The men on the jury looked thoughtful but not altogether convinced. One
glanced at his neighbor with a covert smile. This man, whom the Government
had selected to prosecute the coal fraud cases was undeniably able, often
brilliant, but his statements showed he had brought his ideas of Alaska
from the Atlantic coast; to him, standing in the Seattle courtroom, our
outlying possession was still as remote. As his glance moved to the ranks
of outside listeners, who overflowed the seats and crowded the aisles to
the doors, he must have been conscious that the sentiment he had expressed
was at least unpopular in the northwest. Faces that had been merely
interested or curious grew suddenly lowering. The atmosphere of the place
seemed surcharged.
The following morning Morganstein took the stand. Though in small matters
that touched his personal comfort he was arrogantly irritable, under the
cross-examination that assailed his commercial methods he proved suave and
non-committal. As the day passed, the prosecutor's insinuations grew more
open and vindictive. Judge Feversham sprang to his feet repeatedly to
challenge his accusations, and twice the Court calmed the Government's
attorney with a reprimand. The atmosphere of the room seemed to seethe
hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. Finally, during the afternoon
session, Foster was recalled.
Through it all Tisdale waited, listening to everything, separating,
weighing each point presented. It was beginning to look serious for
Foster. Clearly, in his determination to win his suit, the prosecution was
losing sight of the simple justice the Government desired. And a man less
dramatic, less choleric, with less of a reputation for political intrigue
than Miles Feversham might better have defended Stuart Foster. Foster was
so frank, so honest, so eager to make the Alaska situation understood. And
it was not an isolated case; there were hundreds of young men, who, like
him, had cast their fortunes with that new and growing country, to find
themselves, after years of hardship and privation of which the outside
world had no conception, bound hand and foot in an intricate tangle of the
Government's red tape.
The evening of the fourth day the attorney for the prosecution surprised
Tisdale at his rooms. "Thank you," he said, when Hollis offered his
armchair, "but those windows open to the four winds of heaven are a little
imprudent to a man who lives by his voice. Pretty, though, isn't it?" He
paused a moment to look down on the harbor lights and the chains of
electric globes stretching off to Queen Anne hill and far and away to
Magnolia bluff, then seated himself between the screen and the table that
held the shaded reading lamp. "Has it occurred to you, Mr. Tisdale," he
asked, "that a question may be raised as to the legality of your testimony
in these coal cases?"
"No." Hollis remained standing. He looked at his visitor in surprise.
"Please make that clear, Mr. Bromley," he said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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