"I don't think," observed the foreman, "that we ought to allow personal considerations to enter into the case. It's our duty to speak to the evidence, and to that only."
"I don't care nothing about no evidence. The one's as big a thief as t'other."
Old George clenched his toothless jaws and blinked.
"What'll he get if we bring him in guilty?" asked Mr. Plummer, the third abstainer.
The foreman shook his head. "That oughtn't to influence our decision."
Mr. Plummer differed, and said so.
"It'll influence mine. James Bailey is not yet eighteen. To send him to prison will do him more harm than good. If his case is to come under the First Offenders Act, we shall know where we are."
"We might make a recommendation to that effect," suggested Captain Rudd.
"Excuse me," interposed Mr. Moss, "but I doubt if I could agree to our doing that. I'm afraid that Master Bailey deserves some punishment. This is not the first time he has done this sort of thing. He was dismissed from his last two places for dishonesty."
Again the foreman shook his head.