Back Home: Being the Narrative of Judge Priest and His People — John Shaqi
Back Home: Being the Narrative of Judge Priest and His PeopleCobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
General
Back Home: Being the Narrative of Judge Priest and His People
Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
Kentucky -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, American
It was late in the afternoon when the prosecution rested its case and
court adjourned until the following morning. The state's attorney had
not had so very much evidence to offer, really--the testimony of one who
heard the single shot and ran in at Rankin's door to find Rankin upon
the floor, about dead, with a pistol, unfired, in his hand and Tandy
standing against the wall with a pistol, fired, in his; the constable to
whom Tandy surrendered; the physician who examined the body; the persons
who knew of the quarrel between Tandy and Rankin growing out of a
land deal into which they had gone partners--not much, but enough for
Gilliam's purposes. Once in the midst of examining a witness the
state's attorney, seemingly by accident, let his look fall upon the two
black-robed, silent figures at his side, and as though overcome by the
sudden realization of a great grief, he faltered and stopped dead and
sank down. It was an old trick, but well done, and a little humming
murmur like a breeze coming through treetops swept the audience.
Durham was sick in his soul as he came away.
In his mind there stood the picture of a little, scared woman's drawn,
drenched face. She had started crying before the last juror was chosen
and thereafter all day, at half-minute intervals, the big, hard sobs
racked her. As Durham came down the steps he had almost to shove his way
through a knot of natives outside the doors. They grudged him the path
they made for him, and as he showed them his back he heard a snicker and
some one said a thing that cut him where he was already bruised--in his
egotism. But he gave no heed to the words. What was the use?
At the Drummers' Home Hotel a darky waiter sustained a profound shock
when the imported lawyer declined the fried beefsteak with fried
potatoes and also the fried ham and eggs. Mastering his surprise the
waiter offered to try to get the Northern gentleman a fried pork chop
and some fried June apples, but Durham only wanted a glass of milk
for his supper. He drank it and smoked a cigar, and about dusk he went
upstairs to his room. There he found assembled the forlorn rank and
file of the defense, the local lawyer and three character
witnesses--prominent citizens from Tandy's home town who were to testify
to his good repute in the place where he was born and reared. These
would be the only witnesses, except Tandy himself, that Durham meant to
call. One of them was a bustling little man named Felsburg, a clothing
merchant, and one was Colonel Quigley, a banker and an ex-mayor, and
the third was a Judge Priest, who sat on a circuit-court bench back in
Kentucky. In contrast to his size, which was considerable, this Judge
Priest had a voice that was high and whiny. He also had the trick,
common to many men in politics in his part of the South, of being
purposely ungrammatical at times.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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