The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1855-10-05

and return IL to mo in the morning. lie
took Il and went away. then went to
bed. How camo to be in Mr.. Withef's
bed room as Heaven is my judge, know
not Ibid not murder. had no weapon.
Ny life may be sacrificed, but I am inno-
cent. God help mc-God help me!p
There was a death.like silence In the
court when had finished speaking, and ]
noticed the spectators looking at each other
in doubt and surprise. .a.
"where is the servant man !" said the
magistrate, for ho had LEFT the court room.
There was little hustle In the justice
room, and the man was brought back.
'"What is your namO I" said tho magis-
trate. 20 .
"Ephraim jenkins, sir"
estate again your reasons for supposing
l,his youth guilty Of this horrible crime"
! "iheard q cry Of murder and woke up
ihe. ceptain.of the sloop, who slept in the
I pe1t room to mine, and together went to
Iths room from whence tho cries proceeded.
We found this young man in his night
clothes, Just in tho act Of escaping towards
the window, and having secured him, we
went to the side Of the bed..ou which lay the
old gentleman he was wounded, stabbed. in
the breast with q long knife or dagger ap-
parently, and ho gasped out something
about red cloak; he mentioned the same
words again before he died, and the prison.
er had on q cloak lined with bright red when
he came to the inn last night"
son your OATH" said his magistrate,
''did the prisoner or did he not hand you
a shilling for brushing it, as he says"
"He did not"
"God forgive YOU" said I.
"You may retire." said the magistrate
and then turning 10 the captain, he asked
"Did jenkins awaken You during the
nigh, ?"
"Iie did,"
estate what followed"
The witness gave the same account as
jenkins. He had heard cries for help, and
shouts Of murder, and he had proceeded
with Jenkins 10 the room whence the sounds
came, and had there found the prisoner
his late passenger as already described
The landlord had also heard the noise, but
he had not reached the room where the
murder was committed until the prisoner
was secured. The magistrate continued,
"You have no doubt, l presume, that The
murder was committed for the purpose o
Obtaining tho money that was in the gen.
ileman's possession"
"No doub, OF that" replied the accussrs
"But where is the por,man,eau the gen
tleman carried 10 the inn with him ant
which doubtless contains money! Has an,
one seen il since The murderl"
"NO," was the response, "no one has seer
it," I.
"What can have become Of this portman
teau" continued The magistrate.
No one spoke, and he then added
"Was the knife or weapon found by which
the wound on the unfortunate Mr.. Wiihen
could have been inflicted 7"
TheIe was no answer.
"Prisoner," said the magistrate 10 me
''ths case is involved In some mist, by the
absence ofyour purposed temptation to com
mil. the murder, viz: the portmanteau, ant
they no, finding the knife with which Mr.
Wilhers was stabbed. do not see how yor
could have time 10 conceal these things
seeing how and where you Were taken, bu
il j, my duty to commit you for trial. The
dying words OF The victim concerning th'
cloak,are agains, you. You are fully com
mi,ied for trial on the capital charge.
tainted away and in that condition ! wal
borne 10 the prison. The session did no
come on for month, and during that time
an inquest was held on the body, and j, wa
found that tho heart had been pierced will
some sharp weapon and the only wonde
, was ,ha, death had not ensued more quickly
than it did: the verdict Of the Coroner,
Ijury was "wilful MURDER" Of course, an.
everything appeared in fair way for hang
ing me. Time wore away, and ], wanie,
only four days 10 the trial. Meanwhile my
father and mother had come 10 New-Yo
and had visited me. They were over
whelmed with grief, poor things, and they
truly believed me innocent. fancy they
were alone in this belief They had sough
out counsel for me but the lawyer had plain
) ly told them that 10 engage him would b
only 10 waste their small means. Howeve
! he undertook the case ou, Of compassion 10
them chiefly; for they had .bE, little money
10 fec him with. Mr.. Wilhers' friends
meanwhile had secured two able counsel
who were confident Of getting . yerdic
, agains, me, SO certain did every one appea
ofmy guilt. The day Of trial came, ant
with palpilaing heart I was led from th,
prison 10 room in the courthouse, whsr.
; was confined until was callod.
The first Trial was some Insignificant cas-.
Of robbery, ending in an acqui,lal, 10 ths
great relief Of The auditory, who were as i'm
palien, as holiday folks at the theatre wher
listening TO some droll piece Of pomposiiy
previous to panlOmime or an after piece
which only they care about seeing. Al
length my name was called, and in another
moment was led 10 The bar. felt that al
} eyes were upon me, though did no, raise
my head 10 look around. Although I knew
my own innocence would willingly have
sunk into the ground and hid myself forever
There was dead silence while the indici