Page:Weird Tales Volume 7 Number 1 (1926-01).djvu/7

Stealer of Souls

by Charles Hilan Craig

1. THE CURSE OF THE HUNCHBACK

The hunchback leaned forward a little in his chair. His sharp gray eyes seemed to change to a steely blue as he waited. His shoulders sagged a little, for the trial had been long and he was tired. But there was a vivid interest in every line of his brutal face as he listened. The case had been as brilliant as it was long. And now the jury had filed back into the room, led by the gaunt Jason Andrews, mayor of the city of Caledonia, in one of the Western states. Harshly the hunchback jerked his deformed body to keep out of sight any nervousness which might possess him as he waited for the clerk to propound the question to the jury.

It came. The foreman was rising to his feet. He rose a little stiffly, but withal, gladly, now that an irksome duty was almost over. A moment he stood there, and involuntarily his eyes sought the face of the prisoner at the bar. The gaze of the hunchback met his. He seemed to feel what was coming, for with one glare of malevolent hatred he sank back limply in his chair. Then the foreman was speaking.

"We find the prisoner guilty"—his pause was painful—"guilty of murder in the first degree!"

The pale face of the hunchback went whiter still as he looked up at the judge. His long, slender fingers gripped the table's edge. His ugly body sank low in his chair. Then the bailiff was prodding him. He was on his feet. He glared about the courtroom, fiercely. He danced up and down. But he was not a tragic figure in his agony; someone laughed, then another; the courtroom rippled with laughter for a moment while the judge rapped for order.

The hunchback cursed bitterly. Not even in such a place as this, then, could his tragedy be appreciated. A moment. Then he stood at the bar of judgment. He swayed there as the judge adjusted his glasses, turned ponderously to the front.

The judge spoke slowly, almost kindly, as his tired eyes looked down on the prisoner.

"You have heard the verdict of the jury. Have you anything to say before sentence is pronounced upon you?"

The prisoner knew what was coming. This particular judge had always sentenced murderers to life in the penitentiary unless the jury had specifically recommended the death penalty. The hunchback knew that he must spend the balance of his days