diff options
Diffstat (limited to '23005.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 23005.txt | 1472 |
1 files changed, 1472 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/23005.txt b/23005.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6ff3975 --- /dev/null +++ b/23005.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1472 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eli, by Heman White Chaplin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Eli + First published in the "Century Magazine" + +Author: Heman White Chaplin + +Release Date: October 12, 2007 [EBook #23005] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELI *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +ELI + +By Heman White Chaplin + +1887 + +First published in the "Century Magazine." + + + + + +I. + +Under a boat, high and dry at low tide, on the beach, John Wood was +seated in the sand, sheltered from the sun in the boat's shadow, +absorbed in the laying on of verdigris. The dull, worn color was rapidly +giving place to a brilliant, shining green. Occasionally a scraper, +which lay by, was taken up to remove the last trace of a barnacle. + +It was Wood's boat, but he was not a boatman; he painted cleverly, but +he was not a painter. He kept the brown store under the elms of the main +street, now hot and still, where at this-moment his blushing sister was +captivating the heart of an awkward farmer's boy as she sold him a pair +of striped suspenders. + +As the church clock struck the last of twelve decided blows, three +children came rushing out of the house on the bank above the beach. It +was one of those deceptive New England cottages, weather-worn without, +but bright and bountifully home-like within,--with its trim parlor, +proud of a cabinet organ; with its front hall, now cooled by the light +sea-breeze drifting through the blind-door, where a tall clock issued +its monotonous call to a siesta on the rattan lounge; with its spare +room, open now, opposite the parlor, and now, too, drawing in the salt +air through close-shut blinds, in anticipation of the joyful arrival +this evening of Sister Sarah, with her little brood, from the city. + +The children scampered across the road, and then the eldest hushed the +others and sent a little brother ahead to steal, barefoot, along the +shining sea-weed to his father. + +The plotted surprise appeared to succeed completely. The painter was +seized by the ears from behind, and captured. + +"Guess who 's here, or you can't get up," said the infant captor. + +"It 's Napoleon Bonaparte; don't joggle," said his father, running a +brush steadily along the water-line. + +"No! no! no!" with shouts of laughter from the whole attacking party. + +"Then it's Captain Ezekiel." + +This excited great merriment: Captain Ezekiel was an aged, purblind man, +who leaned on a cane. + +After attempts to identify the invader--with the tax-collector come for +taxes, then with the elderly minister making a pastoral call, with the +formal schoolmaster, and with Samuel J. Tilden--the victim reached over +his shoulder, and, seizing the assailant by a handful of calico jacket, +brought him around, squirming, before him. + +"Now," he said, "I 'll give you a coat of verdigris. (Great applause +from the reserve force behind.) + +"I suppose Mother sent you to say dinner's ready," said the father, +rising and surveying the green bottom of the boat. "I must eat quick, so +as to do the other side before half-flood." + +And with a child on each shoulder, and the third pushing him from +behind with her head, he marched toward the vine-covered kitchen, where, +between two opposite netted doors, the table was trimly set. + +"Father, you look like a mermaid, with your green hands," said his wife, +laughing, as she handed him the spirits of turpentine. "A woman could +paint that boat, in a light dress, and not get a spot on her." + +He smiled good-naturedly: he never spoke much. + +"I guess Louise won't have much trade today," said his wife, as they all +sat down; "it's so hot in the sun that everybody 'll wait till night. +But she has her tatting-work to do, and she 's got a book, too, that she +wanted to finish." + +Her husband nodded, and ate away. + +"Oh, can't we go up street and see her, this afternoon?" said one of the +children. + +"Who can that be?" said the mother, as an elderly, half-official-looking +man stopped his horse at the front gate and alighted. The man left the +horse unchecked to browse by the roadside, and came to the door. + +"Oh, it 's you, Captain Nourse," said Wood, rising to open the netting +door, and holding out his hand. "Come to summons me as a witness in +something about the bank case, I suppose. Let me introduce Captain +Nourse, Mary," he said, "deputy sheriff. Sit down, Captain, and have +some dinner with us." + +"No, I guess I won't set," said the captain. "I cal'lated not to eat +till I got home, in the middle o' the afternoon. No, I 'll set down in +eye-shot of the mare, and read the paper while you eat." + +"I hope they don't want me to testify anywhere to-day," said Wood; +"because my boat's half verdigris'd, and I want to finish her this +afternoon." + +"No testimony to-day," said the captain. "Hi! hi! Kitty!" he called to +the mare, as she began to meander across the road; and he went out to +a tree by the front fence, and sat down on a green bench, beside a +work-basket and a half-finished child's dress, and read the country +paper which he had taken from the office as he came along. + +After dinner Wood went out bareheaded, and leaned on the fence by the +captain. His wife stood just inside the door, looking out at them. + +The "bank case" was the great sensation of the town, and Wood was one +of the main witnesses, for he had been taking the place of the absent +cashier when the safe was broken open and rifled to the widespread +distress of depositors and stockholders, and the ruin of Hon. Edward +Clark, the president. Wood had locked the safe on the afternoon before +the eventful night, and had carried home the key with him, and he was to +testify to the contents of the safe as he had left it. + +"I guess they 're glad they 've got such a witness as John," said his +wife to herself, as she looked at him fondly, "and I guess they think +there won't be much doubt about what he says." + +"Well, Captain," said Wood, jocosely, breaking a spear of grass to bits +in his fingers, "I did n't know but you 'd come to arrest me." + +The captain calmly smiled as only a man can smile who has