Jim Ortop, on being sworn, related the facts of the case in a straightforward way; but, becoming sadly bewildered by a severe cross-questioning, the general opinion went in favour of the prisoner. The next witness, however, most effectually turned the scale. He was a short, thick-set man, who described himself as a diver in the employment of the Government. He stated that, having sailed in a diving-bell ship from Plymouth to Lundy, he was ordered, in company with another man now in court, to look for and examine the Sarah Ann, and found her on a sandy bottom in seven fathoms water. He went on to say that they discovered a hole in the side of the ship, which had been purposely bored, no doubt; and that he was prepared to swear the brig had been scuttled. This worthy searcher of the seas and revealer of marine mysteries could neither be twisted nor shaken by the clever counsel for the defence; and when the augur was held up to view, there was a confused hum of many voices in Stauncy's disfavour.
Mr. Mogford and the cook were next examined, but they could not directly oppose the evidence of the diver. They lauded the captain as he deserved to be lauded, extolled his seamanship during the storm, and declared it was utterly impossible for him to be guilty of the charge. The latter was particularly eloquent in his defence, and, when drawn out purposely by counsel, unfolded all the secrets of his heart as to the criminality of the merchant. So clear and truth-like were his assertions, so fervid and telling was his declamation, that the tide set in strong again on Stauncy's side, and the sympathies of the people were his from that time forward. So general was the conviction that he had been a deeply injured man, and was but a scapegoat for the merchant, that he was requested, at the special desire of the jury, to throw some light on Pickard's evidence; but he declined. The judge summed up therefore, and the twelve arbiters of his fate retired to consider their verdict. A buzz of earnest voices increased to an unmistakable clamour; and the cook, freed from the restraint of the witness-box, defamed the merchant in the strongest language he could command, vowing vengeance in terms which gained the sympathy of a multitude by no means unwilling to make a demonstration on the captain's behalf.
The jurymen returned; the usual form was observed, and the fatal word 'GUILTY' was uttered by the foreman.
There were those then present who felt more than Stauncy did when the verdict was announced. A flush of emotion for a moment suffused his cheek, but it passed quickly away; and, whilst others were weeping in sorrowful compassion, he stood calmly waiting the sentence of death.
'And that's the end of it!' said Mogford to the cook, as they left the court together. 'Why, Sam, he's as bad as a suicide. He ought to have turned king's evidence against that old rogue in Appledore. Why didn't he let it all out?'
'Can't tell, Mr. Mogford,' replied Pickard; 'it's unfathomable; but the end of it hasn't come yet. If those Lords of the Admiralty don't take notice of what I said, I'll swear information against the merchant, and feel certain that diver will bring him to judgment. Bales of broadcloth, Mr. Mogford! nothing but list, I'll lay my life; and if the cap'n held his tongue to screen that varnished hypocrite, I won't.'
'What do you mean, Sam?'
'I mean that Phillipson intended to kill two birds with one stone—to get a heavy insurance on the brig, which he consigned to the deep, and a heavy insurance on the sham cargo. It isn't the first time, neither, that them bales have done service in that way.'
'The dodger!' exclaimed the mate.
'The villainous scamp!' responded Sam warmly. 'His money and his station have guarded him so far, and no one has dared to whisper the truth without suffering for it; but let the wind set in another way, and you'll see that many of his prime supporters will turn out to be his prime foes. Opinions chop right round often.'