The Right of Way
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By Gilbert Parker 25 Jan, 2019
Excerpt....A hundred atmospheres had seemed pressing down on the fretted people in the crowded court-room. As the discordant treble of the huge foreman of the jury squeaked over the mass of gaping humanity, which had twitched at skirts, drawn purpose ... Read more
Excerpt....A hundred atmospheres had seemed pressing down on the fretted people in the crowded court-room. As the discordant treble of the huge foreman of the jury squeaked over the mass of gaping humanity, which had twitched at skirts, drawn purposeless hands across prickling faces, and kept nervous legs at a gallop, the smothering weights of elastic air lifted suddenly, a great suspiration of relief swept through the place like a breeze, and in a far corner of the gallery a woman laughed outright. The judge looked up reprovingly at the gallery; the clerk of the court angrily called “Silence!” towards the offending corner, and seven or eight hundred eyes raced between three centres of interest—the judge, the prisoner, and the prisoner’s counsel. Perhaps more people looked at the prisoner’s counsel than at the prisoner, certainly far more than looked at the judge. Never was a verdict more unexpected. If a poll had been taken of the judgment of the population twenty-four hours before, a great majority would have been found believing that there was no escape for the prisoner, who was accused of murdering a wealthy timber merchant. The minority would have based their belief that the prisoner had a chance of escape, not on his possible innocence, not on insufficient evidence, but on a curious faith in the prisoner’s lawyer. This minority would not have been composed of the friends of the lawyer alone, but of outside spectators, who, because Charley Steele had never lost a criminal case, attached to him a certain incapacity for bad luck; and of very young men, who looked upon him as the perfect pattern of the person good to see and hard to understand. Less
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  • 296.699 KB
  • 196
  • Public Domain Books
  • 2008-08-18
  • English
  • 9781532724718
Sir Horatio Gilbert George Parker, 1st Baronet PC (1862- 1932), known as Gilbert Parker, Canadian novelist and British politician, was born at Camden East, Addington, Ontario. He was educated at Ottaw...
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