Chapter IV: Act II: Scene II

_Scene: The court room with the court in session. Judge Vail is on the bench; the jury sits back opaque and weary; Gluckstein waits nervously; Salter is examining Mrs. Lubin, who is on the witness stand; Macready and Capraro sit in irons, with guards on either side; Rosalie, Suvorin, Bartlet and Mrs. Lubin’s son wait to be called as witnesses. Attendants right and left of Bench Sergeant at door left._

SALTER. Now from that point will you tell the story in your own words,
Mrs. Lubin?

MRS. LUBIN. From the time I went to the window?

SALTER. Yes.

MRS. LUBIN. I was looking out and I noticed there wasn’t much traffic
for a Saturday afternoon, and—

SALTER. Go on.

MRS. LUBIN. Then I noticed there was a train on the track and the
gates were down, but the engine was backing up again—well, there
were only two automobiles south of the tracks and they could have
gone on, but they didn’t because there was some kind of a fight
there. One of the cars was a Ford and the other was a larger car, a
Buick, I thought—

SALTER. Open or closed?

MRS. LUBIN. Open. Then there was a shot and I saw a man jump into the
large car. He was carrying something I couldn’t see. And then the
car went up the street around the corner. But the Ford stayed there
and people came running.

SALTER. You say there was a shot, Mrs. Lubin. Did you see who fired
that shot?

MRS. LUBIN [_looking down_]. Yes, sir.

SALTER. Who was it?

MRS. LUBIN. Macready.

SALTER. Where was he when he fired the shot?

MRS. LUBIN. At the steering wheel.

SALTER. And the other man, the one that jumped into the car, do you
know who it was?

MRS. LUBIN. No, sir. His back was toward me.

SALTER. Do you see Macready in this room, Mrs. Lubin.

MRS. LUBIN. Yes, sir.

SALTER. Where is he?

MRS. LUBIN. He is one of the defendants. The tall one.

SALTER. Thank you, Mrs. Lubin.

[_Mrs. Lubin starts to rise._]

JUDGE VAIL. Does the defense wish to examine?

GLUCKSTEIN. I do.

JUDGE VAIL. You may take the witness.

GLUCKSTEIN. There is one point in your story which I wish you would
explain in greater detail, Mrs. Lubin. You say you saw this shooting
from the front window of your apartment on the third floor?

MRS. LUBIN. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. On which side of the railroad track were these two cars
when the shooting occurred?

MRS. LUBIN. On the south side.

GLUCKSTEIN. Now isn’t it true, Mrs. Lubin, that there is a signal
tower between your apartment windows and the tracks which entirely
shuts off your view of the street south of the railroad?

MRS. LUBIN. Not entirely.

GLUCKSTEIN. Almost entirely?

MRS. LUBIN. Not so much as that.

GLUCKSTEIN. You have a son, haven’t you, Mrs. Lubin?

MRS. LUBIN. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Do you see him in court?

MRS. LUBIN. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Had you expected to see him here?

SALTER. I don’t see what that has to do with it!

GLUCKSTEIN. One moment.

MRS. LUBIN. No, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Has your son ever visited you in your apartment?

MRS. LUBIN. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Is he familiar with the details of it?

MRS. LUBIN. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Now, Mrs. Lubin, can you look your son in the eyes and say
again that it was possible to see that shooting where you said it
was—?

SALTER. I object to that. She answered that!

JUDGE VAIL. Objection sustained. Strike out the question.

GLUCKSTEIN. Very well. That is all. [_He sits down._]

JUDGE VAIL. Call the next witness.

[_Mrs. Lubin leaves the stand._]

SALTER. Jerome Bartlet.

ATTENDANT. Jerome Bartlet will take the stand.

[_Bartlet goes up to the stand._]

ATTENDANT. Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

MACREADY. Ha! Ha!

[_The Judge raps for order._]

SALTER. How old are you, Mr. Bartlet?

BARTLET. Twenty-four.

SALTER. Where are you employed?

BARTLET. At the mill. The planing mill on Front Street.

SALTER. Where were you at four-fifteen on the afternoon of April
second of this year?

BARTLET. I was going home from work along the docks along Front
Street.

SALTER. And did anything especial occur on that afternoon as you were
going home?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

SALTER. Tell us what it was, please.

BARTLET. Just before I got to the railroad track I heard a shot and I
thought I’d better get out of the way, so I—

SALTER. Tell us what else you saw.

BARTLET. I saw a man fall over a wheel in a Ford by the tracks. The
Ford was standing still because the gates was down. And then I saw a
man jump away from the Ford and get in another car—

SALTER. And then what—?

BARTLET. Then the gates was coming up, so the car went up Front Street
and turned off, and then I saw a policeman jumping in a car—and it
went after them—

SALTER. And the Ford stayed there?

BARTLET. Yes, sir, the man was shot.

SALTER. Did you see who did the shooting?

BARTLET. No, sir.

SALTER. Did you see the face of the man who jumped into the other car
after the shooting occurred?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

SALTER. Have you seen him since?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

SALTER. Did you identify him?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

SALTER. Who was he?

BARTLET. I said he looked like Capraro.

SALTER. Oh, he looked like Capraro. How much did he look like him?

GLUCKSTEIN. I object to that.

