The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-08-29
OTTAWA ILL.,, SATURDAY MORNING. AUGUST 49, 1857

ward heaven, he called on God to wittnesl
that he was ihnocenti ..... ~.
l told you that knew him well. knew
him 20 well, that from that moment knew
bim to b innocenti knew his very sou
II knew how free and open il was-ahl
how sinfully so!-and knew that there
was no falsehood in the story be hsd told e
sus. 1s - oi z.sagsi lt.t l@37ia - o.
NY boy is innocent! Ny boy is limo
cent /" 81 -, .,7,f
i / heard the cry-and saw IN old woman
sink back into the arms Of . male compan.
ion. 1t Was his poor motherf Her hear'
'vss we'll nigh brokenl Yet saw that I'll
this had but little effect upon the mss ol
the spectators. The prisoners course ol
dissipation many threats sgainst the
the very fact of his having been
robbed and abused there, were heavy against
him. s..rr,.4 s.ri. .c3 sf-ey ..s--.ts 81
The counsel for the prisoner made his plea
which was labored and hard. He was fool.
lsh enough to intimate that If his client pas
around 1t the back part Of the house more
fhan once, he must have been -intoxicated.
In short, his plea had better been left out.
The evidence he could not shake, and he
did all he could 10 suppose evidence, some
Of il most absurd aud ridiculous. after
wards learned that Aoulton Warren engag.
ed that lawyer for the youthful prisoner
The government attorney made his ples. II
was plain, straightforward, and very con-
elusive. . -t e.-- 14ie.
The Judge finally gave his charge. He
was far and candid. He reviewed the evil
dence carefully. and pointed out such as
bore heavily upon the case. He told us il
there was lingering doubt in our minds
we must give the prisoner the benefit OF it.
But could plainly see that there was no
doubt in his usind.
We-:he jury-were conducted to our
room by an officer. and there locked up. A
silence Of some minutes ensued. Moulton
Warren WAS the first to speak:
"Well," he said, ~ s'poss there's no
need Of our benz here . great while. OF
course We all know that the prisoner must
ave sot fre to the house!"
There was something in the manner OF
that man as he said this which excited my
curiosity-I won't say it WAS suspicion then
only curiosity. He spoke with forced
effort At cslmness which at once perceived
The more looked At him the more be-
came strangely nervous and uneasy. won
1ered why he should be so anxious to be
rid Of the case, and have Ambold convicted.
/ knew that he had frequented that evil
house, and that he had done much towards
tempting Charley to dissipation. l knew
ne was in that house the night on which the
prisoner was robbed-for Charley had told
me SO when visited him in his cell. had
then asked the unfortunate youth If he was
sure Warren was his friend. O-he was
sure of it. He should have hunted him up
on the night of his robbery, only they tod
him Warren had gone.
By and bye the foreman proposed that we
should each take piece Of paper and write
down our opinion, and then compare notes.
I went TO my hat, which / had placed upon
q table with . number Of others, and took
out half sheet of paper. ] had got hall
way back to the table when found had
made mistake. had got part Of letter
from another mans bat l was about &c
the letter arrested my attention. looked
Next l caught this sentence
and nor, dear Charles, II not for you,
oun, yet for your mother's sake, let me hop.
you uil do better"
l started as though q shot lad struck me
i
sheet which had been used to fire the burn
ed house. l went to the table and found
that had taken it from Moulton Warren's
hat! looked to see if had been observ
ed-and | had not.-I put the paper back
and then took piece from my own hat
which was Of the same pattern IS the other
and by its side.
returned to the table and sat down
Warren was by my side. He had writer
his opinion, and took knife from his pock
ct to cut it out from the large sheet.
"Let me take your knife . moment, i
you please" I said to him.
Without hesitation he did so. took it
It nas Charles Am6olTs knys! The lar9
blade uas gonel With all the power pos
sessed I restrained my deep emotions, snt
having cut my paper l handed back tn
knife.
Why should he have that knife so boldly
about him / afterwards learned. He hat
not worn those pantaloons before since th'
night Of the fire; and now he used tn
knife, probably, without the least remem
brance of the loss it had sustained during :
very peculiar piece Of work, to the execu
ton Of which it WAS made subservient.
We talked for some ten minutes, and
found that eleven of the jury were bent up
on rendering a verdict of guilty; though
most of them were in favor Of recommend
ing the prisoner to mercy. Moulton War
rem was decided. He had no mercy at all
Presently l started up and pretended t
be faint. / said l must 60 out q few min
utes. kicked at the door, and the deput
sheriff came. He heard my plea, and le
me out. As soon as we gained safe dis
tance told him all. He was astounded
| He went away, and when he came back h
brought the district attorney and the sheriff
told a ain what had seen-I assure
| them that knew what haG seen-that
was no mere suspicion. And l explained
too, Warren's manner in the jury room, hi
former connection with the prisoner, an
his known character.
| These officers went away, and at the en-
| of ten minutes they returned with consta
BILE added to their number, and this consta
| bic had freshly written instrument in hi
hand. The sheriff bade me point out the hs
to them IS soon as we entered the room.
The door of the room was opened, and
pointed them to the hat: The soeriff tool
it, and asked whose it was. Warren leape
to his feet. and would have seized il, but b
was held back.
Word was instantly sent to the judge ths
the jury could not agree. They we're di'
charged, and then Moulton Warren wa
searched. The knife was found upon hin
and his behavior at once exposed his gull
The presence of that letter was accounte
for by him in dozen different ways With
an hour.
A new jury was impannellsd, and Charlie
Ambold was acquitted. Shortly afterward
Warren was tried, and it was plainly prove
that he had set fire to the house, and ths
the woman who kept twas to have bee
burned up in it, as he had contrived to loc
her into her room shortly before setting tn
fire. She had incurred his displeasure
various ways, and this was his reveng'
Not only she, but two Of her girls had SUI
pected him from the FIRST, but they dare
not complain. for fear he would not be COZ