CHESTER'S TRIAL.
In his dusty web the spider lay--
All bloated and black was he,
And he watched his victim pass that way,
With a quiver of horrid glee!
A few mornings before the little birth-day party described in our
last chapter, two men were seen to enter the Mayor's office,
accompanied by the Alderman, whom we have seen closeted with him
before. The Mayor was alone in his private room, and the Alderman
left his two companions in the outer office, while he held a moment's
private conversation with his honor. There was a sort of boisterous
exultation in the Alderman's manner, which rather displeased the
Mayor, who looked upon the exhibition of any feeling as a weakness,
but he received his friend with his usual bland smile, and requested
him to be seated.
The Alderman drew his leather-cushioned seat close to the Mayor, and
laid his broad red hand on his honor's knee.
"They are here--both the witnesses are here ready to enter a
complaint--I told you they were just the men to nail this Chester?"
"Here!" said the Mayor, "my friend--my good fellow--you should not
have brought the witnesses here. In all these doubtful cases--do you
understand?--_I_ never receive a direct complaint. It must come
through the Chief of Police. This one especially. He must call upon
me officially to act!"
"The chief!" exclaimed the Alderman, in dismay, "why Chester is one
of his especial pets. It will never do to entrust the business with
him."
"Oh! have no fear. His duty forces him to present the complaint, when
once entered, before him. Further than that, he has no power, no voice
in the matter. It rests by law with the Mayor alone. He is
judge--juror. He is _the law_ in these cases, you know."
"Then you think we may venture the case with the chief?" said the
Alderman, still doubtful. "He will do all in his power to save
Chester, I am certain."
"But he has no power! He has no right even to hear the evidence,
unless I desire it. His interference is a mere form--but it has a
good appearance--half these fellows know nothing about the law, and
when we break them it casts some of the odium on him. It gives him
an appearance of responsibility, but not a particle of power. Take
your witnesses to the chief--to the chief, my dear fellow, and leave
the rest to me--_to the law_."
The Alderman rejoined his witnesses, and went to the chief's office.
From that office, twenty-four hours after, was sent the letter which
Chester received on the night of his birth-day.
The day of trial came. Within the railing of the chief's office sat
his honor, the Mayor, calmly shaving down the point of a pencil, which
he tried from time to time on a sheet of paper that lay on the desk
before him. At his elbow was the clerk, with a quire of foolscap
neatly arranged, and holding a pen idly in his hand.
In a little room back of the office sat the Chief of Police--his
portly person filling the circumference of a comfortable office chair,
and his jovial, good-humored countenance somewhat clouded with anxiety
for the fate of the noble young man on trial, for he had learned both
to love and respect the accused. His presence was evidently annoying
to his honor, who dreaded the shrewd observation, the keen knowledge
of men and things which would be brought to bear on the examination.
He would rather have encountered the whole bar of New York, than the
sharp, but apparently careless scrutiny of this one man. But there
sat the chief just within the shadow of his private closet, the star
of office glittering on his broad chest, linked to his garments by
a chain of massive gold. The walls behind him were garnished with
heavy oaken clubs, highly polished hand-cuffs and iron shackles, with
various other grim insignia of his office.
In vain the Mayor moved restlessly in his chair. In vain he turned
his cold and repelling look toward the immovable chief. You might
have seen a covert smile now and then gleam in the eyes of that
obstinate functionary, but otherwise he seemed profoundly unconscious
that his presence was in the least disagreeable. The Mayor did not
venture upon the unprecedented step of requiring him to withdraw,
so after a good deal of meaningless delay, the trial went on.
Chester stood without the railing which encircled the Mayor and his
clerk. His air was firm, his countenance calm, and almost haughty.
He awaited the proceedings with quiet indignation. Behind him stood
the two men whom he had followed from the dram-shop on the night of
his fall, and in a corner of the office sat Jones, the liquor dealer,
with two or three persons entirely unknown to Chester.