JUDGE VAIL. Overruled.

SALTER. Would you say it was Capraro?

BARTLET. It was the dead image of him.

SALTER. That is all, your Honor. The prosecution rests.

JUDGE VAIL. The defense may take the witness.

GLUCKSTEIN. Where did you say you were, Mr. Bartlet, at four-fifteen
on the afternoon of April second?

BARTLET. I was—I was watching the—robbery. I was going home from work.

GLUCKSTEIN. And how do you fix the time in your mind? How do you know
it was four-fifteen?

BARTLET. I get out of the mill at four—on Saturdays, I do.

GLUCKSTEIN. And how do you know it was April second?

BARTLET. Well, it was the day the murder happened, because I saw it.

GLUCKSTEIN. Where were you standing when you saw it?

BARTLET. Right near the gate to the pier there.

GLUCKSTEIN. Were you on the south or the north side of the tracks?

BARTLET. The south side.

GLUCKSTEIN. On which side of the tracks did the murder occur?

BARTLET. The south side—where I was.

GLUCKSTEIN. You say you heard the shooting and then saw a man jump
into a car which drove away?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you see the shooting or only hear it?

BARTLET. I heard it.

GLUCKSTEIN. And you saw this man who jumped into the car?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. And you say he looked like Capraro?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Do you say he was Capraro?

BARTLET. No, sir. It was the dead image of him.

GLUCKSTEIN. Oh, it was not Capraro. It was the dead image of him?

BARTLET. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. What do you mean by the dead image of him?

BARTLET. Well, it looked like him.

GLUCKSTEIN. Do you mean it was a dead image that looked like him?

SALTER. Objection.

JUDGE VAIL. Sustained. You need not answer that question.

GLUCKSTEIN. Your Honor, this witness quite evidently has no notion of
the meaning of the phrase “dead image.” It is my belief that his use
of it will mislead the jury unless we hear an explanation of it from
his own lips.

JUDGE VAIL. You must allow the jury to decide what he means, Mr.
Gluckstein.

[_Gluckstein bows._]

GLUCKSTEIN. When you identified Capraro as the man who leaped into the
murder car, Mr. Bartlet, what was the procedure followed? Were there
other men in the room, or was Capraro there alone?

SALTER. Objection.

JUDGE VAIL. Sustained. The method of identification should not concern
us here. We assume that every precaution was taken by the police
against the possibility of error.

GLUCKSTEIN. I do not assume that, your Honor.

JUDGE VAIL. Then you have not properly prepared for the question. We
are not investigating the methods of identification customary in
this state.

GLUCKSTEIN. Your Honor, my point is that the methods of identification
employed by the State in securing evidence for this trial were
arbitrary, unusual, and deliberately pre-arranged to incriminate the
defendants.

JUDGE VAIL. You have witnesses to that effect?

GLUCKSTEIN. The prosecution is well aware that every possible
hindrance has been put in the way of my obtaining such evidence!

SALTER [_on his feet_]. If you have evidence of anything like that!—

JUDGE VAIL. The objection is sustained. You may proceed.

GLUCKSTEIN. I enter an exception. [_The Judge bows. Gluckstein turns
to Bartlet._] What do you mean by dead image, Mr. Bartlet?

BARTLET. I mean it looked like him. Short and dark.

SALTER. Objection! I object to that! That question has been answered!

JUDGE VAIL. You are a little late, Mr. Salter, nevertheless the
objection is sustained. Strike out the question and answer.

GLUCKSTEIN. May I point out to your Honor that his second answer does
not tally with the first—

JUDGE VAIL. The second question is not admissible in the record.
Proceed.

GLUCKSTEIN. In that case, I have finished with the cross-examination.

JUDGE VAIL. You have a number of witnesses to call in rebuttal, I
understand?

[_Bartlet leaves the stand._]

GLUCKSTEIN. Yes, your Honor. Harry Lubin.

ATTENDANT. Harry Lubin to the stand. [_Mrs. Lubin’s son comes forward.
He is a young countryman of twenty-two or thereabout._] Do you swear
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so
help you God?

LUBIN. I do.

GLUCKSTEIN. How old are you, Mr. Lubin?

LUBIN. Twenty-two.

GLUCKSTEIN. Where are you employed?

LUBIN. I’ve been working on a farm up north.

GLUCKSTEIN. Are you the son of Mrs. Lubin, who testified a few moments
ago?

LUBIN. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Have you lived at your mother’s home recently?

LUBIN. No, sir. Not since I can remember. I’ve always lived on my
uncle’s farm up-state.

GLUCKSTEIN. You have visited your mother in the apartment she now
occupies?

LUBIN. Yes, sir. Quite often.

GLUCKSTEIN. How often?

LUBIN. Maybe once or twice a year.

GLUCKSTEIN. And she has lived there how long?

LUBIN. About ten years.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you find anything strange about your mother’s
testimony?

SALTER. I object to that.

JUDGE VAIL. You will reframe your question.

GLUCKSTEIN. Have you ever looked out the front windows of your
mother’s apartment on Front Street?

LUBIN. Yes, sir. Often.

GLUCKSTEIN. Is it possible to see the street south of the tracks from
those windows?

LUBIN. Very little of it.

