The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-05-27
liseeIlaay.
THE CRIMINAL WITNESS.

! In the spring OF 1854 was called tC
Jackson, Alabama, to attend court
having been engaged to defeno q youna
man who had been accused of robb;ns
the mail. / arrived early in the morn
ing and Immediately had q long con
ference with my client. The stolen mai
bags bad been recovered, as well as let
tiers from which money had been rified
These letters We're given me for ex-
animation, and 1 returned them to the
prosecuting attorney. Having got
through my private preliminaries about
noon, and as the case would not come
off before the next day, l went into
court to see what was going on.
The first case that came up was one
of theft, and the prisoner was a Young
girl not more than seventeen years of
age. named Elizabeth Madworth.--She
was very pretty, and bore that mild,
innocent look which you seldom find i'm
a culprit. she had been weeping pr0-
| fusely, but as she found SO many eyes
upon her, she became too frightened to
weep more.
| TIE complaint against her set forth
that she had stolen hundred dollars
from a Mrs. Naseby, and as the case
went on, 1 found that Mrs. Naseby, q
wealthy widow living in the town, was
the girls mistress. The poor girl de-
clared her innocence in the widest
terms; but circumstances were bard
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 stand, a young man
caught me by the arm. He was a fine
looking young man, and big teas
stood in his eyes. -
'aThey tellme you are good lawyer u
he whispered.
am q lawyer answered. -.
"Then do save her. You certainly
can do it, for she is innocent"
"Is she your sister?' -
"No sir,n he added; :" but-but-''
here he hesitated. ~
"Has she no counselY' l asked.
"None that's good for anything, no.
body that'll do anything for her. Oh,
save her! and I'll give you all Pve got
Il cannot give you much, but l can
raise something" -
/ reflected moment. / cast my
eyes toward the prisoner, and she was
at that moment looking at me. She
caught my eye, and the volume OF
humble entreaty L read in her glance
resolved me in a moment.
/ arose. and went to the girl and
asked her if she wished me to defend
her. She said yes. / then informed
the court that was ready to enter into
the case, and the murmur of satisfac-
ton than ran quickly through the
room told me where the sympathies of
the people were. / asked for a mo-
ment's cessation, that 1 might speak
with my client. l went and sat down
by her side and asked her to state can
didly the case. She told me that she
had lived with Mrs. Naseby two years,
and had never had any trouble before.
About two weeks ago, she said her mis-
tress lost a hundred dollars.
"She missed it from her drawer"
the girl said to me, "and asked me
about it. | said / knew nothing about
it. That Nancy Luther told Mrs Mas
by that she saw me take the money
from the drawer-that she watched me
through the key-hole. They went to
my trunk and fonnd twenty-five dol
lars of the missing money there. But,
sir, I never took it, and somebody must
have put it there"
"I don't know" said she, "who
could have done it but Nancy. She
has never liked me because she thought
/ was better treated than her. She is
cook. was chambermaid.
She pointed Nancy Luther out to me.
She was a stout, bold-faced girl, some
where about twenty-five years old,
with low forehead, small gray eyes, a
pug nose, and thick lips. / caught her
glance at once, as it rested upon the
fair young prisoner, and the moment 1
detected the look of hatred which L
was the rogue.
Nancy Luther, did you say that
girls name was"' / asked, for new
light had broken i'm upon me.
"Yes, sir.n
left the court room and went to the
prosecuting attorney and asked him
for the letters had handed him-the
ones that had been stolen from the
mailbag. He gave them to me, and
having selected one, 1 returned the
rest, and told him / would see he had
the one / kept before night. then re-
turned to the court room and the case
went on.
Mrs. Naseby resumed her testimony.
She said she entrusted the room to the
prisoners care, and that no one else
had access there save herself. Then
she described about the missing
money, and closed by telling how she
had found twenty-five dollars in the
prisoners trunk.
She could swear it was the identical
money she had lost, in two tens and
five dollar bill.
Mrs. Naseby,n said l, "when you
first missed the money, had you any
reason to believe that the prisoner had
taken it ?'
"No, sir"
"Should you have thought of search
ing her trunk had not Nancy Luther
advised and informed you?"
"No, SIR"
Mrs. Naseby left the stand, and Nam
cy Luther took her place. She came
up with bold look, and upon me she
cast a defiant look, as much as to say,
trap me if you can" She gave me
the evidence as follows:
She said chat ON the night the money
was taken she saw the prisoner going
up stairs, and from the sly manner in
which she went up she suspected all
was not right. She followed her up;
elizabeth went to Mrs. Naseby's
room and shut the door after her. I
stopped down and looked through the
key-hole, saw her take out money and
put it i'm her pocket.-Then she stopped
down and picked up the lamp, and as
L saw that she was coming out | hur-
ried away"
called Mrs. Naseby to the stand.
"You said that no one save yourself
and prisoner had access to your room,u
| said "Now could Nancy Luther
have entered the room if she wished ~,
Certainly, sir; | mean that no one
else had right theren
saw that Mrs. Naseby, though natu-
rally n hard woman, was somewhat
moved by poor EliZabeth's misery.
Gould the cook have known by any
means in your knowledge where your
money was?n
Yes, sir; for she has often come to
my room while was there, and have
often given her money to buy provis-
ins OF market men who happened to
come along with their wagon"
One more question. Have you
known of the prisoner having used
any money since this was stolen ?''
"No, sir"
Inow called Nancy Luther back, and
she began to tremble a little, though
her look was as bold and defiant as
ever.
"Miss Luther" i said, "why did