‘Silence!’ bawled a javelin-man just behind them, a rebuke which the worthy farmer at first thought was meant for himself. But the word was repeated instantly by other javelin-men, and then he perceived that the grand jury had at last achieved a stroke of work, and that the satellites of justice were merely drawing attention to that fact in their usual impressive manner.
The clerk of arraigns now received the document, and proceeded to expound its contents in this manner:
‘Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, you find a’—here he stopped and turned it over to read what was on the back, a task which occupied several seconds; but he completed the sentence as if no break had occurred—‘true bill against’—another pause, he was looking for the name concealed amid the mazes of technical phraseology. This time the foreman rashly attempted to help him out by murmuring, ‘Joseph Hall.’ The clerk of arraigns turned round and glared at him, then resumed his investigation, and finally brought out the name in a tone of triumph, as of one who gloried in overcoming obstacles, and was not to be baffled by any indictment in the power of man to draw—‘Joseph Hall, for stealing a coat of the value of thirty shillings; also for receiving the same, knowing it to be stolen.’
He then turned again, and bestowed an impatient nod on the waiting foreman, who withdrew, a crushed and miserable man.
‘Put up Joseph Hall,’ was the next command.
The governor of the gaol leant forward and repeated the order to a warder, who had already heard it perfectly and dived below, apparently through the solid floor of the court. The next moment Mr. Hall appeared, with easy nonchalance, and leant forward in a graceful attitude on the bar of the dock, while the clerk of arraigns proceeded to acquaint him with the crime of which he was accused.
Exhibiting no surprise at this piece of information, which, considering he had been lying under the accusation for two months, was perhaps hardly to be wondered at, Mr. Hall in emphatic tones pronounced himself innocent.
‘What?’ said the clerk of arraigns, stretching anxiously forward.
Mr. Hall repeated his sentiments.
‘What does he say?’ exclaimed the clerk of arraigns, appealing to the court generally for assistance.