Construction industry -- Fiction; Labor unions -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction; Strikes and lockouts -- Fiction
"I object, your Honor! Mr. Foley is not on trial."
"It's the duty of this court to get at all the facts," returned the
judge. "Does the witness speak from his own knowledge, or what he
surmises?"
"I'm absolutely certain he's at the bottom of this."
"But is your evidence first-hand information?"
"It is not," Tom had to confess. "But I couldn't be more certain if I
had seen him----"
"Guess-work isn't evidence," cut in the judge.
Tom, however, had attached Foley to the case--he had seen the reporters
start at his words as at a fresh sensation--and he gave a look of
satisfaction at Foley as he stepped away from the judge's desk. Foley
gave back a half-covered sneer, as if to say, "Just youse wait!"
Arkansas was the first of the prisoners to be called--the reason for
which priority, as Tom afterwards guessed, being his anomalous face that
would not have ill-suited a vest that buttoned to the chin and a collar
that buttoned at the back. Arkansas, replying to the questions of his
long-haired attorney, corroborated the testimony of the policemen and
the Pinkertons in every detail. When Arkansas had answered the last
query the lawyer allowed several seconds to pass, his figure drawn up
impressively, his right hand in the breast of his frock coat.
The judge bent over his docket and began to write. "This seems a
perfectly plain case. I hold the three prisoners for the grand jury,
each in ten thousand----"
The attorney's right hand raised itself theatrically. "Hold!" he cried.
The judge looked up with a start. Tom's eyes, wandering to Foley's face,
met there a malign grin.
"The case is not ended, your Honor. The case is just begun." The
attorney brushed back his mane with a stagy movement of his hand, and
turned upon Arkansas. "You and the other prisoners did this. You do not
deny it. But now tell his Honor why you did it."
Arkansas, with honesty fairly obtruding from his every feature, looked
nervously at Tom, and then said hesitantly: "Because we had to."
"And why did you have to?"
Again Arkansas showed hesitation.
"Speak out," encouraged the attorney. "You're in no danger. The court
will protect you."
"We was ordered to. If we hadn't done it we'd been thrown out o' the
union, an' been done up."
"Explain to the court what you mean by 'done up'."
"Slugged an' kicked--half killed."
"In other words, what you did was done in fear of your life. Now who
ordered you to blow up the Avon, and threatened to have you 'done up' if
you didn't?"
"Mr. Keating, the president o' the union."
The judge, who had been leaning forward with kindling eyes, breathed a
prolonged "A-a-ah!"
For a moment Tom was astounded. Then he sprang to Arkansas's side. "You
infernal liar!" he shouted, his eyes blazing.
The judge's hammer thundered down. "Silence!" he roared.
"But, your Honor, he's lying!"
"Five dollars for contempt of court! Another word and I'll give you the
full penalty."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account