'
'It is not for Mr. Larkin, or you, to say what shall be done with the
prisoner. You are to decide whether he is or is not guilty of
instigating the murder of his wife. You must retire again, until you
agree upon that.'
''Twouldn't be uv no use; Major. We reckon he's mean 'nuff ter hev done
it; but whether he done it, or no, we gwo fur givin' him a chance ter
live.
'Ye're white men, I swar!' cried Larkin, springing from his seat, and
grasping the hands of several of the jurors in turn.
'Take your seat, and observe order, Mr. Larkin,' said the judge, smiling
in spite of himself.
'All right,' said Larkin; 'ye're _some_ as a judge, Major--'bout up ter
me as a loryer, an' thet's saying a heap; so jest be easy on th' pore
devil. _Do_, yer _Honor!_'
'Silence, sir!' said Gaston, laughing.
Larkin took his seat, and the 'judge' continued:
'Prisoner, you have heard the verdict. Have you anything to say why
sentence for aiding in the assault on the white lady should not now be
passed upon you?'
'No, Major Gaston; I've nothin' ter say,' said Mulock, dejectedly.
Gaston continued: 'You have been tried by a jury of your own selection.
They are unanimous in pronouncing you guilty of a cowardly and
unwarrantable assault on a white woman. They evidently deem you guilty
of the worse crime of abetting the murder of your own wife, and humane
feelings only deter them from saying so. In these circumstances, I feel
it my duty to award you a more severe punishment than I should have done
had you been fully acquitted of the last charge.
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