Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1871-06-29
gHGll2Q lInnEllEl
Proving an Alibi : A
49,. ShreWd Trick.

IOllOWSO " q oChftAllI III uNGIA ,
Z rode iuto an inn IN the West Of
England, one evening a little be.
fore dark. He told the landlord
: that he should be detained by bu .
siness in that part of the country
for a few days, and wished to
know if there, were any amuse-
ments going on in town to. fill up
- the intervalsof time. The land
lord replied that it was their race
and { assize week, and that he
would, therefore, be at no loss to
pass away the time. On the gen.
5 tleman'smaking answer that this
was lucky for that he was fond
of seeing trials, the other said that
avery interesting trial for robbery
! would come on the next day, Oh
; which peoples opinions were much
! ! divided, the evidence being very
strong against the prisoner but
be himself persisted resolutely in
declaring that he was in a distant
part Of the country at the time
the robbery was committed. His
guest manifested considerable anx-
yiety to hear the trial; but as the
court would probably be crowded,
depressed some doubtof getting "a
place, but that, to prevent, any
facciient, he would himself go
with him and speak to the sheriff.
Accordingly y5aithey went into
court the ineAtYsmorning, andqthe
gentleman was shown to a seat on
/ the bench. Presently after, the
trial commenced. While the evil
dencei was giving against him, the
/ prisoner remained with his eyes
fixed on the ground, seemingly
very much depressed, till, being
called on for his defense, he looked
Eup, and Seeing the stranger, be
suddenly tainted away This ex-
.citedsome surprisey and it seemed
at first, like a trick to gainit time.
! As soon as he came to himself, on
being asked by the; judge the
cause Of his behavior, he said /:
a,"Oh, my lord, l see person
who can save my lilei That gen
ltleman,01l( (pointingtothe stanger)
Tcan Proye l amllnpocent, might
| | | only have leave to put a few
Questions to him.
The eyes Of the court were
now turned enthegentleman, who
said he felt inba,1yery awkward
situation to be-ealled upon, as he
did not remember ever 10 ,'have
seen tie man before, but that lie
would answer any question that
was askddnim!1 .E8ioi7'i ''
%" s"Well,. then,' 3 said @tie man,
"dgn't yGp remember landing at
Dover at such a ,time,?R at er..
TO this the gentleman ar
swered, "That h9 had landed, at
Dover not long btf6re, bnt that be
could not tell whether it was on
tue day he mentioned, OF not. - s
"Well," said tbs. prisoner, "but
don't You recoTlect pers9H in "a.
Blu" jacket and trowsers carried
your. trunk TO the Inn p %
/ bFeathis be- answered that, of
course some person had carried his
trunk for him., but that he did
not know what dress he wore.
"But," said the prisoner, "don't
you remember that the person
whoiwent with you from the pack
eft, toldiyou airstory aof'yhis being
in the service, that he Thought
imself an i'll used man, and that
be showed you scar he had on
one side of his forehead ?"
During this last question, the
countenance5 OF. the stIanSer un-
derwent q considerable change.
He said he certainly did, recollect
such a circumstance. and on the
mans putting his hair aside, and
shewmgsthe scar, he became Sure
thai he was the same person. % s'H'
a buzz of satisfaction now ran
through the court, for the day en
which, according to the prisoners
account, this gentleman had met
with him at Dover, was the same
on which he was charged with the
robbery in the remote county.
The stranger, however, could not
be certain of the time, but said
that he sometimes made a memo
randum of dates in his pocket
book, and might possibly have
done so on this OCCASION On
turning to his pocket book, he
found a memorandum Of the time
he landed from Calais. which
,orresponded with the prisoners
This being the only
circumstance necessary to prove
he abb, the prisoner was imme-
lately acquitted, amidst applause
md congratulations. ..-u-.i.,
Within less than month after
his, the gentleman who came to
he inn attended by servant in
livery, the servant who followed
i'm. and the prisoner who had