re not satisfied they must bring in a verdict of
acquittal.

The jury filed out of their apartment, and as they retired to consider
their verdict the judge retired to his own room. The prisoner was removed
from the dock and taken down the stairs out of sight. There was an
immediate hum of voices in the court. Inspector Chippenfield approached
the table and whispered to Mr. Walters. The latter nodded affirmatively
and left the court room in company with Mr. Holymead. The sibilant sound
of whispering voices died down after a few minutes and then began the
long tedious wait for the return of the jury.

The occupants of the gallery, who had no difficulty in coming to an
immediate decision on the guilt or innocence of the prisoner, could not
understand what was keeping the jury away so long. They failed to
understand the jury's point of view. These gentlemen had sat in court for
three days listening intently to proceedings concerning a matter in which
their degree of personal interest was only a form of curiosity. And now
the end of the case had been reached, except for the climax, which was in
their control. To arrive at an immediate decision in a case that had
occupied the court for three days would indicate they had no proper
realisation of the responsibilities of their position. A verdict was a
thing that had to be nicely balanced in relation to the evidence. Where
the case against the prisoner was weak or overwhelmingly strong, the jury
might arrive at a verdict with great speed as an indication that too much
of their valuable time had already been wasted on the case. But where the
evidence for and against the prisoner was fairly equal it behoved the
jury to indicate by the time they took in arriving at their verdict that
they had given the case the most careful consideration.

Two hours and twenty minutes after the jury had retired, the prisoner was
brought back into the dock. This was an indication that the jury had
arrived at their verdict and were ready to deliver it. The prisoner
looked worn and anxious, but he received encouraging smiles from his
friends in the gallery. A minute later the judge entered the court and
resumed his seat. The jury filed into court and entered the jury-box.
Amid the noise of barristers resuming their seats and court officials
gliding about, the judge's Associate called over the names of the
jurymen. The suspense reached its climax as the Associate put the formal
questions to the forem