GLUCKSTEIN. In case you were looking out from the front of that
apartment and the gates were down across the tracks, would it be
possible to see the face of the driver of a car on the south side of
the tracks.

LUBIN. Not usually.

GLUCKSTEIN. It would sometimes?

LUBIN. Yes, sir. If a car happened to be standing at the far side of
the street.

GLUCKSTEIN. Would it be possible to see the face of a driver of more
than one car at the same time?

LUBIN. I’ve never been able to.

GLUCKSTEIN. You have tried it?

LUBIN. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. When?

LUBIN. After my mother identified one of the men in the robbery.

GLUCKSTEIN. And did you ask her how she happened to be able to see the
face of the man in the car?

LUBIN. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Do you remember her answer?

SALTER. Objection. This court is hardly interested in hearsay.

JUDGE VAIL. The question is relevant, Mr. Salter. Answer the question.

LUBIN. At first she said the car was on the far side of the street—but
it couldn’t have been there because that was where the Ford was
standing, so she finally—

GLUCKSTEIN. Yes?

LUBIN. She finally said she didn’t see the robbery at all. She said
she looked out after the shot was fired.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you ask her anything else?

SALTER. Objection!

JUDGE. Answer the question.

LUBIN. I asked her why she identified Macready if she couldn’t see
him, and she said she had a reason she couldn’t tell me. And then
she said—

[_Mrs. Lubin is sobbing quietly._]

SALTER. Your Honor, will you allow this to continue?

JUDGE VAIL. It is quite relevant.

LUBIN. She said she’d take it back—she wouldn’t identify him in the
trial.

GLUCKSTEIN. Do you know why she has changed her mind again?

LUBIN. No, sir. I can’t understand it.

GLUCKSTEIN. Thank you, Mr. Lubin. That is all.

JUDGE VAIL. Has the State any question?

SALTER. No questions.

JUDGE VAIL. The witness is excused.

[_Lubin goes back to his place. His Mother looks up at him, then looks
away. Lubin puts his arm about her for a moment. Then sits._]

GLUCKSTEIN. Call Miss Rosalie Suvorin.

ATTENDANT. Miss Suvorin to the stand. [_Rosalie comes to the witness
chair._] You understand the value of an oath, Miss Suvorin?

ROSALIE. I do.

ATTENDANT. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, so help you God?

ROSALIE. I do.

GLUCKSTEIN. I have only a few questions to ask you, Miss Suvorin.

ROSALIE. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Where were you on the evening of April second of this
year?

ROSALIE. The Lyceum restaurant on Laden Street.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you during that evening see either of the defendants?

ROSALIE. I saw both of them.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you have any conversation with Mr. Macready?

ROSALIE. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Will you give us the substance of what was said?

ROSALIE. We talked about where he had been that afternoon—and
about—whether it wasn’t foolish for him to get mixed up in strikes.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did Mr. Macready tell you what part he had taken in the
strike that afternoon?

ROSALIE. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Do you know what Macready did with the gun he took from
the car?

ROSALIE. He gave it to me.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you look at it?

ROSALIE. No, sir, I put it in the cash drawer.

GLUCKSTEIN. Do you know whether any of the chambers had been fired
when he gave it to you?

ROSALIE. No, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Now, I’m going to ask you a personal question, Miss
Suvorin, because if I don’t ask it, it will be asked by the
prosecution. What were your relations with Mr. Macready?

ROSALIE. We—are engaged to be married—

GLUCKSTEIN. You are still engaged to be married?

ROSALIE [_looking at Macready_]. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you encourage him to take part in the strike?

ROSALIE. No, sir. I asked him not to. We quarreled about that.

GLUCKSTEIN. Was it a serious quarrel?

ROSALIE. Yes, sir. I told him I wouldn’t marry him. But I would now.

GLUCKSTEIN. Have you seen him since that evening?

ROSALIE. No, sir. They wouldn’t let me.

GLUCKSTEIN. Why not?

ROSALIE. They said I was a material witness.

GLUCKSTEIN. But you are still engaged to marry him?

ROSALIE. I think so. I’m—I’m in love with him. And I’m telling him now
because it’s the only chance I have—

SALTER. Objection.

GLUCKSTEIN. Quite right. I thank you, Miss Suvorin.

JUDGE VAIL. Has the prosecution any questions?

SALTER. A very few, your honor. I also, Miss Suvorin, have only a few
questions I wish to ask you. Were you present, Miss Suvorin, on the
evening of the robbery when Mr. Macready was arrested?

ROSALIE. Yes, I was.

SALTER. As you remember it, what was Mr. Macready’s attitude toward
the arrest?

ROSALIE. His attitude?

SALTER. Yes, did he resist the arrest?

ROSALIE. No, sir.

SALTER. There has been evidence here, my dear, that Mr. Macready
struck a detective. You don’t remember that?

ROSALIE. Yes, but the detective had pretended he was an I.W.W. He’d
been in the strike with them.

SALTER. Then Mr. Macready did strike the detective?

ROSALIE. Yes, sir.

SALTER. Then he did resist arrest?

ROSALIE. He didn’t want to be arrested.

SALTER. No. Certainly not. Now, is it true, Miss Suvorin, that you ran
to him and took part in the struggle?

ROSALIE. I don’t remember. I think so.

