ase. It was nearly two when the judge finished his
charge, so they have plenty of time to waste; for if they came back to
the court-room before three they would be impaneled in another trial.

They have taken a straw vote to find out how the sentiment stood, not
with the hope of arriving at a decision but by way of trying out the
matter. The result stands nine for the plaintiff and three for the
defendant. They light their cigars, for they came well prepared for
the tedious hours in the jury-room.

The nine men look at the other three in disgust, the three look at the
nine with contempt and then they begin to argue. The deliberations of
the jury are always secret, their method of procedure is uncertain,
and only the result of their deliberations appears in court.
Nevertheless, it is only reasonable to speculate on how they have
arrived at their verdict. Their verdict is the climax of the drama,
the goal of the race, the award of victory. One side must win and the
other be defeated. The psychology of the jury in reaching the verdict
is the great mystery and the most intense interest of the trial. The
judge does not know, the lawyers are unable to understand. There is a
certain respect for the inviolate privacy of a jury-room. If trial
lawyers could understand the method by which they arrive at their
final announcement they would be far better equipped than by a study
of the law for many years.

It is a question whether or not their actions are different from those
of ordinary men outside a court-room. They have left the restraining
influence of an uncomfortable and conspicuous position and have
entered again into the attitude of mind of the everyday world. The
control of the judge has disappeared. The lawyers are only memories.
They have become only plain business men with something definite to
do. They do not know how to do it and the discussion begins in a
desultory way.

"Well, we ought to give that boy something."

"I don't like the looks of that last witness."

"That lawyer for the defendant was too smart."

"But do you think the driver tried to cut him off?"

"He couldn't have been in bed six weeks."

"No man would stay in bed that long with a sore knee."

"Oh, well, he only meant he was about the house."

"That doctor was a great one. He loved to get off those terms; he must
be just graduated from the hospital."

"Did you hear the lawyer say in a case he tried in Brooklyn he had
seventeen of those e