOOL LKSSOX. AnKiiat Ü1, 11)02 X umber zlll, 20j xiv, 1-4 The llepoit of the Sjle. Tha wilderness of the Fijjaitlc peninsula, "great and terribl," was Ood'a pchoolhouse for Ills people. There ht taught them His law and worship. Th course of study covered a whole ear. The Rraduation was to have oceurred at Kadesh. in and folly marred it all. The commencement" of ltrael In Canaan a set back a generation. The appointment of the spie was a gross In sult to Jehovah. He had assured the peopl? that the land was good. II had promised the pos sossion of it to them. That sheuli have been enough. In the Lord' name thy ought to have ict up their tanners and gone up at once to possess it. The long: vista back to Egypt was studded with the memorials of Ood's faithful ness and power. The fact that he tad been so mindful of them in the past should have been to them a pledge of future blading. They should have reasoned, "If God could take us out of the invincible clutch of a great world power, Efrypt, what prevents His plant in us securely in Canaan?" But in the epi demic of iVar, the breaking of Pharaoh In flexible will, the plasms of their cruel orrre?s- ois, the deliverance at the Hd f and at Itep- hidim, sweetened waters and manna, the won ders of Sinai-all were forgotten. Israel con ferred with fleth and blood In preference to tak ing counsel of the Lord, with the invariable and miserable outcome of uch a cours. I5y this very deed the people showed their un fUne? to eter the land of promise. A. more palpable exhibition could scarcely be conceived of. The Lord acceded to their request, but knew that in doing so Canaan was as eflectually closed to Israel as Eden was to the first guilty pair. Moses, with the consent of the Lord, pro ceded to choose, with the greatest caie possible, a prince from each tribe. No doubt he strongly hoped thai their report would restore the e.-piit dj corps of the wavering host. To this day Palestine is a ort of bridge be tween Asia and Africa, on which there are al ways strangers pasting back and forth. This little company would not necessarily attract at tention, 'especially as they were probably at tired as Egyptians, and likely spoke, the lan guage of that country fluently. If ever they got into close quarters they might be trusted to get out by their wits. They belonged to a race notorious for finesse. For the sake of greater security and more thor ough exploration they may have gone by twos or threes. They crossed the southland, which borders Canaan between the Mediterranean and the Dead sea, and then probably threaded their way up the Jordan valley as far north as snow capped Il-rmon, returning by the lowlands along the tea. with occasional sida trips into tht high lands. What memories and emotions must have been stirred in their minds at, her and there, they came upon places indissoluLly associated with the named and livts of the patriarch, until at length they stood at Hebron, where, 4'JO years before, Abraham had pitched his tent and reared his altar! After an absence of forty days they returned to the camp of Israel, bringing with them sam ples of fruits that would have put to shame the best exhibit of a modern horticultural society. The pupl? had waited exactly as long for the return of these explorers a they had for the re turn of Mutes from Mount Sinai, ur.d much mote patiently. Their report was listene-d to with aviuity. The exordium of the report was gracious. It pictured, in the lavisn language of the Orient, the phenomenal fi uitfulne.-s of Canaan. The whole eor.reKatlim cf Israel had a striking confirmation of their wore In the bus?? purrle cluster from E.