SALTER. Were you trying to save him from something when you did that?

ROSALIE. Yes, sir.

SALTER [_menacing_]. Were you trying to save him from death in the
electric chair for the murder of Kendall?

ROSALIE. No, sir.

SALTER. Mr. Macready had come to you and given you this weapon and
asked you to hide it.

ROSALIE. He didn’t ask me to hide it!

SALTER. Then why did you say you knew nothing about the weapon when
the police found it?

ROSALIE. I was afraid.

SALTER. What were you afraid of?

ROSALIE. I was afraid they wouldn’t believe what he’d told me about
it.

SALTER. You mean that you two had made up a story about this weapon
and that you were afraid it wasn’t good enough?

ROSALIE. No, sir—we hadn’t made—

SALTER. Yes or no is enough.

ROSALIE. No.

SALTER. Do you mean to tell this court that you come here to give
unbiased testimony in favor of the defendants?

ROSALIE. I’m telling the truth.

SALTER. Did you tell the truth to the detectives about the gun you had
in the cash drawer?

ROSALIE. No.

SALTER. When did you make up your mind to change your story?

ROSALIE. I don’t know.

SALTER. You’re in love with Macready, aren’t you? You’d say anything
to save him?

ROSALIE. I—

GLUCKSTEIN. I object to that!

JUDGE VAIL. Strike out the question.

SALTER. That’s all.

JUDGE VAIL. Will you call your next witness, Mr. Gluckstein? [_He
looks at his watch._]

GLUCKSTEIN. James Macready.

[_Macready is led to the stand by an officer._]

ATTENDANT. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth?

MAC. Now just for a change from the prosecution’s witnesses, I do.

GLUCKSTEIN. Will you tell me, Mr. Macready, where you were at
four-fifteen on the afternoon of the murder of Kendall?

MAC. I was walking north along Front Street.

GLUCKSTEIN. You left the scene of the rioting?

MAC. Yes, sir. After I got away with that gun I thought I’d better not
go back. They knew I had it, and they’d have pulled me for having
it.

GLUCKSTEIN. How far was the scene of the rioting from the tracks where
the crime was committed?

MAC. All of a mile.

GLUCKSTEIN. The time of the rioting has been fixed by many witnesses
at about four o’clock. Would it have been possible for you to reach
the scene of the crime by four-fifteen?

MAC. Well, the mix-up had been going on about fifteen minutes before I
left.

GLUCKSTEIN. Then you started north at about four-fifteen?

MAC. I think so.

GLUCKSTEIN. If you had walked south you’d have been going toward the
scene of the robbery?

MAC. Yes, sir.

GLUCKSTEIN. But you walked north?

MAC. Yes. Well, at first I was running, you know; later I slowed down.

GLUCKSTEIN. Where were you going?

MAC. I went to Capraro’s room. We always went there, and I thought
he’d telephone as soon as he got loose from the police.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did he telephone?

MAC. No.

GLUCKSTEIN. Do you know why not?

MAC. He was taking care of Nick, Nick Bardi. Nick was shot by the
police, died that evening.

GLUCKSTEIN. When did you leave the room?

MAC. About seven I went over to my room to see if Capraro was there. I
hadn’t heard any news and I thought we’d have dinner together.

GLUCKSTEIN. Was Caprarao there?

MAC. No.

GLUCKSTEIN. Where did you go after that?

MAC. I went to Suvorin’s restaurant in the Lyceum and looked in and
there were two policemen eating there, so I went and ate at Joe’s.
Then I went to a movie to kill time.

GLUCKSTEIN. At what time did you return to the Lyceum?

MAC. About ten-thirty.

GLUCKSTEIN. Why did you go there?

MAC. There was a strike meeting called—and I was one of the speakers.
And then I wanted to see Rosalie.

GLUCKSTEIN. For any especial reason?

MAC. No, just wanted to see her.

GLUCKSTEIN. How did you happen to give her the revolver?

MAC. I didn’t want to carry it around.

GLUCKSTEIN. How did that revolver come into your possession?

MAC. A policeman threw it into the car we were riding in, and I
grabbed it up and jumped out of the car.

GLUCKSTEIN. And what was your motive in that?

MAC. To prevent the police planting evidence on Mr. Waterman.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you ever fire that revolver?

MAC. No.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you know, while it was in your possession, that one
chamber had been fired?

MAC. Yes, I looked at it in Capraro’s room.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did that mean anything to you?

MAC. Not a thing. It was just a service revolver, with one cartridge
empty. Only now I think that cartridge killed Bardi.

GLUCKSTEIN. Were you present at the holdup of Kendall?

MAC. No.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you shoot Kendall with that service revolver?

MAC. No. I’ve never shot at anybody—at any time.

GLUCKSTEIN. One more question. Are you engaged to marry Rosalie
Suvorin?

MAC. She said she wouldn’t marry me because I got into too much
trouble. But if she will, I’m certainly engaged to her.

GLUCKSTEIN. Are you in love with her?

MAC [_leaning forward_]. Why drag that in? From the day it started I
knew this trial was a railroad train. I took one look at the jury
and I knew what they came in here for. Now I’ve listened to about a
thousand phoney witnesses, lying like hell, and my impression is
they got by a hundred per cent. It won’t make any difference whether
I’m in love with a girl or not—not to them. And at that, it’s
nobody’s business but the girl’s.

