The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-05-07
"Then you have seen it in the pa.

| II" t.,
"Will you please send mo all the pa
pers that tell me anything about it 2"
"Certainly, certainly, my dear Mrs.
Templeton; will yon have them here p
mo, in my room please"
"You shall have them directly"
"Thank you"
And as Flora walked slowly away,
VII. jackson shook his head. H. had
discovered the young widows secret, he
thought, and knew now the reason wbv
she had been so Indifferent to all the
attention she had received in their sum.
mer trip.
~ wonder which Of them it is" be
thought. "1've heard they were both
attentive to her; it can't be Anthony
he was such prig, it must be Charlie
Wentworth's handsome face that has
made the impression, poor thing! Well
perhaps after all it will come out that
he did not do it."
In few moments Flora had the IA.
pers in her possession, and was devour.
ing them eagerly, breathlessly, with
eyes that seemed to seize the meaning
Of the words without waiting for the
slow process Of scanning every one, and
a: mind that grasped every poin / that
bore upon his possibleinnocence. From
the first discovery of the fact that the
murder was committed in Scudpolt,
and on the night before she left, .Flors
felt a glad, triumphant thrill, for she
knew then that he was gailtles,, and
after that she could go on to the detail.
with heat, heavy enough it is true
at thought Of all he had suffered: bu.
tuIl Of strong, deep hope and conf.
dence in his final vindication.
Here. was all. the description Of the
examination before the grand jury. Flo.
-ra's eyes filed with tears as she read
how the prisoner came in looking yery
pale and seeming to suffer very intense.
ly, her brow contracted as she saw how
he had declared his innocence and NOT
been believed, but her cheeks flushed
to a deep crimson as size noted the com.
ments of the reporter in his refusal to
account for the manner in which he
had passed that last evening. Here
was the testimony of the servant who
had heard the angry words between
Charlie and his so.called victim, and
the additional testimony Of one of the
young men who had been on the band
platform that first afternoon at Scud-
port when Charlie had uttered that
hasty threat after Anthony urged Flora
to drive with him. Here too was the
evidence of the medical man as to the
fact that death had resulted from those
wounds, and that they must have been
inflicted with Wentworth's cane; then
the cane was identified by one OF. two
fellow boarders at the Beach House.
And at last the landlord described the
discovery Of the body on his return
from visit to friend, and bow he
had called waiter and had it quietly
conveyed into the hotel this fixed the
time of the murder, for it was before
enc o'clock.
AS Flora read that her eyes flashed
with light Of sudden hope, and she
dropped the paper with a cry Of glad
ness. 'Then can prove his iuuo-
cence," she said, "for 1 was with him
up to that time."
And then with wildly beating heart
she saw why it was that he had refused
to account for that last evening, and re-
allied with throe of intense devotion
that as he had sworn to her. he was
about literally to prove that he would
die sooner than betray any trust which.
she had placed in him. T. -.
What now to her were detractions or
animadversions or ccnventionalities =?
she could prove that he could not have
committed this foul crime, and she
would save his life even if it cost her
her reputation to do it. The frowns
and sncers of all the world we're 4 as
nothing to her, now that this terrible
rrAity had brought her face to face
with life and death, and made her feel
that the safety Of this man was more to
her than anything else: on the earth.
For some moments she was so ;daz-
zled by the revulsion Of feeling in this
new thought, this glorious conscious
ness Of his noble devotion to her, that
she forgot that she had not learned all,
that it was necessary for her to know,
then with a sudden recollection she
picked up the paper aud read the clos
ing sentences Of the report.
"All the circumstances of this afro.
cious murder seems peculiarly painful.
The prisoner is young man of high
connections, who will involve most re-
spectacle family in his disgrace, while
his victim seems to be entirely without
near relatives, and his sudden death has
left his affairs in considerable confusion
Advantage has been taken of this, wo
understand, by some designing parsons
to draw out large sums in bank, by
checks now supposed to be forged, sus.
picion points to bis servant, 4, certain
Thomas Brown, who, it will be remem.