-hcol, besides the pomegranates and ligs. But the exordium was short. It was a mere ornamental frir.se to a body, the warp of which was unbt-Iief ani the woof distrust. "The land is doeirabie. of couise, but its po:-session is lm piacth able." The towering nature, the in vincible prowess, the at number of the inhab itant:1, -are pictured with most dispiriting ef fect. The I It brews w re accustomed to the fight in Egypt of ponderous fortification. Lut these were on the dead level of the Nile valley. To see su.h wails lilted ujon the top cf inac cessible elifin would produce the extreme effect of Impregnability. Thay cjuI 1 hardly teli where the natural base left oTt ar.1 the artificial su;er Mructure began. The cities seemed wailej to the t ry h'a( ii. They name five fierce nations inhabiting the land, who would at once form a l-asru offensiv and defensive agains-t any inva!cr. And the Hebrews, dwarfed by iW years of cruel servi tude, would only appear like hopprr be fore those stalwart and frr b&r.s of the high land and lowland. Two men hang that Jury of prls. Cabb and Joshua, rtauntla souls, full of faith, demand a hearing. They hush, tor a moment at JeaM. the ever-augm T.ting muitnur of disappointment, distrust and incl;ier.t rebellion. Thy admit the difficulties, but at the ame moment sound the bugle call cf faith: "Let us go up at on-e and po:-. it, for we are well able to over come it!" But infidelity is now rampant. The tn falth-It-ss explorers reiterate 'the Inability of Israel to cope with the cintic Nerhillm. They also in terpolate a minister hint against the land ltdf. a if It were impregnated with s-,me deadly plague that consumed all who et foot upon It. Demoralization Is now complete. The whole congregation spend a night in wepir.. On eery side the exclamation is heard: "Death in Egypt would have ben bf-tter than thix." Treason and revolt are In the air. The preposi tion Is openly made to elect a captiin to lead them back to Egypt. In vain do Mise and We Close at 12:30 to-day Sale H If tb- l true plea wblca I wear In my head, here'e a goodly lgbU Shkpe.tre. in bank. The bank returns you jjives you three dollars for two I DAINTY PAR.LOR. CABINETS Thötwlll tdi to the cttractivencss of the entire heme et i Greatly Reduced Prices A pretty Combination Music Cnblnrt, niatioennv tt lilt. Inrir m-isle or JU'CaZine cotnnr. iivat, trt ii lev e;eainirrT, price . .iJU CJO Another, ivdueM from 21 On to UO.OO Another very hamtonie one. tent sU dur, pmte sinn hcive, French pint rlrun, r.l-cel from 4'xOJ to t OO Another, from 45.CU to HU GO Sofas, Divans, Parlor Chairs At M t M l'er Cent. R eiucLbm. !s J I T ZJI1Z CO. 25 Aaron rntrate themselves before the asera tly. and Joshua and Calb rnd their clothes. The people have taid: "WeuM Col we h4 died in this wilderness." and God takes them at their wotd. He announces djith In the wilder ness as the very penalty of this thtlr ttr.th ie volt atainst Him. But in evidence of Ills power, mhlch they hni no mistrusted, he atsured them he would trlns their litt! one wh".e cru.j fate they had deprecated. Into the land which they themselves should nvcr see. THE TEACHEIVS LAN'TEP.N. The Inveterate irrupt. on of sin at epochal mo ments In national and personal hi.-tory, with all Its train of uisastrcus consequences, ts well tal culated to emphasize and illustrate Its damning nature. While Moes was bringing the law clown fmra Sinai th" p-:ple were making and wor-h!rtr.s: a golden calf In the plain. W'ben the beautiful tabernacle was completed, ll.e irlfsthooi Insti tuted and the ritual prescribed two drunk a youns priests wnt reeling InO th; &aeod pl ied and presence with trange fire In their c-ntrs. So, In this instance, when Isrd tod. at length, on the threrholi of Canian. fully equipped to -nter. töcre was a cowardly halt. the us.? cf a human expedient whuh di.v j;U 1 the trutluii'mcsc. fidelity ani iower of God. The laps.e was complete. Caleb and Joshua had a close call to martyr dorn. The Mones wc-ie ( lifted. trod nd Hi Mnant wrr. ojtnly and trcs.