GLUCKSTEIN. Very well. Thank you, Mr. Macready.

JUDGE VAIL. Does the State wish to question?

SALTER. Yes, your Honor. So you believe, Mr. Macready, that you are
going to be convicted?

MAC. If it can be fixed it will be.

SALTER. What makes you so pessimistic, Mr. Macready?

MAC. I’ve been around in this country some, and I’ve seen the courts
work. When you get a red or an agitator in court the custom is to
soak him.

SALTER. Have you ever been convicted of a crime?

MAC. Well, I’ve been convicted of belonging to the I.W.W. out in
California, if you call that a crime.

SALTER. Were you guilty?

MAC. I was of being an I.W.W.

SALTER. What are the principles of the I.W.W.?

MAC. One big union, organized to break the capitalistic stranglehold
on natural resources.

SALTER. Does the I.W.W. advocate violence?

MAC. Only when expedient, which is seldom.

SALTER. When does it consider violence expedient?

MAC. Listen, we’re taking up time here. If you’re interested in the
I.W.W. I’ve got a book I’d like to lend you. You can read it in
fifteen minutes, and when you get through, you’ll know something
about economics.

SALTER. Thank you. But do you advocate violence?

MAC. I never have.

SALTER. You would if you thought it expedient?

MAC. I would. So would you. So does everybody.

SALTER. And you don’t think the workers get justice in this country?

MAC. No. Do you? Did you ever hear of a policeman hitting a capitalist
over the head?

SALTER. Do you believe in our constitution?

MAC. I believe it was made by a little group of hogs to protect their
own trough. Anyway, why bring up the constitution when you don’t
even enforce the bill of rights? The whole damn thing’s a dead
letter except the eighteenth amendment, and the only reason we make
a play for enforcing that is because there’s graft in it! You use
the courts and the constitution and the flag and the local police to
protect capital and keep the working man in his place! Whenever
there’s a law that might be to the working man’s advantage, you
forget that one! That’s why you forget the bill of rights! And when
some law gets passed by accident that might hamper capital, you
forget that! You forgot the Sherman Act till some of you figured out
how you could apply it to the Labor Unions! And then, Jesus Christ,
how quick you put it on ’em!

[_Judge Vail’s gavel falls._]

JUDGE VAIL. Have you no respect for the courts, sir?

MAC. Certainly not. The courts are the flunkies of the rich.

JUDGE VAIL. You realize that you are on trial in this court for your
life?

MAC. Do you think you can scare me into respecting you?

JUDGE VAIL. I merely wish to warn you, sir, that in this frame of mind
you make an exceedingly poor witness in your defense.

MAC. It’s my usual frame of mind.

SALTER. So you don’t advocate violence?

MAC. No. If I did I wouldn’t work through the unions.

SALTER. Isn’t it true that you and Capraro and a man named Nick Bardi,
who was killed, organized the attack on the police on the afternoon
of the murder?

MAC. We didn’t attack the police. They attacked us. We did nothing we
didn’t have a right to do under that constitution you’re talking
about.

SALTER. But you knew there would be violence?

MAC. We knew the police could always be trusted to start something.

SALTER. You had been warned not to try to reestablish your picket
lines?

MAC. We had. By a corporation judge.

SALTER. Now, Mr. Macready, isn’t it true that you and Capraro started
this riot to draw the police and make it easy to get away after
robbing the payroll?

GLUCKSTEIN. I object.

MAC. I’ll answer it. No, it is not true.

SALTER. Why did you resist arrest?

MAC. I hit Spiker because he double-crossed me.

SALTER. Did you make no other resistance?

MAC. Maybe I did. I didn’t like the idea of being arrested.

SALTER. Have you ever heard of such a thing as the consciousness of
guilt?

MAC. I didn’t feel it.

SALTER. Why did you turn away from the restaurant when you saw two
policemen inside?

MAC. That’s a childish question. What would you do if you’d just been
in a brush with the police?

SALTER. When you leaped from the car, you knocked a policeman down.
Was that because you don’t believe in violence?

MAC. He was in my way.

SALTER. You have no respect for authority?

MAC. Respect for authority is a superstition. And the sooner everybody
gets over it, the better.

SALTER. Where were you during the war?

MAC. I was in Bisbee, Arizona, at the time of the deportations. I was
in Everett at the time of the I.W.W. massacre. You heard about that,
I suppose? When the gallant business men of Everett came out and
shot down wobblies in cold blood?

SALTER. You were a pacifist and an agitator during the war?

MAC. I was, and I am proud of it. What were you in the war?

SALTER. Do you have respect for that flag?

MAC. What does it stand for? If it stands for the kind of government
we’ve got in Washington and for you and your kind, all right, I’ve
got as much respect for it as I’ve got for the government in
Washington—and for you and your kind! Who killed Salsedo?

SALTER. I think I understand you—and I think the court and the jury
understand you. That’s all, Mr. Macready.

[_There is a brief silence. Then the Foreman of the jury rises slowly,
a long finger stretched out at Macready._]

FOREMAN. There’s one thing I’d like to ask. There was a bomb set off
under my house last night. Now I don’t want to do anybody an
injustice, but I was under the impression Mr. Macready believed in
violence. If he don’t I’d like to know where that bomb came from!

