Budd Boyd's Triumph Part 14

Mr. Johnson and man were there, and with them the one lawyer the village afforded as Prosecuting Attorney. It looked as though Mr. Johnson was afraid he could not prove his case, and had sought all the possible help he at that short notice could obtain.

Budd's witnesses were all there also, Judd and Mr. Dane having arrived an hour before, and Mr. Benton and Mr. Wright having come in as the court was called.

Budd was his own lawyer, and from his smiling face one would have thought he felt fully able to cope with the attorney for the prosecution.

When the charge was read, the lad in loud, clear tones, answered "Not guilty," and the trial began.

Mr. Johnson was the first witness, and he stated briefly the condition in which he had found his house on arriving there the morning before, and how he had laid in wait for the return of the burglars. He described Budd's appearance, his entrance to the house, and his capture. As he ended his testimony, the lawyer, evidently having been previously instructed, asked:

"Have you ever seen the prisoner previous to the time of his capture?"

"Yes," replied Mr. Johnson. "I have known him, and his father before him, for years."

"Where is his father?" asked the lawyer.

"I object to that question," cried Budd, jumping to his feet, his cheeks all aflame with indignation.

Before the Justice could give his ruling the answer had been given, loud and clear:

"In the Ma.s.sachusetts State Prison, serving out a twelve years' sentence for forgery and theft."

Budd sunk back in his chair sick at heart, and almost in despair. The mischief had been done, and the crowd knew the dread secret he had so long hid within his own bosom. He felt for a moment that he would have been glad to have had the prison-walls close around him, too, shutting him from the gaze of all eyes.

Nor was the answer lost in its influence on the Justice.

"I think," he said, slowly, "that anything that throws light on the prisoner's previous life or training will be in order here. It will help the Court to decide whether he would have been likely to commit the crime with which he is charged;" and the man tried to conceal the curiosity which was already beaming from his face.

Without further interruption Mr. Johnson told his side of the story, with which the reader is already familiar, and left the stand, having given Justice and audience alike the impression that Mr. Boyd was a most hardened criminal, and that the son was already following in his father's footsteps.

His hired man then took the stand, and corroborated his employer's testimony respecting the burglary and the capture of the prisoner. Then the prosecution rested its case.

While Mr. Johnson was telling about Budd's father the lad sat with head bowed, and appeared to no longer care what became of himself; but just before the hired man finished his testimony Judd leaned over and whispered in his comrade's ear:

"For your father's sake, make a defense."

He could not have whispered more effective words. Budd at once raised his head and proudly faced the Court, and when the prosecution had done he rose quickly to his feet.

"The charge with which I am accused," he said, taking the paper up, "reads that I entered Mr. Johnson's house some time between April 1st and yesterday, June 20th. It does not specify any charge for yesterday at all, as I forced no entrance into the house, nor took anything away.

I shall, then, prove to this Court that previous to yesterday I had never been upon Hope Island. I will also tell why I went there."

With these words he called Mr. Benton as his first witness. Mr. Wright followed, and then Judd Floyd and Mr. Dane came in the order named.

All swore positively that if the prisoner had been upon Hope Island during the specific time each was called to testify to, they would certainly have known it.

Judd, realizing that his partner's liberty depended largely upon his testimony, with note-book in hand told where, from day to day, he and Budd had been, and what they had done. The testimony was absolute, and should have been conclusive.

Budd then had himself put under oath, and testified that though he knew Hope Island was Mr. Johnson's summer residence, no thought had ever come to him to visit it until the previous afternoon, when he found himself near the island.

"I then felt," he continued, "a curiosity to see the place, and landing, went, as they have testified, boldly across the fields, because I had nothing to be ashamed of. Finding a window open, I at once concluded that burglars had been there, and I went in to see to what extent the property had been injured, and it was my purpose to report to Mr.

Johnson at once the crime that had been committed. Now I would like Mr.

Johnson to be put upon the stand, that I may ask him a few questions."

Mr. Johnson, with evident reluctance, took the witness-chair for his cross-examination.

"How long had my father worked for you previous to the crime he is said to have committed?"

"Fifteen or sixteen years," was the reply.

"Why did you keep him so long in your employ?" Budd now asked.

"I object," said the Prosecuting Attorney.

"Your Honor," said Budd, "the prosecution have tried to injure my character to-day by telling about my father. They have told only evil.

I wish now to show there is some good."

"I don't know as Mr. Johnson is obliged to answer these questions," said the Justice, nodding blandly to the wealthy man, "but he may, if he chooses."

"I decline to answer," said Mr. Johnson, after consulting with his attorney.

"I will ask the witness one other question--one with reference to myself--with the Court's permission," said Budd.

"Have I not, Mr. Johnson, paid you a portion of the money you claim my father took from you?"

"I decline to answer that question also," replied Mr. Johnson, noticing that his attorney shook his head negatively.

"May I then put in this paper as testimony?" asked Budd, taking a slip from his pocket and extending it toward the Justice. "It is Mr.

Johnson's receipt for five hundred dollars that I paid him last March."

"I hardly think it would be proper," said the Justice, looking toward Mr. Johnson for his approval of the ruling.

"I then rest my case," said Budd, shortly, and with some show of indignation.

The Prosecuting Attorney now began his argument. He dwelt mainly upon the facts that Budd had been found where he ought not to have been, and that Judd Floyd, as his partner, was of course interested in acquitting the prisoner. Though that witness had shown where he and the accused were in the daytime since May 20th, he had failed to show where they were in the _nights_, and the burglary had doubtless been committed in the night time; burglaries usually were. He concluded by reminding the Justice that it was not for him to find the prisoner guilty; but if, in his judgment, he thought there was a _probability_ of his guilt, it was his duty to bind him over to a higher court.

Budd, already aware that the Justice seemed to favor the prosecution, simply stated in his argument for the defense what he had proved by his witnesses, and that that acquitted him of the special charge included in the warrant. He alluded to the general good character he had borne since he came into the neighborhood, and concluded with the words:

"I am innocent of the crime with which I am accused. My father is also innocent of the crime for which he is in prison to-day. One link in the chain of establis.h.i.+ng his innocence I have already discovered. Whatever may be the decision of the Court to-day respecting myself, as sure as there is a just G.o.d in Heaven, a few weeks more will see every shadow of disgrace swept away from our names."

So positive were the lad's tones, so triumphant his gestures, so confident his looks, that many of the audience were thrilled as though they heard a voice of prophecy--a prophecy soon to be fulfilled.

The Justice may himself have felt, somewhat, the influence of the lad's declaration, for he gathered up his papers with an unsteady hand, and looked uneasily about the room and into the upturned faces waiting for his decision. The stillness grew oppressive. Finally the eye of the Justice rested upon Mr. Johnson, who was gazing expectantly up into the little man's face, and the great and wealthy man's wish became the law of the baser one's soul:

"I think," he said, speaking sharply and looking directly at Mr.

Johnson, "there is sufficient probability of the prisoner's guilt to warrant my binding him over to the higher court, which meets at the county seat in November."

Then, to Budd:

"I'll fix your bond at one thousand dollars, and unless you can furnish a bondsman I will have to commit you to the county jail to await your trial."