been accosted +with the same humorous remark a dozen times a day for twenty years. +He folded his paper carefully, put it in his pocket, took off +his spectacles and put them in their silver case, took a red silk +handkerchief from his hat, wiped his face, and put the handkerchief +back. Then he said shortly,-- + +"That's what I _have_ come for." + +Wood, still leaning on the fence, looked at him, and said nothing. + +"That's just what I 've come for," said Captain Nourse. "I 've got to +arrest you; here's the warrant." And he handed it to him. + +"What does this mean?" said Wood. "I can't make head or tail of this." + +"Well," said the captain, "the long and short is, these high-toned +detectives that they 've hed down from town, seein' as our own force +was n't good enough, allow that the safe was unlocked with a key, in due +form, and then the lock was broke afterward, to look as if it had been +forced open. They 've hed the foreman of the safe-men down, too, and he +says the same thing. Naturally, the argument is, there was only two keys +in existence,--one was safe with the president of the bank, and is about +all he 's got to show out of forty years' savings; the only other one +you hed: consequently, it heaves it onto you." + +"I see," said Wood. "I will go with you. Do you want to come into the +house with me while I get my coat?" + +"Well, I suppose I must keep you in sight,--now you know." + +And they went into the house. + +"Mary," said her husband, "the folks that lost by Clark when the bank +broke have been at him until he 's felt obliged to pitch on somebody, +and he's pitched on me; and Captain Nourse has come to arrest me. I +shall get bail before long." + +She said nothing, and did not shed a tear till he was gone. + +But then-- + + + + +II. + +Wide wastes of salt-marsh to the right, imprisoning the upland with a +vain promise of infinite liberty, and, between low, distant sandhills, +a rim of sea. Stretches of pine woods behind, shutting in from the great +outer world, and soon to darken into evening gloom. Ploughed fields and +elm-dotted pastures to the left, and birch-lined roads leading by white +farm-houses to the village, all speaking of cheer and freedom to the +prosperous and the happy, but to the unfortunate and the indebted, of +meshes invisible but strong as steel. But, before, no lonesome marshes, +no desolate forest, no farm or village street, but the free blue ocean, +rolling and tumbling still from the force of an expended gale. + +In the open doorway of a little cottage, warmed by the soft slanting +rays of the September sun, a rough man, burnt and freckled, was sitting, +at his feet a net, engaged upon some handiwork which two little girls +were watching. Close by him lay a setter, his nose between his paws. +Occasionally the man raised his eyes to scan the sea. + +"There's Joel," he said, "comin' in around the Bar. Not much air +stirrin' now!" + +Then he turned to his work again. + +"First, you go _so_ fash'," he said to the children, as he drew a +thread; "then you go _so_ fash'." + +And as he worked he made a great show of labor, much to their diversion. + +But the sight of Joel's broad white sail had not brought pleasant +thoughts to his mind; for Joel had hailed him, off the Shoal, the +afternoon before, and had obligingly offered to buy his fish right +there, and so let him go directly home, omitting to mention that sudden +jump of price due to an empty market. + +"Wonder what poor man he 's took a dollar out of to-day! Well, I s'pose +it's all right: those that 's got money, want money." + +"What be you, Eli--ganging on hooks?" said Aunt Patience, as she tiptoed +into the kitchen behind him, from his wife's sick-room, and softly +closed the door after her. + +"No," said the elder of the children; "he 's mending our stockings, and +showing me how." + +"Well, you do have a hard time, don't you?" said Aunt Patience, looking +down over his shoulder; "to slave and tug and scrape to get a house over +your head, and then to have to turn square 'round, and stay to home with +a sick woman, and eat all into it with mortgages!" + +"Oh, well," he said, "we 'll fetch, somehow." + +Aunt Patience went to the glass, and holding a black pin in her mouth, +carefully tied the strings of her sun-bonnet. + +"Anyway," she says, "you take it good-natured. Though if there is one +thing that's harder than another, it is to be good-natured all the +time, without being aggravating. I have known men that was so awfully +good-natured that they was harder to live with than if they was cross!" + +And without specifying further, she opened her plaid parasol and stepped +out at the porch. + +Though, on this quiet afternoon of Saturday, the peace of the +approaching Sabbath seemed already brooding over the little dwelling, +peace had not lent her hand to the building of the home. Every foot of +land, every shingle, every nail, had been wrung from the reluctant sea. +Every voyage had contributed something. It was a great day when Eli was +able to buy the land. Then, between two voyages, he dug a cellar and +laid a foundation; then he saved enough to build the main part of the +cottage and to finish the front room, lending his own hand to the work. +Then he used to get letters at every port, telling of progress,--how +Lizzie, his wife, had adorned the front room with a bright ninepenny +paper, of which a little piece was enclosed,--which he kept as a sort +of charm about him and exhibited to his friends; how she and her little +brother had lathed the entry and the kitchen, and how they had set out +blackberry vines from the woods. Then another letter told of a surprise +awaiting him on his return; and, in due time, coming home as third mate +from Hong-Kong to a seaman's tumultuous welcome, he had found that a +great, good-natured mason, with whose sick child his wife had watched +night after night, had appeared one day with lime and hair and sand, +and in white raiment, and had plastered the entry and the kitchen, and +finished a room upstairs. + +And so, for years, at home and on the sea, at New York and at Valparaiso +and in the Straits of Malacca, the little house and the little family +within it had grown into the fibre of Eli's heart. Nothing had given him +more delight than to meet, in the strange streets of Calcutta or before +the Mosque of Omar, some practical Yankee from Stonington or Machias, +and, whittling to discuss with him, among the turbans of the Orient, +the comparative value of shaved and of sawed shingles, or the economy +of "Swedes-iron" nails, and to go over with him the estimates and plans +which he had worked out in his head under all the constellations of the +skies. + +The supper things were cleared away. The children had said good-night +and gone to bed, and Eli had been sitting for an hour by his wife's +bedside. He had had to tax his patience and ingenuity heavily during the +long months that she had lain there to entertain her for a little while +in the evening, after his hard, wet day's work. He had been talking now +of the coming week, when he was to serve upon the jury in the adjoining +county-town. + +"I cal'late I can come home about every night," he said, "and it 'll be +quite a change, at any rate." + +"But you don't seem so cheerful about it as I counted you would be," +said his wife. "Are you afraid you'll have to be on the bank case?" + +"Not much!" he answered. "No trouble 'n that case! Jury won't leave +their seats. These city fellers 'll find they 've bit off more 'n they +can chew when they try to figure out John Wood done that. I only hope +I 'll have the luck to be on that case--all hands on the jury whisper +together a minute, and then clear him, right on the spot, and then shake +hands with him all 'round!" + +"But something is worrying you," she said. "What is it? You have looked +it since noon." + +"Oh, nothin'," he replied--"only George Cahoon came up to-noon to say +that he was goin' West next week, and that he would have to have that +money he let me have awhile ago. And where to get it--I don't know." + + + + +III. + +The court-room was packed. John Wood's trial was drawing to its close. +Eli was on the jury. Some one had advised the prosecuting attorney, in a +whisper, to challenge him, but he had shaken his head and said,-- + +"Oh, I could n't afford to challenge him for that; it would only leak +out, and set the jury against me. I 'll risk his standing out against +this evidence." + +The trial had been short. It had been shown how the little building +of the bank had been entered. Skilled locksmiths from the city had +testified that the safe was opened with a key, and that the lock was +broken afterward, from the inside, plainly to raise the theory of a +forcible entry by strangers. + +It had been proved that the only key in existence, not counting that +kept by the president, was in the possession of Wood, who was filling, +for a few days, the place of the cashier--the president's brother--in +his absence. It had been shown that Wood was met, at one o'clock of +the night in question, crossing the fields toward his home, from +the direction of the bank, with a large wicker basket slung over his +shoulders, returning, as he had said, from eel-spearing in Harlow's +Creek; and there was other circumstantial evidence. + +Mr. Clark, the president of the bank, had won the sympathy of every one +by the modest way in which, with his eye-glasses in his hand, he had +testified to the particulars of the loss which had left him penniless, +and had ruined others whose little all was in his hands. And then in +reply to the formal question, he had testified, amid roars of laughter +from the court-room, that it was not he who robbed the safe. At this, +even the judge and Wood's lawyer had not restrained a smile. + +This had left the guilt with Wood. His lawyer, an inexperienced young +attorney,--who had done more or less business for the bank and would +hardly have ventured to defend this case but that the president had +kindly expressed his entire willingness that he should do so,--had, of +course, not thought it worth while to cross-examine Mr. Clark, and had +directed his whole argument against the theory that the safe had been +opened with a key, and not by strangers. But he had felt all through +that, as a man politely remarked to him when he finished, he was only +butting his "head ag'in a stone wall." + +And while he was arguing, a jolly-looking old lawyer had written, in +the fly-leaf of a law-book on his knee, and had passed with a wink to a +young man near him who had that very morning been admitted to the bar, +these lines:-- + + "When callow Blackstones soar too high, + Quit common-sense, and reckless fly, + Soon, Icarus-like, they headlong fall, + And down come client, case, and all." + +The district-attorney had not thought it worth while to expend much +strength upon his closing argument; but being a jovial stump-speaker, of +a wide reputation within narrow limits, he had not been able to refrain +from making merry over Wood's statement that the basket which he had +been seen bearing home, on the eventful night, was a basket of eels. + +"Fine eels those, gentlemen! We have seen gold-fish and silver-fish, but +golden eels are first discovered by this defendant The apostle, in Holy +Writ, caught a fish with a coin in its mouth; but this man leaves the +apostle in the dim distance when he finds eels that are all money. No +storied fisherman of Bagdad, catching enchanted princes disguised as +fishes in the sea, ever hooked such a treasure as this defendant hooked +when he hooked that basket of eels! [Rustling appreciation of the jest +among the jury.] If a squirming, twisting, winding, wriggling eel, +gentlemen, can be said at any given moment to have a back, we may +distinguish this new-found species as the greenback eel. It is a common +saying that no man can hold an eel and remain a Christian. I should like +to have viewed the pious equanimity of this good man when he laid his +hands on that whole bed of eels. In happy, barefoot boyhood, gentlemen, +we used to find mud-turtles marked with initials or devices cut in their +shells; but what must have been our friend's surprise to find, in the +muddy bed of Harlow's Creek, eels marked with a steel-engraving of the +landing of Columbus and the signature of the Register of the Treasury! I +hear that a corporation is now being formed by the title of The Harlow's +Creek Greenback National Bank-bill Eel-fishing Company, to follow up, +with seines and spears, our worthy friend's discovery! I learn that the +news of this rich placer has spread to the golden mountains of the West, +and that the exhausted intellects which have been reduced to such names +for their mines as 'The Tombstone,' 'The Red Dog,' the 'Mrs. E. J. +Parkhurst,' are likely now to flood us with prospectuses of the 'Eel +Mine,' 'The Flat Eel,' 'The Double Eel,' and then, when they get ready +to burst upon confiding friends, 'The Consolidated Eels.'" + +It takes but little to make a school or a court-room laugh, and