-ly insulted. The eleetl-n of a n.w captala and a. return to Egypt were proposed. How insidious the approaches of sin! Tha lit brews 1m. 1 no iviea. of 'going to ueh Unllis when they bean. "ejuicW as the apple of an eye. ej ed. my eoneience make; Awake my soul when sin is n!gh. And keep it still wak?." Again Moxs ar pears in tne lovely role of tha me-dlat.r. Humble and edblnteif te d. forgdvii g and patriotic, his mouth was full of argument for God in behalf of sinners. He prevailed. Too late. Liaed repeated their ictubal to enter the land of promise. They addd the hin of pie sumption to that of untelief and i belli :n. The next day, without the ark or presence, or thrir leaders, they buried themstlves aga.lnt the Amalekltes and C'attaanito. As well mUht Adam aud Eve have thrown themselves upoa the angels" clmeter. flashing every way, at the gate of a Ict-t paradise. - CHUISTIAN i:MlUAVOn. Freedom of Service II Tim. II, 4 Gal. Y, 1 Zieh, ail, 1-2. We call this a free land, and ao it is; but there may b many slaves tn a free land. Slavery is not a matter cf Iron chain. Ther is no slavery but the bondage to sin. Nerc, though en.peror. was one of the most servile men that ever lived. Seneca, though slave, wa an imperial man, hU soul frees as the universal breeies. Frederick Douglass's and Booker T. Washington's mother were In bondage lets se vere than tliat cf their owners. Ycu are, indeed, happy if you 60 rot know what I am talking about. if these words about th fearful bin very of sin are meaningless to you, not beraube you are asleep in that bond age, but because you have never ufTfred ita thains to clasp your spirit. But If you have ever struggled in the grasp of demoniac ap petite, if you have ever bad to fight drunktu r.ess or sensuality or covetousness or sel;i.h ne.s, then the word "Xreedm" Is sweeter to you than ny enfranchifed tlase, and the liberty wherewith Christ has saved Jou frem your spir itual bondage Is your one priceless poMlon. Now that ou can hold up your heutd again. now that ycu are free from the things you loathe and can do the things cu would, what will ycu do with your l.berty? Christ won it for joa with b.finlto rains. Huw will you ie- pay Him? Let Lowell amwer: Is true freedom but to break l etteis fei ocr ov. it detr sake And, with leatnern ii-irtf. forget That we owe mankind a oebt? No! true freM'm Is to rhare Ail ibt- ch '.ir.s our broth' rs waj". And. with tae-rt and hand. t U Earnest to make othet treei All Christian service 1. at bottom, a service of emancl; ation. Here is a mourner; free he r from thought of the grave and enfianchhe her wih the thought of immortality. H're Is a dcubter; give him the truth tht shall make bim Ire. Here Is a man of worries, living In a prison of gloom; unlo.k th door and lead h!rn cut lnta the Fun?hlr.e. Christ came, as He said, "to preach deliver ance to the captives, to set at liberty thn that are bruised." ejn the la?t lay His praise cf Ills il.-eljl.-s will be: "I a In 1 risnn, anl ye carr.e unto me." Christ recognized th: bondage to in as the real slavery and came to JliU.e off its f.tters frc-m all that strtUh forth tVlr rr.ar. cPs to Him. Il'.s pralr-e is r-sered f"r th se al' ne that do this same tnlrg. To h an err.ancipatcr you ne.-d n"-t i'rrU authority. You r.e-d not t great or kliled r famous. Fome of the rr.lr,hti.t I.berstrj I know are modest girls and quWt bTe. "irn a;:l women of unnoticed live?; but thir s:n:ie rn. it the darkness, their hands lift th bur.fi. f?e; flee tfore their cheery preon. t th- nn ceons of the sp:rit open for tl.-m at a t -tu h. Ruth souls will be honored with triumphs la heaven long after all the ANxar.V- Kr.$ Caesara and Napoleons are rrg-Men. AV. S It. WELLS. Anluiul Looked After. Wayhlnpton Tost. In a Hoston pedice court th other elay mnn was flneil f!0 for kicking Ms li-rse nrj the rext ore up v;m nsesc.l Z for kik lnn his vlftv All of whU'!i i:os to h;jvr thnt the F. P. C. A. U ttetidln cbxvly to oujdr.eSÄ In J to ton. Whatever you do. den't forget Mrs. Austin. '