“I never saw that little pouch of money, Judge Maxwell, sir, until Isom fell, and lay stretched out there on the floor. I never saw that much money before in my life, and I expect that I thought more about it for a minute than I did about Isom. It all happened so quick, you know, sir.”
Joe spoke the last words with a covert appeal in them, as if placing the matter before the judge alone, in the confidence of his superior understanding, and the belief that he would feel their truth.
The judge seemed to understand. He nodded encouragingly and smiled.
“Do you recall the morning after your arrival at the home of Isom Chase to begin your service there, when you threatened to kill him?” asked the prosecutor. 283
“I do recall that morning,” admitted Joe; “but I don’t feel that it’s fair to hold me to account for words spoken in sudden anger and under trying circumstances. A young person, you know, sir”–addressing the judge–“oftentimes says things he don’t mean, and is sorry for the next minute. You know how hot the blood of youth is, sir, and how it drives a person to say more than he means sometimes.”
“Now, your honor, this defendant has counsel to plead for him at the proper time,” complained the prosecutor, “and I demand that he confine himself to answering my questions without comment.”
“Let the witness explain in his own way,” said the judge, who probably felt that this concession, at least, was due a man on trial for his life. There was a finality in his words which did not admit of dispute, and the prosecuting attorney was wise enough not to attempt it.
“You threatened to kill Isom Chase that morning when he laid hands on you and pulled you out of bed. Your words were, as you have heard Mrs. Chase testify under oath in that very chair where you now sit, ‘If you hit me, I’ll kill you in your tracks!’ Those were your words, were they not?”
“I expect I said something like that–I don’t just remember the exact words now–but that was what I wanted him to understand. I don’t think I’d have hurt him very much, though, and I couldn’t have killed him, because I wasn’t armed. It was a hot-blooded threat, that’s all it was.”
“You didn’t ordinarily pack a gun around with you, then?”