the +speech had appeared to give a good deal of amusement to the listeners. + +To all? + +Did it amuse that man who sat, with folded arms, harsh and rigid, at +the dock? Did it divert that white-faced woman, cowering in a corner, +listening as in a dream? + +The judge now charged the jury briefly. It was unnecessary for him, +he said, to recapitulate evidence of so simple a character. The chief +question for the jury was as to the credibility of the witnesses. If the +witnesses for the prosecution were truthful and were not mistaken, the +inference of guilt seemed inevitable; this the defendant's counsel had +conceded. The defendant had proved a good reputation; upon that point +there was only this to be said: that, while such evidence was entitled +to weight, yet, on the other hand, crimes involving a breach of trust +could, from their very nature, be committed only by persons whose good +reputations secured them positions of trust. + +The jury-room had evidently not been furnished by a ring. It had a long +table for debate, twelve hard chairs for repose, twelve spittoons for +luxury, and a clock. + +The jury sat in silence for a few moments, as old Captain Nourse, who +had them in his keeping, and eyed them as if he was afraid that he might +lose one of them in a crack and be held accountable on his bond, rattled +away at the unruly lock. Looking at them then, you would have seen faces +all of a New England cast but one. There was a tall, powerful negro +called George Washington, a man well known in this county town, to which +he had come, as driftwood from the storm of war, in '65. Some of the +"boys" had heard him, in a great prayer-meeting in Washington--a city +which he always spoke of as his "namesake"--at the time of the great +review, say, in his strong voice, with that pathetic quaver in it: "Like +as de parched an' weary traveller hangs his harp upon de winder, an' +sighs for oysters in de desert, so I longs to res' my soul an' my +foot in Mass'-chusetts;" and they were so delighted with him that they +invited him on the spot to go home with them, and took up a collection +to pay his fare; and so he was a public character. As for his +occupation,--when the census-taker, with a wink to the boys in the +store, had asked him what it was, he had said, in that same odd tone: +"Putties up glass a little--whitewashes a little--" and, when the man +had made a show of writing all that down, "preaches a little." He might +have said, "preaches a big," for you could hear him half a mile away. + +The foreman was a retired sea-captain. "Good cap'n--Cap'n Thomas," one +of his neighbors had said of him. "Allers gits good ships--never hez to +go huntin' 'round for a vessel. But it is astonishin' what differences +they is! Now there 's Cap'n A. K. P. Bassett, down to the West Harbor. +You let it git 'round that Cap'n A. K. P. is goin' off on a Chiny +voyage, and you 'll see half a dozen old shays to once-t, hitched all +along his fence of an arternoon, and wimmen inside the house, to git +Cap'n A. K. P. to take their boys. But you let Cap'n Thomas give out +that he wants boys, and he hez to glean 'em--from the poor-house, and +from step-mothers, and where he can: the women knows! Still," he added, +"Cap'n Thomas 's a good cap'n. I've nothin' to say ag'in him. He's +smart!" + +"Gentlemen," said the foreman, when the officer, at last, had securely +locked them in, "shall we go through the formality of a ballot? If the +case were a less serious one, we might have rendered a verdict in our +seats." + +"What's the use foolin' 'round ballotin'?" said a thick-set butcher. +"Ain't we all o' one mind?" + +"It is for you to say, gentlemen," said the foreman. "I should n't want +to have it go abroad that we had not acted formally, if there was any +one disposed to cavil." + +"Mr. Speaker," said George Washington, rising and standing in the +attitude of Webster, "I rises to appoint to order. We took ballast in de +prior cases, and why make flesh of one man an' a fowl of another?" + +"Very well," said the foreman, a trifle sharply; "'the longest way round +is the shortest way home.'" + +Twelve slips of paper were handed out, to be indorsed guilty, +"for form." They were collected in a hat and the foreman told them +over--"just for form." "'Guilty,' 'guilty,' 'guilty,' 'guilty,'--wait a +minute," he said, "here is a mistake. Here is one 'not guilty'--whose is +this?" + +There was a pause. + +"Whose is it?" said the foreman, sharply. + +Eli turned a little red. + +"It's mine," he said. + +"Do you mean it?" said the foreman. + +"Of course I mean it," he answered. + +"Whew!" whistled the foreman. "Very well, sir; we'll have an +understanding, then. This case is proved to the satisfaction of every +man who heard it, I may safely say, but one. Will that one please state +the grounds of his opinion?" + +"I ain't no talker," said Eli, "but I ain't satisfied he 's +guilty--that's all." + +"Don't you believe the witnesses?" + +"Mostly." + +"Which one don't you believe?" + +"I can't say. I don't believe he's guilty." + +"Is there one that you think lied?" + +No answer. + +"Now it seems to me--" said a third juryman. + +"One thing at a time, gentlemen," said the foreman. "Let us wait for +an answer from Mr. Smith. Is there any one that you think lied? We will +wait, gentlemen, for an answer." + +There was a long pause. The trial seemed to Eli Smith to have shifted +from the court to this shabby room, and he was now the culprit. + +All waited for him; all eyes were fixed upon him. + +The clock ticked loud! Eli counted the seconds. He knew the +determination of the foreman. + +The silence became intense. + +"I want to say my say," said a short man in a pea-jacket,--a retired +San Francisco pilot, named Eldridge. "I entertain no doubt the man is +guilty. At the same time, I allow for differences of opinion. I +don't know this man that's voted 'not guilty,' but he seems to be a +well-meaning man. I don't know his reasons; probably he don't understand +the case. I should like to have the foreman tell the evidence over, so +as if he don't see it clear, he can ask questions, and we can explain." + +"I second de motion," said George Washington. + +There was a general rustle of approval. + +"I move it," said the pilot, encouraged. + +"Very well, Mr. Eldridge," said the foreman. "If there is no objection, +I will state the evidence, and if there is any loop-hole, I will trouble +Mr. Smith to suggest it as I go along;" and he proceeded to give a +summary of the testimony, with homely