"Wilkie Collins - The Evil Genius" - читать интересную книгу автора (Collins Wilkie)

"Whatever you may think, gentlemen, of the prisoner's marriage, we have it in
evidence that his relatives turned their backs on him from that moment--with the
one merciful exception of the head of the family. Lord Le Basque exerted his
influence with the Admiralty, and obtained for his brother (then out of
employment) an appointment to a ship. All the witnesses agree that Mr.
Westerfield thoroughly understood his profession. If he could have controlled
himself, he might have risen to high rank in the Navy. His temper was his ruin.
He quarreled with one of his superior officers--"
"Under strong provocation," said a member of the jury.
"Under strong provocation," the foreman admitted. But provocation is not an
excuse, judged by the rules of discipline. The prisoner challenged the officer
on duty to fight a duel, at the first opportunity, on shore; and, receiving a
contemptuous refusal, struck him on the quarter-deck. As a matter of course, Mr.
Westerfield was tried by court-martial, and was dismissed the service. Lord Le
Basque's patience was not exhausted yet. The Merchant Service offered a last
chance to the prisoner of retrieving his position, to some extent at least. He
was fit for the sea, and fit for nothing else. At my lord's earnest request the
owners of the John Jerniman, trading between Liverpool and Rio, took Mr.
Westerfield on trial as first mate, and, to his credit be it said, he justified
his brother's faith in him. In a tempest off the coast of Africa the captain was
washed overboard and the first mate succeeded to the command. His seamanship and
courage saved the vessel, under circumstances of danger which paralyzed the
efforts of the other officers.. He was confirmed, rightly confirmed, in the
command of the ship. And, so far, we shall certainly not be wrong if we view his
character on the favorable side."
There the foreman paused, to collect his ideas.
Certain members of the assembly--led by the juryman who wanted his dinner, and
supported by his inattentive colleague, then engaged in drawing a ship in a
storm, and a captain falling overboard--proposed the acquittal of the prisoner
without further consideration. But the fretful invalid cried "Stuff!" and the
five jurymen who had no opinions of their own, struck by the admirable brevity
with which he expressed his sentiments, sang out in chorus, "Hear! hear! hear!"
The silent juryman, hitherto overlooked, now attracted attention. He was a
bald-headed person of uncertain age, buttoned up tight in a long frockcoat, and
wearing his gloves all through the proceedings. When the chorus of five cheered,
he smiled mysteriously. Everybody wondered what that smile meant. The silent
juryman kept his opinion to himself. From that moment he began to exercise a
furtive influence over the jury. Even the foreman looked at him, on resuming the
narrative.
"After a certain term of service, gentlemen, during which we learn nothing to
his disadvantage, the prisoner's merits appear to have received their reward. He
was presented with a share in the ship which he commanded, in addition to his
regular salary as master. With these improved prospects he sailed from Liverpool
on his last voyage to Brazil; and no one, his wife included, had the faintest
suspicion that he left England under circumstances of serious pecuniary
embarrassment. The testimony of his creditors, and of other persons with whom he
associated distinctly proves that his leisure hours on shore had been employed
in card-playing and in betting on horse races. After an unusually long run of
luck, his good fortune seems to have deserted him. He suffered considerable
losses, and was at last driven to borrowing at a high rate of interest, without