The Mayor lifted his eyes, but they glanced beyond Chester. With all
his coolness he had not the nerve to look directly into the proud
and searching eyes bent so calmly on him.
"Is your counsel here, Mr. Chester?" inquired his honor.
"I am here, needing no other counsel, if I am to have a fair trial,"
replied Chester, firmly.
"I hope you do not doubt that your trial will be a fair one!" said
the Mayor, sharpening his pencil afresh, for he wanted some occupation
for both eyes and hands.
Chester smiled with so much reproachful scorn, that the Mayor felt
it without turning his glance that way.
"I am waiting," said Chester, "for proof of the charges that have
been preferred against me!"
At a sign from the Mayor, the man Smith came forward and was placed
under oath. Chester's eyes were upon him as he touched the book, and
the man turned visibly pale. But in his false oath--for the man
perjured himself in the first sentence--he gained more courage.
"Chester," he said, "had entered the dram-shop, where he and his
friend"--here the man pointed to his accomplice--"were quietly passing
an hour before going to fulfill an engagement. Here he spent perhaps
half an hour, drinking brandy-and-water by the stove. They had noticed
him particularly, knowing it to be against the law for policemen to
indulge in drinking while on duty. The witness went out with his
companion, leaving Chester by the stove, evidently much affected by
what he had drank. As he and his companion stood beneath an old tree
that grew in front of the liquor store, Chester came forth, reeling
in his walk, and after a vain effort to maintain his foothold, fell
upon the pavement wholly intoxicated. Several other persons saw him
in this position, but the witness and his friend led him home, and
consigned him to the care of his wife."
It was a plausible perjury, and several innocent persons came forward
to strengthen it. They had seen Chester down upon the ice, and had
been told that he was intoxicated; so in good faith, and with no
intention of wrong, they corroborated the treacherous story that was
to destroy a good name.
Chester stood by as this story was artfully strengthened by the
sweet-toned and subtle questionings of the Mayor. His face was very
pale, and he trembled from head to foot with honest and stern
anger--nay, he felt something of horror, something unselfish, in
analyzing the cold-blooded craft, and unflinching perjury that had
been brought to bear upon him. There was absolute sublimity in his
pale silence, as he allowed witness after witness to pass from the
box unchallenged--unquestioned. And all this foul perjury the clerk
registered down, and the Alderman who had arranged the charges stood
by to hear.
Then Chester was called upon for his defence. He stood upright,
grasping the railing with his right hand. His voice was low and
deep-toned as a bell; it made the Mayor start with its clear,
searching accents. He told the truth, the simple, natural truth, as
it has been given to the reader, but with eloquence, and energy which
the pen has no power to describe.
"That man," he said, turning as he stood, and pointing his finger
at the perjured Smith, "that man--let him step forward and tell the
story he has sworn to, with his face lifted to mine, eye to eye, with
the man he accuses. If he can do this, I ask no other defence. Let
him say who it is that has instigated him to heap this foul wrong
upon an innocent man, what is to be his reward--whose deeper and more
subtle enmity he is working out! Let him but speak these things with
his eye looking into mine, and I am content."
The craven thus addressed, did look in Chester's eyes as a bird gazes
upon the eye of a serpent; he could not do otherwise--his face, his
very mouth were white; he trembled from head to foot. Conscience
tugging at his evil heart, had well-nigh dragged forth the truth,
but the cold, low voice of the Mayor, drove it back again, even from
his pallid lips.
"The witness has told his story under oath--others have substantiated
it. You had the right to question him then. There is no reason why
he should undergo a second examination."
This speech had its desired effect. Smith drew a deep breath, and
putting on an air of dogged bravado, looked round at his companions
like a mastiff who had been just rescued from a fight that threatened
to destroy him. The Mayor fell to sharpening his pencil again, and
the Alderman made an effort to open a little gate in the corner of
the railing, and would have approached his honor. But the constraining
look with which his attempt to open the gate was received by that
prudent functionary, checked him. The Mayor felt that any appearance
of understanding even with the Alderman, might be perilous, while
the Chief sat regarding the proceedings with such real interest and
apparent unconcern.