force. + +"Now, sir?" he said, when he had finished. + +"I move for another ballot," said Mr. Eldridge. + +The result was the same. Eli had voted "not guilty." + +"Mr. Smith," said the foreman, "this must be settled in some way. This +is no child's play. You can't keep eleven men here, trifling with them, +giving no pretence of a reason." + +"I have n't no reasons, only that I don't believe he 's guilty," said +Eli. "I 'm not goin' to vote a man into State's-prison, when I don't +believe he done it," and he rose and walked to the window and looked +out. It was low tide. There was a broad stretch of mud in the distance, +covered with boats lying over disconsolate. A driving storm had emptied +the streets. He beat upon the rain-dashed glass a moment with his +fingers, and then he sat down again. + +"Well, sir," said the foreman, "this is singular conduct. What do you +propose to do?" + +Silence. + +"I suppose you realize that the rest of us are pretty rapidly forming a +conclusion on this matter," said the foreman. + +"Come! come!" said Mr. Eldridge; "don't be quite so hard on him, +Captain. Now, Mr. Smith," he said, standing up with his hands in his +coat-pockets and looking at Eli, "we know that there often is crooked +sticks on juries, that hold out alone--that's to be expected; but they +always argue, and stand to it the rest are fools, and all that. Now, +all is, we don't see why you don't sort of argue, if you 've got reasons +satisfactory to you. Come, now," he added, walking up to Eli, and +resting one foot on the seat of his chair, "why don't you tell it over? +and if we 're wrong, I 'm ready to join you." + +Eli looked up at him. + +"Did n't you ever know," he said, "of a man's takin' a cat off, to lose, +that his little girl did n't want drownded, and leavin' him ashore, +twenty or thirty miles, bee-line, from home, and that cat's bein' back +again the next day, purrin' 'round 's if nothin' had happened?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Eldridge--"knew of just such a case." + +"Very well," said Eli; "how does he find his way home?" + +"Don't know," said Mr. Eldridge; "always has been a standing mystery to +me." + +"Well," said Eli, "mark my words. There's such a thing as arguin', and +there 's such a thing as knowin' outright; and when you 'll tell me +how that cat inquires his way home, I '11 tell you how I know John Wood +ain't guilty." + +This made a certain sensation, and Eli's stock went up. + +An old, withered man rapped on the table. + +"That's so!" he said; "and there's other sing'lar things! How is it that +a seafarin' man, that 's dyin' to home, will allers die on the ebbtide? +It never fails, but how does it happen? Tell me that! And there's more +ways than one of knowin' things, too!" + +"I know that man ain't guilty," said Eli. + +"Hark ye!" said a dark old man with a troubled face, rising and pointing +his finger toward Eli. "_Know_, you say? I _knew_, wunst. I _knew_ that +my girl, my only child, was good. One night she went off with a married +man that worked in my store, and stole my money--and where is she now?" +And then he added, "What I _know_ is, that every man hes his price. I +hev mine, and you hev yourn!" + +"'Xcuse me, Mr. Speaker," said George Washington, rising with his hand +in his bosom; "as de question is befo' us, I wish to say that de las' +bro' mus' have spoken under 'xcitement. Every man _don_' have his price! +An' I hope de bro' will recant--like as de Psalmist goes out o' his way +to say '_In my haste_ I said, All men are liars.' He was a very +busy man, de Psalmist--writin' down hymns all day, sharpen'n' his +lead-pencil, bossin' 'roun' de choir--callin' Selah! Well, bro'n an' +sisters "--both arms going out, and his voice going up--" one day, +seems like, he was in gre't haste--got to finish a psalm for a monthly +concert, or such--and some man in-corrupted him, and lied; and bein' in +gre't haste--and a little old Adam in him--he says, right off, quick: +'_All_ men are liars!' But see! When he gits a little time to set back +and meditate, he says: 'Dis won' do--dere's Moses an' Job, an' Paul--dey +ain't liars!' An' den he don' sneak out, and 'low he said, 'All men is +lions,' or such. No! de Psalmist ain't no such man; but he owns up, 'an +'xplains. '_In my haste_,' he says, 'I said it.'" + +The foreman rose and rapped. + +"I await a motion," said he, "if our friend will allow me the privilege +of speaking." + +Mr. Washington calmly bowed. + +Then the foreman, when nobody seemed disposed to move, speaking slowly +at first, and piecemeal, alternating language with smoke, gradually +edged into the current of the evidence, and ended by going all over it +again, with fresh force and point. His cigar glowed and chilled in the +darkening room as he talked. + +"Now," he said, when he had drawn all the threads together to the point +of guilt, "what are we going to do upon this evidence?" + +"I 'll tell you something," said Eli. "I did n't want to say it because +I know what you 'll all think, but I 'll tell you, all the same." + +"Ah!" said the foreman. + +Eli stood up and faced the others. + +"'Most all o' you know what our Bar is in a southeast gale. They ain't a +man here that would dare to try and cross it when the sea's breakin' on +it. The man that says he would, lies!" And he looked at the foreman, and +waited a moment. + +"When my wife took sick, and I stopped goin' to sea, two year ago, and +took up boat-fishin', I did n't know half as much about the coast as the +young boys do, and one afternoon it was blowin' a gale, and we was all +hands comin' in, and passin' along the Bar to go sheer 'round it to the +west'ard, and Captain Fred Cook--he's short-sighted--got on to the Bar +before he knew it, and then he hed to go ahead, whether or no; and I was +right after him, and I s'posed he knew, and I followed him. Well, he was +floated over, as luck was, all right; but when I 'd just got on the Bar, +a roller dropped back and let my bowsprit down into the sand, and then +come up quicker'n lightnin' and shouldered the boat over, t' other end +first, and slung me into the water; and when I come up, I see somethin' +black, and there was John Wood's boat runnin' by me before the wind with +a rush--and 'fore I knew an'thing, he had me by the hair by one hand, +and in his boat, and we was over the Bar. Now, I tell you, a man that +looks the way I saw him look when I come over the gunwale, face up, +don't go 'round breakin' in and hookin' things. He hed n't one chance +in five, and he was a