The Argosy — page 395: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

374 The Village Blacksmith. stolen them? Here Mr. Jones made an impressive pause, and then proceeded. Clearly only one person could have done so; that person knew where the diamonds were kept; was found in the room in which they were on the night of the robbery after everyone had gone to bed, and had run away from her home the next day, and had, as far as he knew, not been heard of since. ‘There never had been any doubt in his mind as to who was the culprit. From the very first the evidence had pointed to one person. As for the sleep-walking defence, a lamer was never invented; he certainly did not believe one word of it, and he was surprised that anyone should. It was clear that this suspicion was shared by others, or why had the Arch- deacon fainted when Freeman swore the jewel-case was empty? Once more he argued there was no case against his client; and he de- manded either that the case should be dismissed at once, or that it should be remanded until the diamonds were found. If they were found where he suspected them to be, then the whole case against Mark Brown fell to the ground; and he should appeal to another Court against the judgment in the first case. Here the magistrates, who were evidently much puzzled what to do, adjourned to another room for luncheon, trusting that sandwiches and sherry would clear their judgment. Captain Raleigh and Captain Tempest, both of whom were evidently in a state of suppressed fury with Mr. Jones, went back to the Rectory to see how the Archdeacon ‘was, and Mr. Deedes retired to consider his final speech to be -given when the magistrates returned to the bench. Mrs. Ryot-Tempest remained in the Court, chiefly because she was afraid to go home lest she should come in contact with Mrs. Canter, whom she knew to be in attendance on the Archdeacon. Reuben went outside and discussed the case with various spectators, all of whom, though sym- pathising with Vera and convinced of her innocence, knowing her as they had done from a child, were agreed that Freeman’s evidence had done her more harm than good; since his declaration that the. jewel-case was empty had given Mark’s lawyer such a golden oppor- tunity for bringing forward all the evidence which pointed to Vera as the culprit. Even Mr. Deedes, certain as he was of Vera’s innocence, inwardly owned the case was going terribly against them; and he half wished he had not persuaded the Archdeacon to bring this action against Mark Brown, but had let the matter end with the first case when Vera was pronounced innocent of wounding Mark. “If we could only get a clue to where the diamonds are,” he muttered to himself as he made some brief note for his speech. Meanwhile Captain Raleigh and Captain Tempest had been to the Rectory and learnt from Mrs. Canter that the Archdeacon was better; but he had had a very bad attack and the doctor had given strict orders he was to see no one but herself that day, and the less he was told about the trial the better. Goim (@) books.co