Southern shield., 1857-01-24

Su1clue ne WaS COmlllIIlnS. Dub HaU De- gun to pardon him. There was his own des- pair at the loss of such woman, and then there was the impossibility of proving an alibi except by bringing her to the stand to testify to the humiliating circumstances of that night.
 As we entered the courtroom, the trial, :, which had occupied the court the entire day previous, was drawing to close. The evi dence had vastly increased in strength. The pistol-ball was found to fit the pistols which had been taken from the prisoner. Mrs. Davis had testified that the prisoner, whom she had not seen since the murder until the previous day, had been at the farm some
 weeks prior to the murder, and had con- yersed several hours with Mir. Davis, during
 which time the old man had opened his chest
 to take out title deeds, and might then have
 exhibited his gold. It was impossible to say how much had been stolen; but it was proved that Mir. Davis had received a con- siderable payment in foreign gold few days previously, and ten pieces found in posses sion of the accused were of similar descrip- ton. The horses tracks were identified, the broken horseshoe, the empty pistol, the manner of arrest. the behavior of the prisO- her, everything was proved, and the case, which had thought very slight one, was actually magnifed into very clear case of deliberate murder. But the worst testimo- ny of all had been elicited in an unexpected moment. Bessie Davis was on the stand, testifying to somepoint of light htimportance, when she for the first time caught sight of the face of Gaston, and she started up with
 a cry of surprise that startled the entire
 courtroom; the next instant she sank back,
 trembling and sobbing as if her little heart
 would break.
 Bessie Davis was we'll beloved by every person in that courtroom, and her conduct caused universal sensation. The prose , cutting officer, who was clever enough law , yer, but man of little fneness of feeling, !, blundered out a demand if she had ever seen
 him before.
 Then the story came out. Bessie had
 seen him the same day her mother had men,
 toned, though not at the same time. She
 had met him every evening after that. He
 had appointed to meet her on the road near
 the house, in the gloaming, and he had come
 each time on horseback, and had walked fol
 half an hour with her.
 ''What did he say?''
 An, Bessie it was hard to tell that crowd
 ed courtroom the soft words he had whis-
 pered in her ears, the promises he had made
 the vows they had exchanged. But so il
 was; and she gained courage to recount the
 whole.
 It was just as this commenced that we en- tered, and the crowd gave way when 1t was said that we were witnesses. John Castor was gazing at the beautiful girl on the wit nesses' stand with open eyes and undisguised : astonishment. Was he dreaming? Could , he have made love so desperately as all that and never have known it? The witness was telling truth beyonda doubt. No one could hesitate to believe that beautiful and sim
 ple-hearted girl, as she told the story of her own weakness. She wept, too, at intervals , and her tears told awfully against the &C.,
 cused, who now stood charged with winning
 that pure and gentle girls love, with the
 cruel intent in his soul to murder her father ''He left me at sunset the evening before
 he kil-before my fathers death. He said 1 might not hear from him again in six months or more, but he swore on this cross
 which he gave me, that he would come back within the year, and promised him-that- ove-him and wait--for him. 5
 ''Ah, John GastOn-John Gaston, how
 could you be so faithlessr" !"
 My yelled companion had, with myself
 pressed up to the side of the prisoner's box and she spoke these words in low tone, bu so full of fun. of keen enjoyment of a lu. dicrous scene, that it added to my hewilder } ment, while it startled him like flash o1 lightning. He looked around, leaned oyer toward her. whispered d word or two, re } ceiyed a whispered reply, and then ligh } spread over his face that was totally new
 to me, and he seemed like new man. H.
 uttered loud cry. and reaching out his han( : to mine, grasped 1t with an energy that wal
 positively painful. This sudden movement and the approach of Mr. Walton, created so much confusion that the court ordered the noise to be suppressed, and 1 advanced
 into the bar toward the young lawyer who , had been assigned for the defence during m,
 absence. He recognized me immediately and l begged permission of the court tC consult with him few moments before W, opened the defence.
 A few words from Miss Walton had pu , me in possession of the explanation of Mis- } Davis's testimony, and l now learned al
 that Mir. Stevens had proposed to do for hi l client. He was prepared to make a vigor l ous defence, with no sort of evidence in hi favor, but he had gotten up some ingenious plans, which were now entirely useless. took up the case with confidence, ,and opened the defence by stating my ability to prove the entire innocence of the prisoner, anC promised to astonish the court and jury an( , crowd in general, but Miss Davis in particu 2 lar, whom 1 took occasion to compliment 1T
 terms that evidently secured favor from
 many who heard me.
 The testimony was brief and clear. MT r Walton remembered the day and the evening distinctly. He had himself exchanged hi own foreign gold that day with Castor } (called Randall in the indictment, and ht
 could identify the pieces, though he had no seen them since. 'All my gold was of one , sort: English sovereigns of the reign O l -, and dated 1S-. brought them iron l London with me.' On examination the tel pieces found on the prisoner proved to b, the same. The evening before the murder
 he had left Gaston in his own drawing-room at nine o'clock, with Miss Walton, and h, was sure he was there until much later. Then Miss Walton took the stand. It wat splendid sight to see her. The contrast with Bessie Davis was noticed by every one Bessie was white and dove-lik Miss Wal
 ton was dark, radiant and queenly. Hel : beauty took the gazers by storm. No ont
 could help loving and idolizing it. The
 whole courtroom hung on the accents ot
 her clear, musical voice, as if it were su.
 perior being that spoke. She seemed in hel