But I can at least go to my home with nothing to haunt me the
rest of my life. I can at least close my eyes at night without fear of
troubled dreams or hours of unrest. And I thank God for it.
"'Now, my friends, while all that we've gone through has been wearing on
a fellow, it has not been without interest. You have doubtless heard and
gazed in wonder at "the cloud of witnesses" the defense and prosecution
have summoned for this case. You have listened open-mouthed to the fine
eloquence of the lawyers. You have seen, day after day, the fashionable
city folk, who have come down to our little town, troop in and take
their seats--and the reporters, and the men with the cameras, and the
hungry-looking "poor whites." Now, gentlemen, of course you have seen
and heard all this, and of course you have been duly impressed. _I_ have
been, I grant you; but of late there has been but one thing in that
court-room I could see; but one thing that interested me, and held my
attention to the exclusion of all else. I don't suppose you know what I
mean. It is this--back, 'way back by the door a little woman has been in
torture, such torture as I hope you will never know. I cannot keep my
eyes from that shabbily dressed figure; from that white, tear-stained
face. Again and again I have seen her veil drawn down, and the poor
creature shaking with grief.
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