Wilks grinned as he shook hands with the exjuror. “Glad to know you as Mr. Sampson, sir, and not as No. 3. We had a rather interesting week, of it, didn't we?” Sampson was surprised to find that he rather liked the good-humoured twinkle in Wilks's eyes. He had thoroughly disapproved of him up to this instant. Now he appeared as a mild, pleasant-voiced young man with a far from vindictive eye and a singularly engaging smile. Departing from his rôle as prosecutor, Wilks succeeded in becoming an uncommonly decent fellow. “Interesting, to say the least,” replied Sampson. Wilks had coffee with them, and a cigar. “I must say, Mr. Sampson, that you jurors had something out of the ordinary to contend with. There isn't the remotest doubt that old Hildebrand is guilty, and yet there was a wave of sympathy for him that extended to all of us, enveloped us, so to speak. At the outset, we were disposed to go easy with him, realising that we had a dead open and shut case against him. “We awoke to our danger when the trial was half over. That is to say, we awoke to the fact that Miss Alexandra Hildebrand was likely to upset the whole pot of beans for us. You have no idea what we sometimes have to contend with. There is nothing so difficult to fight against as the force of feminine appeal. Men are simple things, you see. We boast about our righteous strength of purpose, but along comes a gentle, frail bit of womanhood and we find ourselves--well, up in the air! Miss Hildebrand had a decidedly agreeable effect on all of us. It is only natural that she should. We realised what it all meant to her, and I daresay there wasn't one of us who relished the thought of hurting her. “Her devotion was really quite beautiful,” observed Sampson, feeling that he had to put himself on record. “I understand how you jurors felt about her and, through her, about the old man. The State is satisfied to let him off as you recommended. It is more than likely that he was badly treated in those deals with Stevens and Drew, and if he can rehabilitate himself I think we will have done well not to oppose leniency. At any rate, his granddaughter has something to rejoice over, even though she may have been shocked by your decision that he is guilty.” “What do you know about her, Mr. Wilks?” inquired Sampson.