Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-12-22
THE CRIMINAL WITNESS.

having been engaged TO defend young
man who had been accused of robbing
the mail 1 arrived carly in the morn
ing, and Immediately had a long con-
ference with my client. The stolen
mailbag had been recovered, as well as
the letters from which the money had
been rihed. These letters were given
TO me for examination, and 1 returned
them TO the prosecuting attorney. Hav-
ing got through my preiminaries about
noon, and as the case would not come
off before the next day, 1 went into
court in the afternoon to see what was
going on. The first case that came up
was one OF theft, and the prisoner was
young girl not more than seventeen
years of age, named Elizabeth Mad
worth. She was very pretty, and bore
that mild, innocent look which we sell
dom find in culprit She had been
weeping profuselv, but, as she found
so many eyes apon her, she became too
frightened to weep more.
The complaint against her set forth
that she had stolen a hundred dollars
from q Mrs. Naseby, and as the case
went on, found that this Mrs Naseby,
wealthy widow living in the town, was
the girls mistress. The poor girl de-
clared her innocence in the widest
terms, but circumstances were hard
against her. A hundred dollars in bank
notes had been stolen from her mistress
room, and she was the only one that
had access there
At this juncture, when the mistress
was upon the witness stand, young
man came and caught me by the arm.
He was a fine looking man, and big
tesrs stood in his eyes.
"They tell me you are a good law
YER" he whispered
"I am lawyer" I answered
"Then do save herl You certainly
can do it, for she is innocent"
Is she your sister7"
"No, SIR" he added, "but-but-''
Here he hesitated.
Has she no counsel ~ I asked.
"None that's good for anything
body that'n do anything for her. o,
save her and I'll give You all I've got
/ can't give you much, but can raise
something"
/ reflected moment. / cast nv eyes
towards the prisoner, and she was at
that moment looking at me. She caught
my eve, and the volume of entreaty
read In her glance resolved me in a mo-
ment. / arose and went to the girl, and
asked if she wished me to defend her.
She said yes. I then informed the
Court that / was ready to enter into
the case, and was admitted at once.
The loud murmur of satisfaction that
ran through the room told me where
the sympathies of the people were.
= IL n
might speak to my client. went and
sat down by her side,1and asked her to
state candidly the whole case. She told
me she had lived with Mrs. Naseby near
ly two years, and had never had any
trouble before About two weeks ago,
she said, her mistress lost a hundred
dollars.
ssShe missed it from her drawer" the
girl said to me, "and asked me about
It. 1 said I knew nothing about it.
That evening, / know Nancy Luther
told Mrs. Naseby that she saw me take
the money from the drawer-that she
watched me through the key-hole.
Then thev went 80 my trunk and found
twenty-five d0llars of the missing mon.
ey there. But, sir, / never took II, and
somebody must have put it there"
] s,en asked her if she suspected any
sne.
81 don't know" she said, "whc
could have done it but Nancy She has
never liked me, because she thought
was better treated than she. She il
the cook. was chambermaid."
She pointed Nancy Luther out to me-
She was stout, bold-faced girl, some
where about fve-and-twenty years old
with low forehead, small grey eyes, 6
pug nose and thick lips / caught hel
glance at once, as it rested on the fan
young prisoner, and the moment de
tected the look of hatred which / re nc
there, was convinced that she was The
rogue.
"Nancy Luther, did you say tina
girls name vast" / asked, for a Lev
light had broken in upon me.
"Yes, sir"
/ left the court room and went to Sh'
prosecuting attorney and asked hin
for the letters / had handed him-th
ones that had been stolen from tn
mailbag He gave them to me, and
having selected one, returned the res
and told him / would see he had tn
one kept before night. I then re
tu1AC4 W buC cA4A tL~ Ne-<1
went on
Mrs. Naseby resumed her testimony
She said she intrusted the room to tn
prisoners care, and that no one els
had access there save herself. The
she described about missing the money
and closed By telling how she foun
twenty-five dollars of the missing moi
ey in the prisoners trunk. She coul
swear ii was the identical money sh
had lost, in two tens and one fve-do
lar bank note.
ssMrs. Naseby,n said /, "when 70
first missed the money, had you ar
reason to believe that the prisoner hs
taken it7n
mo, sir" she answered
"Had you ever before detected h'
in any dishonesty 7"
"No, sir"
"Should you have thoughtof searc
ing her trunk had not Nancy Luth
advised and informed youw
"No, sir"
Mrs. Naseby left the stand, al
Nancy Luther took her place. 81
came up with bold look, and upon n
she cast a defiant look, as If to "a
Trap me, if you can" She gave b
evidence as follows
She said that on the night the mon
was taken she saw the prisoner goil
up stairs, and from the sly manner
which she went up she suspected
was not night. So she followed her u
Elizabeth went to Mrs. Nasby's roc
and shut the door after her. stoop
down and looked through the keyho
and saw her take'the money and put
in her pocket. Then she stopped do'
and picked up the lamp, and as l $
she was coming out, / hurried away
Then she went ON told how she h
informed her mistress of this, and b.
she proposed to search the girls trur
L called Mrs. Naseby to the stand
"You said that no one, save yo'
self and the prisoner, had access
your room 2" / did "Now, cor
Nancy Luther have entered the room