Sauk Rapids frontierman. [volume] (Sauk Rapids, M.T. [i.e. Minn.]) 1855-1860, 1856-06-19
THE CRIMINAL WITNESS.


IN the spring Of 46 4 was called to
jackson to attend court, having been
engaged 70 defend ! young man accus-8
ed Of robbing the mail. 4 had ! long
conference with my client. and he e; ac7r33
knowledged to me that On the night
when the mail was robbed he had been
with party Of dissipatsd companions
over to Tcpham. and that on returning
they met the msil carrier On horseback
coming from Iscksou. Sons of hisI
comp anioss sse very drunk and they
proposed 10 stop the carrier and over.
haul his bag, The roads were very
muddy At the, time, and the coach could
mot run. Ny client assured me that he
not only had no hand in robbing the
mail. but that he tried 10 dlssuade his
companions But they would not listen
to him. One Of them slipped up behind
the carrier and knocked him from the
horse Then they bound and blindfold-I
ed him, and having tied him to tree
they took the mail bag. and made off to
a neighboring field, where they over
hauledit, finding some Ave hundred dol
lars in money IN various letters He
went with them. but in no way did he
have any hand in the crime. Those
who did i fed, and &as the carrier re-
cognized him in the party, he had been
arrested.
The mail bag had been found as we'll
as theietters. Those lettersfrom which
money had been taken, were kept. by
order ofthe officers, and duplicates sent
to the various persons to whom they
were directed. These letters had been
givento me for examination, and / had
returned them to the prosecuting attor-
ney. ii
! got through with my private pre-
liminaries about noon, and as the case
would not come up before the next day.
/ went into court to see what was going
on. The first ease which came np Was
one Of theft, and the prisoner was a
young girl, not more than seventeen.
years Of age, Elizabeth Madworth She.
was very pretty, and bore that mild, in
nocent look, which we seldom find in a
culprit. She was pale and frightened, !,
and the moment my eyes rested upon
her, pitied her. She had been weep
ing profusely, for her bosom was wet,
but as she found 80 many eyes upon her..
she became too frightened to weep more ),
The complaint against her set forth
that she had stolen one hundred dollars
from Mrs. Naseby; !; and as the case
went on, | found that Mrs. Naseby was
her mistress, wealthy widow, living
in town. The poor girl declared her in
nocence in the most wild terms, and
called on God to witness that she would
rather die than steel. But circumstanc-
es were hard against her. A hundred
dollars in baiik-notes had been stolen
from her mistress's room, and she was
the only one who had access there.
At this juncture, while the mistress
was upon the witness-stand, young
man came and caught me BY the arm.
He was fine looking fellow, and big
tears stood in his eyes.
They tell me you are . good law
yer - he whispered.
am 4 lawyer i answered.
's Then @ ! save her You can
l.certainly do i, ior she Is innocent. =
:. y she your. sister ~
s. 81 No sir. Z he said. e But-but-
Here be hesiaated again. 81.
n Has she ~ COUNSEL ~ I asked.
None that's good for anything 90
body that1l d aoything for her. q,
saye her, md II nv you al I've got !.
III cant psy you much, bnt | can raise
something. :
II reflected for ! noment I go. my
eyes towards The prisoner,, and she was
at that moment looking at me. She
caught my eye, and the volume of hum
ble,, prayerful entreaty. | read in those
large. tearful orbs, resolved me ina mo-
ment. ii my soul I knew that the girl
was innocent 81, .at least ! firmly be-
lieved % and perhaps I could help her.
arose and went TO the girl, and ayked
her il she wished me 70 defend her. She