"And have you nothing else to offer--no witnesses?" said the Mayor,
addressing Chester.
"None!" answered Chester, wiping the drops from his forehead. "I have
told the truth; if that is not believed all the witnesses on earth
would be of no avail."
Then came from an outer chamber, grated by the iron door of a cell
where chance prisoners were sometimes locked, and hung with gilded
stars, and firemen's banners, a young figure diminutive, and of pale
and sickly features.
"Mary, my poor child!" said Chester, but she only lifted her large
eyes to his an instant, and going up to the railing held to it with
her hand.
"May I be sworn as those men have been?" she said, addressing the
startled Mayor in the same sweet tones that had claimed his compassion
months before.
"You! what can you know of the matter?" said his honor sharply, and
almost thrown off his guard.
"Not much, but something I do know," answered the child meekly. "May
I speak?"
"But you are too young--how old are you?" cried the Mayor, hoping
to have found a legal reason for sending away the obtrusive little
imp, as he called the child in his heart.
"I am twelve, sir--just twelve."
The Mayor cast an uneasy glance at the Chief's closet and then at
the child.
"Sir," said Chester, "I do not know what this poor child desires to
say, but it is my wish that she be heard."
"If she is offered as a witness there is no disputing her right to
speak," replied his honor, but with a disturbed countenance, and
taking a little worn Bible, marked with a broad cross from the desk
before him, his honor held it toward the child.
She took the Bible between both her hands and pressed her lips
reverently upon it.
"Now," said the Mayor, "what do you wish to say?"
"It was so still out yonder that I could not help but hear--poor Mrs.
Chester was very anxious, and I thought perhaps some one might give
me good news to carry home."
"This has nothing to do with the matter, child."
"I know," replied the little girl, meeting the Mayor's rebuff with
her usual humility. "But I thought perhaps you might ask how I came
by the door. Well, sir, I heard what these men said about Mr. Chester.
I knew their voices, sir, for I have heard them before, on the night
they were talking about, as they stood under the great elm tree
waiting for Mr. Chester to come out."
"The great elm tree--and how came you there, Mary?" exclaimed Chester,
greatly surprised by the child's appearance.
"Do you remember, sir, that you were complaining and quite ill that
night before you went out? Mrs. Chester felt very anxious about him,
sir," continued the child, reminded that it was her duty to address
the Mayor. "We sat up together sewing, and after he went out I saw
the tears come into Mrs. Chester's eyes, and once or twice they fell
upon her work. She was crying because her husband--oh, if you only
knew how good he is--was obliged to go out in such bitter cold
weather, when his cough was coming on again. I saw what she was
fretting about, and so as he had been too ill to eat supper, I asked
her to let me make a cup of warm coffee and carry it out to him on
his beat. She would not let me make the coffee, but the idea pleased
her and she made it herself, and poured it into a little covered
pitcher, while I put on a hood and shawl. I knew the way, sir, and
was not in the least afraid of the night or anything else, for the
stars were out and nobody ever thinks of harming a little girl like
me. Some pity, and some laugh; but I am never afraid of real harm
even in the night. I said this to Mrs. Chester, for she did not like
to have me go out alone. She kissed me and said I might go, for God
was sure to take care of me anywhere. Well, sir, I went on, up one
street and down another very slow, for the ice was slippery. Then
I saw Mr. Chester standing on a corner and looking toward the windows
of a store, over which was a great elm tree all dripping with ice.
I knew him by the way he stood and by his star which shone in the
moonlight. Just as I was crossing over the street, with my pitcher
of coffee, I saw a little boy come out from under the tree and speak
to Mr. Chester, who ran over and went into the store.
"I knew that Mr. Chester would not stay long in that place, and so
crept close up to the trunk of the tree, on the shady side, and
holding the coffee under my shawl, to keep it warm, waited for him
to come out. There had been some noise in the store, as if people
were quarrelling, but all that died away, and then two men came out
and stopped by the tree where I was standing. I kept still as a mouse,
and pressed close up to the dark side, for the men were laughing,
and I was afraid they might laugh at me if I came into the light.
