The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-10-22

:. ale rezdfly consented, and we 5,
ont to1<ther. We had not riddle
= maE/miles, when George suddenl
re<6llected a commission he had ur
.oIdertaken for friend. which woul
require his attendance at a public Ian
sale on the following day.
"Exacting a promise that he woul
not delay his visit longer than nee
essary, and having given minute dc
: tail as to the route, 1 continued O.
my way hon eward, while he turne
back.
II was about retiring to bed on tn
night Of my return, when a summon
from without called me to the door
A stranger asked shelter for himsel
and horse for the night.
II invited him in. Though /;
stranger. his face SCENE not unfamil
lar. he was probably one Of th'
men l has seen at the land Office, I
place at that time very much fire.
quented.
HOferiDg him seat, | went to SET
to his horse. The poor animal, a:
well as l could see by the starlight
seemed to have been hardly used
His painting sides bore witness OF
merciless riding, and a tremulous
shrinking, at the slightest touch, be-
tokened recent fright.
"On re.enteriDg the house, l found
the stranger was not there. His alb
senee excited no surprise, he would
doubtless soon return. 1t was a lit
tie singular, however, that he should
have left his watch lying on the
table.
"At the emo Of an hour, my guest
not returning, l went TO the stable,
thinking he might have found his way
thither to give his personal attention
to the wants Of his horse.
"Before going out, from mere force
Of habit-for we were as yet uninfest-
ed by either thieves or policemen
| took the precaution of putting the
strangers watch in drawer in which
kept my own valuablcs.
81 found the horse as had left
him, and gave him the food which be
was now sufficiently cooled to eat, but
his master was nowhere to be seen.
"As | approached the house crowd
of men on horseback dashed up, and
was commanded to Stand = In an
other moment I was in the clutches
Of those who claimed me as their
prisoner
al was too much stupifed at first to
ask what it all meant. | did so at
last, and the explanation came, it was
terrible
MY friend, with whom 1 had so
lately set out in company, had been
found murdered and robbed near the
spot at which I, but alone, knew we
Ehad separated. l was the last per-
son known to be with him. and l was
now arrested on suspicion of his
murder.
ga search of the premises was i'm
mediately instituted. The watch was
found in the drawer in which [ had
placed it, and was identified as the
property of the murdered man. His
horse, too, was found in my stable,
for the animal l had just put there
was none other. [ recognized him
myself when 1 saw him in the light
"What l said, | know not. My
confusion vas taken as additional ev-
idence And when at length I did
command language to give an iEtelli-
gible statement, it was received with
SHEETS of iiurre1ul;t-5-,-
frThe mob spirit is inherent in
man-at least in crowds of men. 1t
NAV not alRays manifest itself in phys
icai violence. 1t sometimes con-
tents itself by lynching a character.
But whatever its form it is always
relentless, pitiless, cruel.
"As the proofs of my guilt, one
after another came into light, low
mutterings grew into clamor for
vengeance and but FIR the frmness
of one mantle officer who had me
in charge-I would doubtless have
paid the penalty of my supposed Of
fense on the spot.
at was no sympathy for me that
actuated my protector. His heart
was as hard as his Office but he rep
resented the majesty of the law, and
took a sort of grim pride in the posi-
ton.
"As much under the glance of his
eye as before the muzzle of his pistol,
the cowaEdly clamorers drew back.
Perhaps they were not suficie ntly nu-
merous to feel the full effects of that
mysterious reflex influence, which
makes a crowd of men so much worse
and at times so much better, than
any one of them singly.
= :; = \ :: ::
At the end of some months my
trial came. 1t could have but one
result. Circumstances too plainly
declared my guilt. I alone knew
they lied
"The absence of tho jury was
brief. 70 their verdict l paid but
little heed. 1t was a single hideous
word, and 1 had long anticipated it,
and it made no impression.
GAS the impression was made by
the words of the Judge which follow
ed it; and his solemn invocation that
God might have that mercy upon me
which man was too just to vouchsafe
sounded like the hollowest of hollow
mockeries.
at may be hard for the condemn
ed criminal to meet death; it is still