Page:The Curious Republic of Gondour, and Other Whimsical Sketches.djvu/129

Rh 14. It is remarkable that exactly one week after this circumstance, the prisoner, Daniel McFarland, confronted Albert D. Richardson suddenly and without warning, and shot him dead. This is manifest insanity. Everything we know of the prisoner goes to show that if he had been sane at the time, he would have shot his victim from behind.

15. There is an absolutely overwhelming mass of testimony to show that an hour before the shooting, McFarland was, and that five minutes after it he was Thus the accumulating conjectures and evidences of insanity culminate in this sublime and unimpeachable proof of it. Therefore—

Your Honor and Gentlemen—We the jury pronounce the said Daniel McFarland ”

The scene that ensued almost defies description. Hats, handkerchiefs and bonnets were frantically waved above the massed heads in the