I heard every word that they said, sir, but did not know the meaning
of it till now.
"'We have got him at last--Jones saw him take the brandy,' said one.
"'Yes, but he did not drink it; Jones cannot say that.' It was another
voice that made this answer, sir.
"'But he _will_ say that or anything else likely to get this fellow
out of the way--and so must you, and so will I;' answered the loudest
voice again.
"Just then Mr. Chester came out of the store. He looked very pale,
but I thought it was only the moonlight striking on him through the
ice that hung all over the elm tree.
"'Now!' said one of the men, 'now have your foot ready if he comes
this way.'
"Mr. Chester did come that way, sir, walking carefully on the ice.
But for the men I should have gone up to him at once. I did not like
to let them see me, and so waited a little, meaning to follow him
when they were gone, and give him the coffee. He passed close by us
and fell. I heard the men laugh low--_so_ low just as he came up. I
heard them call out, and saw other people come up.
"They lifted him from the ice--these two men--and held his face up
to the cold air. I thought that he was dead, his face shone so white,
and it seemed as if the thought hardened me into ice. I could not
speak nor move. Everything went dark around me. I felt the
coffee-pitcher slip from my hand and break upon the stones, but could
not even try to save it. He had been so kind to me--there was only
one thought come to me through the cold--they would take him home
to his wife, dead. I knew it would break her heart, and still I could
not move. When I did get a little strength, those two men were going
down the street, and Mr. Chester walked between them. I followed
after, but the fright had made me weak, and my eyes were so full of
tears that I could only see them moving before me like people in a
fog.
"Just before I reached the house, two men--the same who had gone home
with Mr. Chester--went by me, walking very fast and laughing. I knew
them by the laugh, for they gave me no time to look up. I hoped by
that to find Mr. Chester not so badly hurt as he seemed. This gave
me strength, and I got home sooner than I should have done. When I
went in Mr. Chester sat by the fire trembling like a leaf, and his
wife stood over him bathing his head, paler than I ever saw her before
or since!"
The little girl paused here, her eyes fell, and the eager look died
on her face, for she saw that cold, sneering smile, peculiar to the
Mayor, drawing down his upper lip--and it struck a chill to her heart.
"Did you see the faces of those men--can you point them out again?"
questioned the Mayor.
"I did not see their faces plain enough to know them again, but by
the voice of that man," and she pointed toward Smith, "I am sure he
was one of them!"
"And this is all you know!" said the Mayor.
"It is all!" was the faint reply. "It is all!" and the child crept
to the side of Chester, and put her hand in his.
He pressed that little hand, looked down kindly upon her, and then
her tears began to flow.
The Mayor arose.
"We have heard the evidence," he said, "and it has been carefully
written down. In a few days, or weeks at farthest, the case shall
be decided--it requires consideration; it requires a patient review
of the evidence. Until the decision, Mr. Chester, you are suspended,
without pay."
The Mayor ended his speech with a gentle bend of the head, and
prepared to withdraw. The clerk rolled up his minutes and the
witnesses went out, anxious to quit a scene that had been more
exciting than they expected.
Chester stood alone in the office, holding little Mary by the hand,
when the Chief came out from his closet, looking very grave, but with
much friendly sympathy in his manner. He wrung Chester's hand, and
uttered a few cheering words. Chester could not speak. His firm lips
began to quiver, and throwing himself upon a chair, he cast his arms
over the railing, his face fell upon them, and the proud, wronged
man sobbed like a child.
What all the coldness and falsehood of his enemies had failed to do,
was accomplished by a few words of unaffected sympathy. These alone
had power to wring tears from his firm manhood, and Chester led his
little protege home with a heavy heart, and a heavy, heavy heart was
that which met his with its wild throb of anguish, as he entered the
home where his wife sat weeping, and watching for him.