[_The Judge’s gavel falls._]

JUDGE VAIL. You are out of order, Mr. Schaler.

FOREMAN. All right. [_He starts to sit down._]

MAC [_rising_]. If anybody wants to know who sets bombs in this state—

SALTER [_to the guards_]. Hold that man.

[_The Guards leap on Mac, who submits smiling._]

MAC. What’s the matter, kid? Are you afraid of me?

[_They haul him to his chair._]

GLUCKSTEIN. Your Honor, I move to call this a mistrial. The Foreman of
the jury has displayed open prejudice.

JUDGE VAIL. I will take your motion under advisement. Meanwhile let us
proceed with the evidence. Is it your intention to place the other
defendant on the stand?

GLUCKSTEIN. One moment. [_He bends over and speaks low to Capraro._]
Mr. Capraro will take the stand.

[_Capraro does so._]

ATTENDANT. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth?

CAPRARO. As near as I can.

JUDGE VAIL. There are two possible answers to that question: I do, or
I do not.

CAPRARO. You must excuse me. I do.—As near as I can.

JUDGE VAIL. Do you mean that you will tell the truth to the best of
your knowledge and belief?

CAPRARO. If you like that phrase better—yes, I do. But I would not
wish you to believe that I would know the truth better than other
men, for it seems to me that no man would know the truth exactly.

[_Judge Vail smiles frigidly._]

GLUCKSTEIN. The court is aware of that, Mr. Capraro. We expect only
that you tell the truth as you see it.

CAPRARO. I will try, Mr. Gluckstein.

GLUCKSTEIN. I want you to tell me first, Mr. Capraro, where you were
at four-fifteen on the day of the murder of the paymaster.

CAPRARO. I think I was taking care of Nick Bardi.

GLUCKSTEIN. How did that happen?

CAPRARO. After they throw the gun in the car and Mac runs away with
it, I am sitting at the wheel while they arrest Mr. Waterman, the
lawyer. They seem to pay no attention to me at first, and when they
leave me alone in the car there is a great deal of excitement and I
just drive away. [_He smiles._]

GLUCKSTEIN. Where did you drive?

CAPRARO. I drive around the block and leave the car there. I am
planning to wait there until Mr. Waterman will wish me to drive him
somewhere—police station—home—somewhere.

GLUCKSTEIN. And where did you go after leaving the car?

CAPRARO. I went back where the fight was and then I saw Nick Bardi
trying to get up off the ground. He said he was shot at the first
but he didn’t know it was bad till he fell down. So I help and we
went to the car and go to his house. When the doctor comes he says
to take Nick to the hospital and before long he is dead in the
hospital, and I take the car to the garage where Mr. Waterman keeps
it. Then I walk to the restaurant in the Lyceum.

GLUCKSTEIN. At what time did you reach the restaurant?

CAPRARO. Maybe eleven o’clock.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you make any resistance when arrested?

CAPRARO. Not much. But I am not used to it. [_He smiles._]

GLUCKSTEIN. Were you present when Kendall was shot?

CAPRARO. No, I could not be.

GLUCKSTEIN. When did you first learn that he had been killed?

CAPRARO. In the newspaper, in Suvorin’s.

GLUCKSTEIN. Is it true that after you drove away from the pier you
picked up Macready and drove south to carry out the holdup of the
paymaster?

CAPRARO. No. To that I can say I am very sure. No.

GLUCKSTEIN. That is all, Mr. Capraro. Thank you.

JUDGE VAIL. The prosecution may take the witness.

SALTER. How much money have you in the bank, Mr. Capraro?

CAPRARO. I do not know. Not exactly. But not much.

SALTER. Do you remember depositing five thousand dollars in the City
Bank on April second?

CAPRARO. That was not my money. That was relief funds.

SALTER. You could draw checks on it, couldn’t you?

CAPRARO. Only the committee.

SALTER. Is it true that the holdup occurred on April second and on
that same day you deposited five thousand dollars?

CAPRARO. Yes.

SALTER. The City Bank stays open in the evening, doesn’t it?

CAPRARO. Yes, sir.

SALTER. You might have robbed the paymaster at four-fifteen and had
plenty of time to put money in that bank the same day? It was
possible?

CAPRARO. No, it was not possible for me. I put that money in the bank
in the morning.

SALTER. Do you believe in capitalism?

CAPRARO. No.

SALTER. You believe that all property should belong to the workers?

CAPRARO. Property should belong to those who create it.

SALTER. You are a communist?

CAPRARO. I am an anarchist.

SALTER. What do you mean by that?

CAPRARO. I mean, government is wrong. It creates trouble.

SALTER. You would destroy all government?

CAPRARO. It will not be necessary. I would rather wait till it was so
rotten it would rot away. That would not be so long now. [_He
smiles._]

SALTER. You are an anarchist?

CAPRARO. Yes.

SALTER. You are against this government of ours?

CAPRARO. Against all governments.

SALTER. Have you ever thrown a bomb?

CAPRARO. No, I would leave that for the other side.

SALTER. In 1917 you left your home to avoid the draft, didn’t you?

CAPRARO. Yes.

SALTER. You opposed the war?

