Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 03.pdf/606

door of this monster in human form. But throughout the trial Dumollard preserved an almost exasperating sang-froid, and was apparently the most unconcerned person in the court-room. None of the terrible de tails of his crimes affected him in the slightest, and his chief anxiety seemed to be to be protected from a draught of air which annoyed him, and to satisfy his hun ger, which he did with the appetite of an ogre. The examination of the fifty-third witness produced a most painful scene. This was Josephte Bussod, sister of the murdered girl, who, with two other sisters, appeared in deep mourning, and testified the most profound grief. It was necessary that she should identify the clothes of the deceased; and as each familiar garment stained with her blood was in turn held up, the tears and sobs of the witnesses redoubled, and deeply affected the auditory. The prisoners alone preserved their calmness. "Do you recollect this dress? " asked the President of Dumollard. "Oh, perfectly." "And you, Marianne Dumollard?" "Of course; I have worn it." "Have you not also worn a cap with marks of blood?" "Certainly not. I should have ivashed it," said the woman. "You fully recognize the prisoner? " asked the President, of the weeping witness. "Recognize him! " shrieked the poor girl, wringing her hands with wild passion; "the miscreant, the monster! He killed my sis ter, my poor Eulalie! But it is I too, — / that am guilty. Oh, mon Dieu, mon Dieu! I believed him, I trusted him! I made her go with him, — to death, to death! and what a death!" She was carried out fainting. A gentle man sitting near stated that since the dis covery of her sister's fate she had never ceased to accuse herself in this manner as a sort of accomplice. It was four o'clock on the fourth day when the jury withdrew to their consultations. The prisoners were removed, and groups forming in every part of the court eagerly discussed the case. In the mean time the individual most nearly concerned was taking refreshment and chat ting easily with those around him; but he neither addressed nor even looked at his wife, who sat at a little distance, weeping bitterly. Two hours and a half had elapsed, when the door leading to the jury-chamber swung open, and the twelve re-entered. The verdict was rendered amidst a solemn silence. Both prisoners were found guilty, with extenuating circumstances in favor of the wife. For the first time during the proceedings, Dijmollard's coolness seemed to desert him. His countenance became perfectly livid; his eyes glared wildly round. At this moment, perhaps, the full horror of his position first revealed itself to his stubborn intelligence. There occurred, too, one of those dramatic pauses which give time for a scene of pecu liar interest and solemnity to impress itself ineffaceably on the memory. Throughout the dimly lighted court nothing was to be seen but bowed heads or stern, still faces, waiting for the word of doom; not without a sense of that humiliation which even in the very act of justice confesses with reluctance the possibility of guilt so monstrous in the human form. The President, after reading the articles applicable to the case, pronounced the fatal judgment, — Martin Dumollard to the pain of death, the execution to take place at Montluel; Marianne Dumollard to twenty years' imprisonment and hard labor. That night the condemned murderer slept tranquilly, though for the preceding four his rest had been broken by convulsive tossings to and fro. "Well, Dumollard, how goes it?" said his advocate, entering his cell next morning. "As one who expects to die," was the answer.73