"Not necessarily at this moment; at this moment we are jurymen--only jurymen."
Mr. Plummer sighed, as if in sorrow. He turned to the others, as if desiring their forgiveness for the captain.
"This gentleman--I trust he will pardon me for saying so--puts a curb upon his natural generosity. His is what we may, perhaps, term the military mind--precise, and, if we may say so, just a little--the merest atom--hard. For my part I think, Mr. Foreman, we might, as Christian men, conscientiously return a negative finding, intimating at the same time that, owing to the prisoner's tender years, we are not unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt."
The captain dissented.
"What sort of mind do you call yours, sir? Were we to return such a verdict, we should make of ourselves the laughing-stock of England."
The foreman shook his head.
"I hardly think England will interest itself in our proceedings to that extent. Similar verdicts in similar cases are, I imagine, more common than you may suppose. I am not advocating such a course, but I believe it would be logically possible for us to inform the magistrates that, while some of us entertain strong opinions on the subject of the prisoner's guilt, being desirous to arrive at a state of agreement, and also bearing in mind the youth of the accused, we are willing to acquiesce in a verdict of acquittal."
"I agree to that," cried Mr. Longsett. "That's fair enough. Now, is it all settled?"
"I'm not."
The speaker was the captain. All eyes were turned on him.