"We are, my lord," the foreman replied.
"Do you find the prisoner guilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty, my lord."
"Very well, gentlemen," the judge said tartly. "It is your verdict, not mine."
At the foreman's word a thrill had run through the court; for when it was known, the evening before, that eleven were one way and one the other, the belief had been general that the majority were for a conviction. Reuben himself had so understood it, and the verdict was a complete surprise to him.
The constable raised the bar for him to leave the dock, and as he moved out his friend the schoolmaster pushed forward, and shook him warmly by the hand.
"Thank God for that verdict, Reuben. I am indeed rejoiced, and I own I hardly expected it."
"I didn't expect it at all," Reuben said in a choked voice, for his sudden liberation had shaken him, more than his arrest or any of the subsequent proceedings had done.