married man, too, with small children. And what's +more," he added incautiously, "he did n't stop there. When he found out, +this last spring, that I was goin' to lose my place, he lent me money +enough to pay the interest that was overdue on the mortgage, of his own +accord." + +And he stopped suddenly. + +"You have certainly explained yourself," said the foreman. "I think we +understand you distinctly." + +"There is n't one word of truth in that idea," said Eli, flushing up, +"and you know it. I 've paid him back every cent. I know him better 'n +any of you, that's all, and when I know he ain't guilty, I won't say he +is; and I can set here as long as any other man." + +"Lively times some folks 'll hev, when they go home," said a spare +tin-pedler, stroking his long yellow goatee. "Go into the store: nobody +speak to you; go to cattle-show: everybody follow you 'round; go to the +wharf: nobody weigh your fish; go to buy seed-cakes to the cart: baker +won't give no tick." + +"How much does it cost, Mr. Foreman," said the butcher, "for a man 't +'s obliged to leave town, to move a family out West? I only ask for +information. I have known a case where a man had to leave--could n't +live there no longer--wa' n't wanted." + +There was a knock. An officer, sent by the judge, inquired whether the +jury were likely soon to agree. + +"It rests with you, sir," said the foreman, looking at Eli. + +But Eli sat doggedly with his hands in his pockets, and did not look up +or speak. + +"Say to the judge that I cannot tell," said the foreman. + +It was eight o'clock when the officer returned, with orders to take the +jury across the street to the hotel, to supper. They went out in pairs, +except that the juryman who was left to fall in with Eli made three +with the file ahead, and left Eli to walk alone. This was noticed by the +bystanders. At the hotel, Eli could not eat a mouthful. He was seated +at one end of the table, and was left entirely out of the conversation. +When the jury were escorted back to the courthouse, rumors had evidently +begun to arise from his having walked alone, for there was quite a +little crowd at the hotel door, to see them. They went as before: four +pairs, a file of three, and Eli alone. Then the spectators understood +it. + +When the jury were locked into their room again for the night, Mr. +Eldridge sat down by Eli and lit his pipe. + +"I understand," he said, "just how you feel. Now, between you and me, +there was a good-hearted fellow that kept me out of a bad mess once. I +'ve never told anybody just what it was, and I don't mean to tell you +now, but it brought my blood up standing, to find how near I 'd come to +putting a fine steamer and two hundred and forty passengers under water. +Well, one day, a year or so after that, this man had a chance to get a +good ship, only there was some talk against him, that he drank a little. +Well, the owners told him they wanted to see me, and he come to me, and +says he, 'Mr. Eldridge, I hope you 'll speak a good word for me; if +you do, I 'll get the ship, but if they refuse me this one, I 'm dished +everywhere.' Well, the owners put me the square question, and I had to +tell 'em. Well, I met him that afternoon on Sacramento Street, as white +as a sheet, and he would n't speak to me, but passed right by, and that +night he went and shipped before the mast. That's the last I ever heard +of him; but I had to do it. Now," he added, "this man 's been good to +you; but the case is proved, and you ought to vote with the rest of us." + +"It ain't proved," said Eli. "The judge said that if any man had a +reasonable doubt, he ought to hold out. Now, I ain't convinced." + +"Well, that 's easy said," replied Mr. Eldridge, a little hotly, and he +arose, and left him. + +The jurymen broke up into little knots, tilted their chairs back, and +settled into the easiest positions that their cramped quarters allowed. +Most of them lit their pipes; the captain, and one or two whom he +honored, smoked fragrant cigars, and the room was soon filled with a +dense cloud. + +Eli sat alone by the window. + +"Sometimes sell two at one house," said a lank book-agent, arousing +himself from a reverie; "once sold three." + +"I think the Early Rose is about as profitable as any," said a little +farmer, with a large circular beard. "I used to favor Jacobs's Seedling, +but they have n't done so well with me of late years." + +"Sometimes," said the book-agent, picking his teeth with a quill, "you +'ll go to a house, and they 'll say they can't be induced to buy a book +of any kind, historical, fictitious, or religious; but you just keep on +talking, and show the pictures--'Grant in Boyhood,' 'Grant a Tanner,' +Grant at Head-quarters,' 'Grant in the White House,' 'Grant before Queen +Victoria,' and they warm up, I tell you, and not infrequently buy." + +"Do you sell de 'Illustrated Bible'," asked Washington, "wid de +Hypocrypha?" + +"No; I have a more popular treatise--the 'Illustrated History of the +Bible.' Greater variety. Brings in the surrounding nations, in costume. +Cloth, three dollars; sheep, three-fifty; half calf, five-seventy-five; +full morocco, gilt edges, seven-fifty. Six hundred and seven +illustrations on wood and steel. Three different engravings of Abraham +alone. Four of Noah,--'Noah before the Flood,' 'Noah Building the +Ark,' 'Noah Welcoming the Dove,' 'Noah on Ararat,' Steel engraving of +Ezekiel's Wheel, explaining prophecy. Jonah under the gourd, Nineveh in +the distance." + +Mr. Eldridge and Captain Thomas had drifted into a discussion of +harbors, and the captain had drawn his chair up to the table, and, with +a cigar in his mouth, was explaining an ingeniously constructed foreign +harbor. He was making a rough sketch, with a pen. + +"Here is north," he said; "here is the coastline; here are the flats; +here are the sluicegates; they store the water here, in--" + +Some of the younger men had their heads together, in a corner, about +the tin-pedler, who was telling stories of people he had met in his +journeys, which brought out repeated bursts of laughter. + +In the corner farthest from Eli, a delicate-looking man began to tell +the butcher about Eli's wife. + +"Twelve years ago this fall," he said, "I taught district-school in the +parish where she lived. She was about fourteen then. Her father was +a poor farmer, without any faculty. Her mother was dead, and she kept +house. I stayed there one week, boarding 'round." + +"Prob'ly did n't git not much of any fresh meat that week," suggested +the butcher. + +"She never said much, but it used to divert me to see her order around +her big brothers, just as if she was their mother. She and I got to be +great friends; but she was a queer piece. One day at school the girls in +her row were communicating, and annoying me, while the third class +was reciting in 'First Steps in Numbers,' and I was so incensed that +I called Lizzie--that's her name--right out, and had her stand up for +twenty minutes. She was a shy little thing, and set great store by +perfect marks. I saw that she was troubled a good deal, to have all of +them looking and laughing at her. But she stood there, with her hands +folded behind her, and not a smile or a word." + +"Look out for a sullen cow," said the butcher. + +"I felt afraid I had been too hasty with her, and I was rather sorry I +had been so decided--although, to be sure, she did n't pretend to deny +that she had been communicating." + +"Of course," said the butcher: "no use lyin' when you 're caught in the +act." + +"Well, after school, she stayed at her desk, fixing her dinner-pail, and +putting her books in a strap, and all that, till all the rest had gone, +and then she came up to my desk, where I was correcting compositions." + +"Now for music!" said the butcher. + +"She had been crying a little. Well, she looked straight in my face, and +said she, 'Mr. Pollard, I just wanted to say to you that I was n't doing +anything at all when you called me up;' and off she went. Now, that was +just like her,--too proud to say a word before the school." + +But here his listener's attention was diverted by the voice of the +book-agent. + +"The very best Bible for teachers, of course, is the limp-cover, +protected edges, full Levant morocco, Oxford, silk-sewed, kid-lined, +Bishop's Divinity Circuit, with concordance, maps of the Holy Land, +weights, measures, and money-tables of the Jews. Nothing like having a +really--" + +"And so," said the captain, moving back his chair, "they let on the +whole head of water, and scour out the channel to a T." + +And then he rapped upon the table. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "please draw your chairs up, and let us take +another ballot." + +The count resulted as before. + +The foreman muttered something which had a scriptural sound. In a few +moments he drew Mr. Eldridge and two others aside. "Gentlemen," he +said to them, "I shall quietly divide the jury into watches, under your +charge: ten can sleep, while one wakes to keep Mr. Smith discussing the +question. I don't propose to have the night wasted." + +And, by one man or another, Eli was kept awake. + +"I don't see," said the book-agent, "why you should feel obliged to +stick it out any longer. Of course, you are under obligations. But you +'ve done more than enough already, so as that he can't complain of you, +and if you give in now, everybody 'll give you credit for trying to save +your friend, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, for giving in to +the evidence. So you 'll get credit both ways." + +An hour later, the tin-pedler came on duty. He had not followed closely +the story about John Wood's loan, and had got it a little awry. + +"Now, how foolish you be," he said, in a confidential tone. "Can't +you see that if you cave in now, after stan'n' out nine hours"--and +he looked at a silver watch with a brass chain, and stroked his +goatee--"nine hours and twenty-seven minutes--that you 've made jest +rumpus enough so as't he won't dare to foreclose on you, for fear they +'ll say you went back on a trade. On t' other hand, if you hold clear +out, he'll turn you out-o'-doors to-morrow, for a blind, so 's to look +as if there wa' n't no trade between you. Once he gits off, he won't +know Joseph, you bet! That's what I 'd do," he added, with a sly laugh. +"Take your uncle's advice." + +"The only trouble with that," said Eli, shortly, "is that I don't owe +him anything." + +"Oh," said the pedler; "that makes a difference. I understood you did." + +Three o'clock came, and brought Mr. El-dridge. He found Eli worn out +with excitement. + +"Now, I don't judge you the way the others do," said Mr. Eldridge, in a +low tone, with his hand on Eli's knee. "I know, as I told you, just the +way you feel. But we can't help such things. Suppose, now, that I had +kept dark, and allowed to the owners that that man was always sober, +and I had heard, six months after, of thirty or forty men going to the +bottom because the captain was a little off his base; and then to think +of their wives and children at home. We have to do some hard things; but +I say, do the square thing, and let her slide." + +"But I can't believe he 's guilty," said Eli. + +"But don't you allow," said Mr. Eldridge, "that eleven men are more sure +to hit it right than one man?" + +"Yes," said Eli, reluctantly, "as a general thing." + +"Well, there's always got to be some give to a jury, just as in +everything else, and you ought to lay right down on the rest of us. It +is n't as if we were at all squirmish. Now, you know that if you hold +out, he 'll be tried again." + +"Yes, I suppose so." + +"Got to be--no other way," said Mr. Eldridge. "Now, the next time, there +won't be anybody like you to stand out, and the judge 'll know of this +scrape, and he'll just sock it to him." + +Eli turned uneasily in his chair. + +"And then it won't be understood in your place, and folks 'll turn +against you every way, and, what's worse, let you alone." + +"I can stand it," said Eli, angrily. "Let 'em do as they like. They +can't kill me." + +"They can kill your wife and break down your children," said Mr. +Eldridge. "Women and children can't stand it. Now, there's that man they +were speaking of; he lived down my way. He sued a poor, shiftless fellow +that had come from Pennsylvania to his daughter's funeral, and had him +arrested and taken off, crying, just before the funeral begun--after +they 'd even set the flowers on the coffin; and nobody'd speak to him +after that--they just let him alone; and after a while his wife took +sick of it--she was a nice, kindly woman--and she had sort of hysterics, +and finally he moved off West. And 't was n't long before the woman +died. Now, you can't undertake to do different from everybody else." + +"Well," said Eli, "I know I wish it was done with." + +Mr. Eldridge stretched his arms and yawned. Then he began to walk up and +down, and hum, out of tune. Then he stopped at Captain Thomas's chair. + +"Suppose we try a ballot," he said. "He seems to give a