reported, the Brazilian authorities sent men to the wreck, on the
chance of saving the cargo; and, days afterward, there the ship
was found, just as the captain and the crew had left
her."--"Don't forget, sir, that the diamonds were missing when
the salvors examined the wreck."--"All right, but that's no proof
that the captain stole the diamonds; and, before they had saved
half the cargo, a storm did come on and break the vessel up; so
the poor man was only wrong in the matter of time, after
all."--"Allow me to remind you, gentlemen that the prisoner was
deeply in debt, and therefore had an interest in stealing the
diamonds."--"Wait a little, sir. Fair play's a jewel. Who was in
charge of the deck when the ship struck? The second mate. And
what did the second mate do, when he heard that his owners had
decided to prosecute? He committed suicide! Is there no proof of
guilt in that act?"--"You are going a little too fast, sir. The
coroner's jury declared that the second mate killed himself in a
state of temporary insanity."--"Gently! gently! we have nothing
to do with what the coroner's jury said. What did the judge say
when he summed up?"--"Bother the judge! He said what they all
say: 'Find the prisoner guilty, if you think he did it; and find
him not guilty, if you think he didn't.' And then he went away to
his comfortable cup of tea in his private room. And here are we
perishing of hunger, and our families dining without us."--"Speak
for yourself, sir, _I_ haven't got a family."--"Consider yourself
lucky, sir; _I_ have got twelve, and my life is a burden to me,
owing to the difficulty of making both ends meet."--"Gentlemen!
gentlemen! we are wandering again. Is the captain guilty or not?
Mr. Foreman, we none of us intended to offend you. Will you tell
us what _you_ think?"