the third day, little
Skiddy, from the majesty of the dais, summed up the case at length. It
covered nine sheets of foolscap, and had cost him hours of agonizing
toil. Beginning with a general rhetorical statement about the "policy of
nations" and "the security of the high seas," he descended by degrees to
the crime of barratry--or, in plainer English, the theft of ships. He
looked at barratry from every side, and the more he looked the less he
seemed to like it. It was the cradle of piracy; it destroyed the
confidence of owners; barratry, if frequently repeated, would shake the
whole commercial structure. A person who committed barratry would commit
anything. In this manner he went on and on, reviewing the evidence of
the case, destroying the whole fabric of the defense, dwelling at length
on the enormity of the entire transaction. The _James H. Peabody_ had
been deliberately seized. The prisoner had lawlessly converted her, the
property of another, to his own base uses. He had broken into the cargo
and shamelessly sold it as his own. He could plead neither the
extenuation of youth, nor ignorance, nor the urging of others. He had
conceived the crime, and had carried it out single-handed. The Court
could not accept the contention that Ah Foy, the Chinaman, had been in
any sense a confederate or an accomplice. The Court dismissed the charge
against Ah Foy. But, after mature deliberation, its unanimous judgment
was that John Forster, _alias_ Satterlee, was _guilty_. The Court
sentenced John Forster, _alias_ Satterlee, to _ten years' penal
servitude_.

Purdy popped up with some question as to the scale of court fees.
Thacher winked at Dillon, and began to roll up his papers. Skiddy
descended from the dais and became an ordinary human being again. The
captain, leaning forward in his chair, gazed absently out to sea. The
Scanlon brothers appeared, officiously wanting to know what they were to
do next. Skiddy was unable to tell them, except that they were to stay
by the prisoner until he could consult with the authorities. He put on
his hat, lit a cigar, and forthwith departed.

The President was kind, the Chief Justice urbane. The income of the
kingdom barely sufficed for their two salaries, and they judged it
incumbent (as they could do nothing else) to be as polite as possible to
the American consul. But jails? Oh, no, they couldn't oblige Skiddy with
a new jail! He was welcome to what they had, but it wasn't in reason