In this his native humor
was a strong factor, and when he had finished with the mysterious
masked men they were as exploded sun-myths,--which phrase he promptly
applied to them.
They could not have got off the island. The condition of the ice for
the three or four hours preceding the break-up would not have permitted
it. The prisoner had implicated none of the residents of the island,
while every one of them, with the exception of the prisoner, had been
accounted for elsewhere. Possibly the prisoner was excited when he ran
down the trail into the arms of La Flitche and John the Swede. One
should have thought, however, that he had grown used to such things in
Siberia. But that was immaterial; the facts were that he was
undoubtedly in an abnormal state of excitement, that he was
hysterically excited, and that a murderer under such circumstances
would take little account of where he ran. Such things had happened
before. Many a man had butted into his own retribution.
In the matter of the relations of Borg, Bella, and St. Vincent, he made
a strong appeal to the instinctive prejudices of his listeners, and for
the time being abandoned matter-of-fact reasoning for all-potent
sentimental platitudes. He granted that circumstantial evidence never
proved anything absolutely. It was not necessary it should. Beyond
the shadow of a reasonable doubt was all that was required.
Pages:
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338