CAPRARO. It was a war for business, a war for billions of dollars,
murder of young men for billions.

SALTER. You broke the law in evading the draft?

CAPRARO. Yes.

SALTER. You don’t mind breaking the law?

CAPRARO. Sometimes not.

SALTER. Who decides for you what laws you will break and what laws
you’ll keep?

CAPRARO. I decide it.

SALTER. Oh, you decide it!

CAPRARO. Every man decides for himself.

SALTER. There was nothing to prevent you from deciding to kill a
paymaster and putting the money in the bank?

CAPRARO. No, only I. I would decide against it.

SALTER. Do you honor that flag?

CAPRARO. I did before I came to this country. Now I know it is like
all the other flags. They are all the same. When we are young boys
we look on a flag and believe it is the flag of liberty and happy
people—and now I know it is a flag to carry when the old men kill
the young men for billions. Now I look at that flag and I hear it
saying to me, “How much money have you? If you have plenty of
money—then I promise you paradise—I will give you more—I will give
you the justice and freedom of your neighbours! But if you are poor
I am not your flag at all.”

SALTER. What is your religion, Mr. Capraro?

CAPRARO. I have none.

SALTER. You are an atheist?

CAPRARO. Yes.

SALTER. You are then an outlaw, bowing neither to the standards of God
nor men?

CAPRARO. I have committed no crime.

SALTER. And do you expect us to believe that, Mr. Capraro? What, in
all solemnity, in the name of God, prevents you from committing
crime?

CAPRARO. Myself. My own heart.

SALTER. You set yourself above God, above all law, above all control?

CAPRARO. I have met nobody I would trust to decide for my own soul.

SALTER. Your Honor, we have stumbled here upon a subject more serious
than robbery, more serious than murder. If I had known where my
questions were leading, I should have hesitated before asking them.
Perhaps I should apologize—

MAC. You’re goddam right you should! [_The gavel falls._]

CAPRARO. Is there any reason in your constitution why I should not
believe as I think? Is there any reason in your constitution why I
should worship your God or your flag?

SALTER. That is all, your Honor.

MAC. For Christ’s sake, Amen.

[_Capraro leaves the stand._]

JUDGE VAIL. Does this conclude your case, Mr. Gluckstein?

GLUCKSTEIN. No, your Honor. I have one more witness I should like to
call.

JUDGE VAIL. Very well.

GLUCKSTEIN. Michael Suvorin.

ATTENDANT. Michael Suvorin. To the stand. [_Suvorin rises, seats
himself in the witness chair. Sheriff Henry, an elderly, hard-faced
man, enters and sits quietly in the rear of the witnesses. Spiker
takes a memorandum to Salter, who studies it._] Do you swear to tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? so help you
God?

SUVORIN. I do.

GLUCKSTEIN. What is your occupation, Mr. Suvorin?

SUVORIN. I am the keeper of the Lyceum restaurant on Laden Street.

GLUCKSTEIN. How long have you been in business there?

SUVORIN. Ten or twelve years.

GLUCKSTEIN. Where were you at four-fifteen on the afternoon of April
second of this year?

SUVORIN. Near the railroad tracks on Front Street.

GLUCKSTEIN. How did you happen to be there?

SUVORIN. It is on the way to the produce markets. I was buying
supplies for the restaurant.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you witness the murder of Kendall?

SUVORIN. I did.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you see the men who committed the crime?

SUVORIN. I did.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you see the shot fired?

SUVORIN. I did.

GLUCKSTEIN. Could you identify the bandits?

SUVORIN. I could.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you see Capraro there?

SUVORIN. No.

GLUCKSTEIN. Did you see Macready there?

SUVORIN. No.

GLUCKSTEIN. If they had been there, would you have seen them?

SUVORIN. Yes.

SALTER. I object, your Honor. I wasn’t informed of this.

JUDGE VAIL. Do you wish a postponement?

SALTER. No. I merely wish to call the attention of the court to the
somewhat arbitrary methods of the defense.

JUDGE VAIL. Proceed.

GLUCKSTEIN [_smiling_]. That is all, your Honor.

JUDGE VAIL [_to Salter_]. Do you wish to question?

SALTER. Well—a few questions. [_Haltingly._] Your name is Suvorin?

SUVORIN. Yes.

SALTER. You are the father of Rosalie Suvorin?

SUVORIN. Yes.

SALTER. Isn’t it a little strange, Mr. Suvorin, that you, the father
of Miss Suvorin, should have happened to be passing along Front
Street at so opportune a moment for your prospective son-in-law?

SUVORIN. It was strange, yes.

SALTER. Isn’t it strange, also, that you have so far said nothing
about the fact?

SUVORIN. No. One does not testify unless necessary.

SALTER. How long have you lived in this country?

SUVORIN. Thirty years.

SALTER. Have you spent all of that time in this city?

SUVORIN. I was in the West for twenty years.

SALTER. The West?

SUVORIN. Illinois, West Virginia.

SALTER. What was your occupation?

SUVORIN. Coal miner.

SALTER. Have you ever been convicted of a crime?

SUVORIN. No.

SALTER. Are you a citizen of this country?

SUVORIN. No.

SALTER. Of what country?

SUVORIN. None.

SALTER. You came from what country?

