rsation was on every hand, and the air grew
thick and heavy with tobacco smoke, while relaxed and at ease the crowd
with its many pairs of eyes kept eager watch on the door before which
Brockett kept guard. No man in the room was wholly unaffected by the
sinister significance of the deputy's presence there, and the fat little
man with his shiny bald head and stubby gray mustache, silent,
preoccupied, taking no part in what was passing about him, became as the
figure of fate.

The clock on the wall back of the judges desk ticked off the seconds;
now it made itself heard in the hush that stole over the room, again its
message was lost in the confusion of sounds, the scraping of feet or the
hum of idle talk. But whether the crowd was silent or noisy the clock
performed its appointed task until its big gilt hands told whoever cared
to look that the jury in the John North case had devoted three hours to
its verdict and its dinner.

The atmosphere of the place had become more and more oppressive. Men
nodded sleepily in their chairs, conversation had almost ceased, when
suddenly and without any apparent reason Brockett swung about on his
heel and faced the locked door. His whole expression betokened a
feverish interest. The effect of this was immediate. A wave of
suppressed excitement passed over the crowd; absolute silence followed;
and then from beyond the door, and distinctly audible in the stillness,
came the sound of a quick step on the uncarpeted floor. The clock ticked
twice, then a hand dealt the door a measured blow.

The moment of silence that followed this ominous signal was only broken
when a deputy who had been nodding half asleep in his chair, sprang
erect and hurried from the room. As the swinging baize doors banged at
his heels, the crowd seemed to breathe again.

Moxlow was the first to arrive. The deputy had found him munching a
sandwich on the court-house steps. His entrance was unhurried and his
manner quietly confident; he put aside his well-worn overcoat and took
his seat at the counsel table. A little ripple of respectful comment had
greeted his appearance; this died away when the baize doors at the back
of the room swung open again to admit North and the sheriff.

North's face was white, but he wore a look of high courage. He
understood to the full the dreadful hazard of the next few moments. With
never a glance to the right or to the left, he crossed the room and took
his seat; as he settled himse