The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1872-09-13

: peaIance of truth. The housekeeper was
then put into the box and examinedby the
counsel for the prisoner. According to the
custom, at that time almost universal, of
excluding witnesses from court until their
testimony was required, she had been kept
/ alta house near at hand, and had not heard a
single word of the trial. There was moth
ing remarkable III her manner or appear
ance. She might be about thirty-five or a
little more, with reguf9tr though not agree
able features and an air perfectly free from
embarrassment.
She repeated. almost in the prisoners
own words, the story he had told of his
having called her up and her having ac-
companied him to hissroohn, adding that,
after leaving him, she had retired to her
own room and had been awakened by tie
man servant III the morning with an ae=
! count of the travellers death.
She had now to undergo a cross -examina-
tion :; and / may as wei state here that
which, though not kilown to me till after
ward, viii assist the reader in understand
ing the following scene. The counsel for
the prosecution had, in his own mind. at
tachCd considerable importance to the cir
cumStances mentioned by the witness who
saw the light; that while the prisoner and
the housekeeper were III the room of the
former, something like door, had inter-
vencd between tEc candle and the window.
which was totally irreconcilable with the
appearance of the room when examined ::
and he halfpersuaded himself that there
must be a secret closet which had escaped
the search Of the officers Of Justice, the
opening Of which would account for the
appearance alluded to, and the existence Of
which might discover the property which
had so mysterionsly disappeared.
lis object, therefore, was to obtain from
the housekeePcr (the only person except
the prisoner who could give any clue to
this such information as he could get,
without alarming her by any direct in
quiTy on the subject which as she could
not help seeing its Importance, would have
led her at once to a positive denial He
knew, moreover, that as she had not been
in court, She could not know how much or
how little The inquiry had brought to
light; and by himself treating the matter
I as immatcrial, he might lead her u con
sider it 50, also, and by Ssat mca5is unsus-
pectcdly draw forth all she knew. After
some unimportant questions, he asked her
in 4 tone and manner calculated rather to
awaken confidence than to excite distIust {:
During the time you were i'll Mr.. Smiths
room, you stated that the candle stood on
/ the table, in the center of the room? Yes.
! Was the closet, or cupboard, OF what
! ever you call it, opened once, OF twice,
] while it stood there? \ pause no an
/ swcr
! viii call it to your recollection. After
/ 8Ir. Smith had taken the medicine out of
the closet, did he shut the door, or did it
remain open? He shut it.
Then it was opened again for the pur-
/ pose of replacing the bottle, was it? 1t
! was.
Do you recollect how long it was open
! the last time? Not above a minute.
! The door when open, would be exactly
between the light and the window, would
! it not? 1t would
/ forgot whether you said the closet was
on the right left hand side of the win
dow? The left
Would the door of the closet make any
noise III opening it? None.
Can you speak positively to the fact +?
Have you ever opened it yourself, or seen
Mr.. Smith open it? 1 never opened it
myself.
Did You never keep the keys? Never.
Who did e? Mr.. Smith always.
At this moment the witness Glanced to
turn her eyes toward the spot where the
prisoner stood, and the effect was almost
electrical. A cold, damp sweat stood upon
his brow his face had lost all its color
he appeared living image of death She
no sooner saw him than She shrieled and
tainted. The consequences of her answers
flashed across her mind.
She had been so thoroughly deceived by
the manner of the advocate and by the
little Importance he had seemed to attach
to her statement, that she had been led on,
by one question to another, till she had told
him all that he wanted to know.
During the interval foccasioned by her
illness) as to The proceedings, the solici-
tor for the prose cution left the court. 1t
was between and O'Clock when tie
Judge resumed his seat upon the bench,
the prisoner his station at the bar, and the
housekeeper hers in the witness box; the
court in the interval had remained crowd
ed with spectators, scarce one Of whom
had left his place lest, during his absence,
il should be seized by some one else.
The cross-examining counsel then adj
dressed the witness l have a very few
more questions to ask of you but beware
that you answer them truly, for your own
life depends upon thread.
Do you know this stopper?
l do.
To whom does it belong?