SUVORIN. Russia.

SALTER. Why have you not altered your citizenship?

SUVORIN. I have no interest in politics.

SALTER. You witnessed the murder of Kendall?

SUVORIN. Yes.

SALTER. Had you ever witnessed a crime before?

SUVORIN. Not that I remember.

SALTER. You would not remember then, perhaps?

SUVORIN. I think so.

SALTER [_turns away as if baffled, then returns_]. Did you ever work
in the mills in this state?

SUVORIN [_pausing_]. No.

SALTER. I have just been handed the record of a man named Gregorin who
worked in the Falltown mills in 1892. You are not that man?

SUVORIN. No.

SALTER. The man of whom I speak was one of a radical group of workers
who led a strike in which considerable property was destroyed. He
was convicted of sabotage and sentenced to twenty years in the
federal penitentiary. Before his sentence was complete he escaped.
You are not that Gregorin?

SUVORIN. No.

SALTER. This man escaped, finding it necessary to murder a guard, as
you may remember. He was caught, tried, and sentenced to hang. He
escaped once more on the way to prison. You are not the man?

SUVORIN. No.

SALTER. If the court will pardon me, I have here also the record of a
man named Thievenen who was apprehended in Colorado last year as one
of two bandits who robbed a mail truck of $170,000. He escaped from
the Denver jail, but not until after he had been finger printed and
photographed. You are not by any chance that man Thievenen?

SUVORIN. No!

SALTER. I think you are! Mr. Henry, I think this is your prisoner.
[_Henry rises._] Your Honor, I am distressed to interrupt the
session.

[_Henry comes forward. Suvorin rises._]

SUVORIN. I’m not your man yet. I saw you here. You won’t take me till
I’m ready.

JUDGE VAIL [_To Henry_]. You have a warrant for his arrest?

HENRY. Right here.

JUDGE VAIL. Then if the prosecution has finished with the witness—

SUVORIN [_speaking slowly and heavily_]. He’ll wait for me. You’ll all
wait. [_To Salter._] You thought it somewhat strange that I should
have been so opportunely at the scene of the murder of Kendall. I’ll
explain that. The man who shot down Kendall was killed in White
Plains a month ago, by a federal officer. He was what you call a
rum-runner in his spare time. So am I—in my spare time. When he
needed cash he took it—where he could get it. So do I. We took
Kendall’s twenty-eight thousand. We divided it between us. I ought
to know. I planned it. I carried it out.

SALTER. Are you, by any chance, confessing to participation in this
crime?

SUVORIN [_menacing_]. Are you slow in the head? What do you think I’m
doing? You asked Macready if he planned the rioting to make his
opportunity for the holdup. He did not. But I knew the plans of the
longshoremen. I overheard them. And I am guilty and they are not.
That may not interest you but it interests me. You would rather they
were guilty. You would rather pin this crime on a radical than on a
criminal. It suits your plans better. The radicals are not
criminals. They are young fools who think they are saving humanity.
They think they will change the government and bring in the
millenium.

SALTER. Who killed Kendall, if you don’t mind telling us?

SUVORIN. Heine, the Gat.

JUDGE VAIL. Mr. Gluckstein, were you aware of this person’s record?

GLUCKSTEIN. No, your Honor.

JUDGE VAIL. Why was he called?

GLUCKSTEIN. He told me the story he told first in Court.

JUDGE VAIL [_To Suvorin_]. What did you say your occupation was, sir?

SUVORIN. I came to this country a young man. I came believing in it;
and I worked in your mines and your mills and I set myself to
establish justice to the workers. I was a fool. I believed in
Justice. They found me guilty of sabotage and sent me to prison. I
studied you there. I knew you there for what you are. I tasted your
justice. I drank it deep. I bear its marks on my body and I bear
them on my brain. My wife died and I had loved her. She died after
fifteen years of your justice and I swore by the bleeding Christ you
would pay me! You have paid me.

JUDGE VAIL. I asked you a question.

SUVORIN. I say you have paid me! I have had my day with you! You have
felt me when you least knew it. You have puzzled over me and I have
laughed at you. Fifteen years I had my way with you and you’d never
have caught me if I hadn’t tried to save innocent men! I have had my
revenge—and it was little enough for a woman dead when I could not
even say good-bye to her; too little—oh damn you—too little—!

SALTER. This man’s confession is an obvious fraud. He is under
sentence of death. He has nothing to lose. His daughter is to marry
Macready. The man on whom he fixes the crime is dead. This story has
been concocted to save the defendants.

SUVORIN. What!

SALTER. This story has been concocted to save the defendants.

SUVORIN. I have confessed to this crime—!

SALTER. Oh, no—you’ve confessed that Heine, the Gat did it—and Heine’s
dead. I say it’s a fraud—

SUVORIN. You do not believe this?

SALTER. No, I tell you. You’ve got nothing to lose. There’s a murder
in your record already.

SUVORIN. That would be like you, too! To kill us all three, innocent
and guilty together—burn us in your little hell to make your world
safe for your bankers—you kept Judge, of a kept nation, you dead
hand of the dead.

[_Several jurors rise. The Judge thunders with his gavel. Suvorin puts
out his hands for the waiting handcuffs. General confusion._]

CURTAIN