Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1863-05-29

eu upon tnem was sVuc throuSh, tHC
Judge, with unmoved feelings, put on the
fatal cap; and then new and startling
light burst upon the mysterious, bewild-
ering affair."
"Stop, my lord p exclaimed Arm
strong with rough vehemence. Hear
me speak I'll tell ye all about it; ]
will indeed, my lord. Quiet, Martha, ]
tell ye. It's /, my lord, that's guilty, not
the woman. God bless ye, my lord ;
not the wife! Doant hurt the wife, and
Use tell ye all about it. alone am
guilty; not, the Lord be praised, of muir
der, but Of robbery"
"John John ~ sobbed the wife,
clinging passionately to her husband,
''let US die togetherl' p
"Quiet, Martha, ] Iell ye! Yes, my
lord, Use tell ye all about it. | was
gone away, wife andI i, for more nor a
week, to receive money for Mr.. Wilson,
on account of smuggled goods-thal
money, my lord, as was found, found in
the chest. When we came home on
that dreadful Sunday night, ny lord, we
went in the back way and hearing a
noise, | went up stairs, Iand found poor
Wilson stone-dead on the floor | were
dreadful skeared, and let drop the can
die. | called to wife, and told her
of it. She screamed out, aud amaist
tainted away. And then, my lord, jail
at once the devil shot into my head to
keep the money l had brought; and
knowing as the keys of the desk where
the mortgage writing was kept was in
the bedroom, crept back, as that false
hearted woman said, got the keys, and
took the deed; aud then ! persuaded
wife, who had been trembling in the
kltcnen All lne WINE, tuat VIC ""u OC'iCi
90 out quiet again, as there was nobody
in the house but US: had tried that
woman's door--and we might perhaps
be taken for the murderers. And so
we did and that's the downright, hon
est truth, my lord. I'm rightly served ;
but God bless you, doant hurt the wom-
an-my wife, my lord, these thirty years.
Five-and-twenty years ago come May,
which | shall never see, we buried our
two children. Had they lived, / might
have been better man; but the place
they left empty was soon filed up by
love of cursed lucre, and til at has
brought me here. deserve it but oh,
mercy, my lord mercy, good gentlemen 7
turning from the stony features of the
Judge to the jury, as if they could help
him" not for me but the wife. She
be as innocent Of this as a newborn
babe. It's I scoundrel that | be,
that has brought thee, Martha, to this
shameful pass !" The rugged man
snatched his life-companion to his breast
with passionate emotion, and tears of re-
morse and agony streamed down his
rough checks.
was deeply affected, and felt that the
man had uttered the whole truth. 1t
was evidently one of those cases in which
a person liable to suspicion damages his
own cause by resorting to a trick. No
doubt, by his act of theft, Armstrong
had been driven TO An expedient which
would not have been adopted by a
person perfectly innocent. And thus,
from one thing TO another, the charge OF
murder had been fixed upon him and his
hapless wife. When his confession had
been uttered, ! felt a species of self-ac-
cusation in having contributed TO his des-
truction, and gladly would i have undone
the whole days proceedings. The judge
on the contrary, was quite undisturbed.
Viewing the harangue Of Armstrong as
mere tissue of falsehood, he cody pro-
nounced sentence of death on the pris-
oners. They were to be hanged on Mon
day. This was Friday.
"a bad job p whispered the counsel
for the defence as he passed me. "Ihat
witness of yours, the women Strugnel',
is the real culprit."
tasted no dinner that day; | was
sick at heart; for felt as if the blood
of two fellow-creatures was on my
hands. In the evening / sailed forth to
the judges lodgings. He listened to all
l had to say; but was quite imperturbaole'
The obstinate old man was satisfied that
the sentence was as it should be. re-
turned to my inn in fever of despair
Without the approval of the judge,
knew that an application to the Secretary
of State was futile. There was not ever
time to send to London, unless the judg'
had granted respite.
An Saturday aud Sunday was II
misery. | denounced capital punish
ment as a gross iniquity-a national sal