little." + +In a moment the foreman rapped. + +"It is time we were taking another ballot, gentlemen," he said. + +The sleepers rose, grumbling, from uneasy dreams. + +"I will write 'guilty' on twelve ballots," said the foreman, "and if any +one desires to write in 'not,' of course he can." + +When the hat came to Eli, he took one of the ballots and held it in his +hand a moment, and then he laid it on the table. There was a general +murmur. The picture which Mr. El-dridge had drawn loomed up before him. +But with a hasty hand he wrote in "not," dropped in the ballot, and +going back to his chair by the window, sat down. + +There was a cold wave of silence. + +Then Eli suddenly walked up to the foreman and faced him. + +"Now," he said, "we 'll stop. The very next turn breaks ground. If you, +or any other man that you set on, tries to talk to me when I don't want +to hear, to worry me to death--look out!" + +How the long hours wore on! How easy, sometimes, to resist an open +pressure, and how hard, with the resistance gone, to fight, as one that +beats the air! How the prospect of a whole hostile town loomed up, in +a mirage, before Eli! And then the picture rose before him of a long, +stately bark, now building, whose owner had asked him yesterday to be +first mate. And if his wife were only well, and he were only free from +this night's trouble, how soon, upon the long, green waves, he could +begin to redeem his little home! + +And then came Mr. Eldridge, kind and friendly, to have another little +chat. + +Morning came, cold and drizzly. An officer knocked at the door, and +called out, "Breakfast!" And in a moment, unwashed, and all uncombed, +except the tin-pedler, who always carried a beard-comb in his pocket, +they were marched across the street to the hotel. + +There were a number of men on the piazza waiting to see them,--jurymen, +witnesses, and the accused himself, for he was on bail. He had seen the +procession the night before, and, like the others, had read its meaning. + +"Eli knows I would n't do it," he had said to himself, "and he's going +to hang out, sure." + +The jury began to turn from the court-house door. Everybody looked. A +file of two men, another file, another, another; would there come three +men, and then one? No; Eli no longer walked alone. + +Everybody looked at Wood; he turned sharply away. + +But this time the order of march in fact showed nothing, one way or the +other. It only meant that the judge, who had happened to see the jury +the night before returning from their supper, had sent for the high +sheriff in some temper,--for judges are human,--and had vigorously +intimated that if that statesman did not look after his fool of a +deputy, who let a jury parade secrets to the public view, he would! + +The jury were in their room again. At nine o'clock came a rap, and a +summons from the court. The prosecuting attorney was speaking with the +judge when they went in. In a moment he took his seat. + +"John Wood!" called out the clerk, and the defendant arose. His attorney +was not there. + +"Mr. Foreman!" said the judge, rising. The jury arose. The silence of +the crowded courtroom was intense. + +"Before the clerk asks you for a verdict, gentlemen," said the judge, "I +have something of the first importance to say to you, which has but this +moment come to my knowledge." + +Eli changed color, and the whole court-room looked at him. + +"There were some most singular rumors, after the case was given to you, +gentlemen, to the effect that there had been in this cause a criminal +abuse of justice. It is painful to suspect, and shocking to know, +that courts and juries are liable ever to suffer by such unprincipled +practices. After ten years upon the bench, I never witness a conviction +of crime without pain; but that pain is light, compared with the +distress of knowing of a wilful perversion of justice. It is a relief +to me to be able to say to you that such instances are, in my judgment, +exceedingly rare, and--so keen is the awful searching power of +truth--are almost invariably discovered." + +The foreman touched his neighbor with his elbow. Eli folded his arms. + +"As I said," continued the judge, "there were most singular rumors. +During the evening and the night, rumor, as is often the case, led to +evidence, and evidence has led to confession and to certainty. And the +district attorney now desires me to say to you that the chief officer of +the bank--who held the second key to the safe--is now under arrest for a +heavy defalcation, which a sham robbery was to conceal, and that you may +find the prisoner at the bar--not guilty. I congratulate you, gentlemen, +that you had not rendered an adverse verdict." + +"Your Honor!" said Eli, and he cleared his throat, "I desire it to be +known that, even as the case stood last night, this jury had not agreed +to convict, and never would have!" + +There was a hush, while a loud scratching pen indorsed the record of +acquittal. Then Wood walked down to the jury-box and took Eli's hand. + +"Just what I told my wife all through," he said. "I knew you 'd hang +out!" + +Eli's jury was excused for the rest the of day, and by noon he was in +his own village, relieved, too, of his most pressing burden: for George +Cahoon had met him on the road, and told him that he was not going to +the West, after all, for the present, and should not need his money. +But, as he turned the bend of the road and neared his house, he felt a +rising fear that some disturbing rumor might have reached his wife about +his action on the jury. And, to his distress and amazement, there she +was, sitting in a chair at the door. + +"Lizzie!" he said, "what does this mean? Are you crazy?" + +"I'll tell you what it means," she said, as she stood up with a little +smile and clasped her hands behind her. "This morning it got around and +came to me that you was standing out all alone for John Wood, and that +the talk was that they 'd be down on you, and drive you out of town, +and that everybody pitied _me_,--_pitied me!_ And when I heard that, +I thought I 'd see! And my strength seemed to come all back, and I got +right up and dressed myself. And what's more, I 'm going to get well +now!" + +And she did. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eli, by Heman White Chaplin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELI *** + +***** This file should be named 23005.txt or 23005.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/0/0/23005/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |