the latchkey, and who was a fishing-boat
proprietor from a seaside suburb of Abertaff, murmured from his seat:

'I call it a shame. I should like to know what a judge is for. We
might as well try the case ourselves as this.'

'So we are trying it, aren't we?' rebuked the man who had been the
first to blurt out the fatal word, and who was a farmer from near the
same place.

'You may be, Mr. Rees,' returned the boat proprietor, with what was
intended for biting sarcasm.

'Come, gentlemen, gentlemen,' said the foreman impressively, 'let us
remember that we are engaged on a case of life and death. We have got
to come at the truth somehow, and we must do what we can by
ourselves.'

'They should have give us more evidence,' objected Mr. Jenkins. 'What
did they want to make so much fuss about those jewels for?'

'Aye, and there was another thing,' said the Porthstone farmer; 'did
you notice that when Mr. Lewis wanted to say why he suspected her, the
judge wouldn't let un?'

'Well, she's an orphan,' said the tailor, 'and her father was Rector
of Porthstone for thirty years, and I say we ought to let her off.'

'For shame, John,' said the watchmaker, who happened to be his
next-door neighbour; 'don't you know we've got to decide according to
the evidence?'

The tailor hung his head.

Then the foreman interposed again.

'Really, gentlemen, I think it will save time if we go round the
table, and let each man express his opinion in turn. Of course, I
don't say his final opinion, but just any remarks that strike him on
the evidence. Will you begin, sir?'

Mr. Jenkins rose from his seat on the foreman's right and cleared his
throat.

'Mr. Foreman and gentlemen, I think this is, as our foreman has told
us, a case of very great doubt. At the same time, it is our duty to
punish the guilty, and not let the prisoner off simply because she is
a woman and good-looking, and that sort of thing.' (Subdued applause.
The foreman raises his hand for silence.) 'Now, what I look at in this
case is the motive, and that is, I take it, the jewels. I don't
believe she would have done it simply on the chance of getting
something under the will. I don't know whether you remember, but the
judge said Miss Lewis might have parted with the jewels, because they
weren't found after her death. Now, it seems to me that that points
just the other way. I mean, it looks as if she had been murdered for
the sake of them. It seems to me the only que