The closing portion of the address was given up to an endeavor to discredit the testimony adduced to establish an alibi for the defendant. Judge Kennedy occupied only forty minutes in charging the jury. He held that a man mixing with a riotous crowd and not helping to quell the disturbance was as guilty as the active participants. The Carnegie Company had a lawful right to protect its property, even with Pinkerton detectives, no matter whence the guards came, and the people on the shore had no right to shoot down the men on the barges. After one hour's deliberation the jury returned a verdict of "Not Guilty," to the surprise of the court and the delight of Critchlow's weeping wife, who remained near him to the last. The news of the acquittal spread rapidly, and at Homestead an enthusiastic crowd watched every train from Pittsburgh in the hope of meeting Critchlow with an appropriate demonstration. The people were disappointed, however, for the lion of the occasion was doomed to remain a caged lion, being remanded to jail on additional charges--two of murder, two of riot and one of conspiracy. At the same time the public made up its mind from the turn which affairs had taken in the Critchlow case that a conviction could not be secured against any of the Homestead men. The officials of the Amalgamated Association were jubilant and gave vent to their satisfaction by waiting in a body upon Attorney Erwin at the Monongahela House and formally congratulating him on the success which he had achieved President Garland acting as spokesman. On the Carnegie Company's side there was a corresponding feeling of disappointment and three months were allowed to elapse before the trial of the Homestead cases proper--that is to say, those based on the battle with the Pinkertons--was resumed. [Illustration: THE WORKMEN'S DISPATCH BOAT.] CHAPTER XIX. [Illustration: WEAVING NEW TOILS.] AN EPIDEMIC INVESTIGATED--DETECTIVES CHARGE POISONING AND ARRESTS ARE MADE--GALLAGHER AND DAVIDSON TURN INFORMERS--DEMPSEY AND BEATTY ARE INDICTED--HEARINGS AND TRIALS--A TANGLED MASS OF MEDICAL TESTIMONY--MR. BRENNEN'S LITTLE HIBERNICISM--DEFENDANTS ARE CONVICTED AND HEAVY SENTENCES IMPOSED--GALLAGHER RECANTS AND THEN RECONSIDERS--CLEMENCY REFUSED BY THE PARDON BOARD.