The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1873-11-27

Vuu h1e Vttiltuttcu tuht l. ruOuiu BUG
Good. Able lawyers we're arrayet
against me, with money and socia
power to back them, and must over
come them in the combat If | GOULD
1 marshalled my forces and disposed
of them in the best possible manner
l threw my whole soul into the work
and used every means possibly pres
ented. l took the connection Of the
prisoner with the homicide as grant
ed. Then I drow picture of the
murder which made the jury sbudder
and quake rs they sat and demand
ed that outraged justice should be
viniicated that the community
should be protected that our homes
our highways, and by ways, should
be safe to the innocent ones whom
we loved. held the prisoner up in
colors 80 frightful aud hideous tha,
he tainted outright in his box and
then this circumstance oiught ur
aud turned against him. Iftiriy cai.
ried the jury by storm; and oui
sympathetic aud good hearted Chiel
Justicehad allowed all his sympathies
to be expanded upon the distressed
and heart broken parents AMI broth
ers and sisters of the DECEASED The
counsel for the prisoner were out
lankod aud overpowerei, aud they
struggled hopclessly. In the end a
verdict of the first degree was rem
iored, and the prisoner was sentenced
to be executed.
II was jubilant aud proud Mt the
close Of the trial and both bench and
bar complimented mo. went to
my home expecting my wife to con
gratulato me warmly. She had been
present through most OF the trial,
aud had witnessed my triumph. But
ahe said not a word. When I asked
her If she did not join me in gratitude
for my success, she shook her head.
lam proud of my husband 8 legal
iame.' she said, but | cannot faal
grateful in the present instance.
think Edward, you hare condemned
an innocent man
"The words struck mo like bolt
OF liShtning,-not only the words,
but the more than hnman feeling
with which they had been spoken.
4 recovered myself, and laughed ut
the gentle woman for her misplaced
sympathy | asked har to look at
tho evidence
Look at the evidenced she de.
maude |. There are unseen evi
dences n strong rs those which are
pllpab'e to sight and hearing. The
heart feels them. and the calm judg.
ment endorses them. AZ live / do
not believe Charles Ashcroft ever
knowingly or willingly dil harm TO
that dead girl He knows no more
how she met her death than do l."
The furry of conquest was over,
and in my own sanctuary | sat down
and reflected took up now the
case of the defcndent, and went over
the whole business from beginning
TO the end Shutting out the ovi
dence directly duplicating the prison
er. there was no human being who
could have believed him guilty, What
then, was this evidence Did it di-
reetly connect him with the killing I!
No. Only circumstaptsally was he
connected herewith Was ,t'possi
BILE that some one else could have
done the deed ? Aye, a thousand
times. Was it more probable that
some one else did it than that Ash
croft did it Here was the rub l
had seen gailt in many forms. aud
had seen ipnoeepce accused | had
seen the guilty wretch attempt TO
hile his guilt and had heard him deny
it ia toto. And hore came in the
evideEce whieL NY wife had ex.
perienced, and which l could feel
but which could never be presented
to a jury of ordiEary men with NOV
ing power. In the bearing Of the
prisoner there had not been one
shadow of that brazcn impudepce
which is sure to crop ont somewhere
and somehow, in the demeanor of
guilt long struggling TO effect inno-
cence. Nor had he displayed the de
spair Of the hopelessly entrapped cri
mipal. On the contrary, he had
presented, as ] could calmly review
the scene, crushed and broken
heart-a manhood staggering under
Il frightful incubus, anda shivering,
shuddering sensitlveness under the
suspicious resting upon him. Now
that had won the victory, l could
afford to Judge without prejudice,
and | found myself, ere long, in
trouble. had condemned tho man
| had consigned him to the galfows
"How-how could she have come
to her death if he did not kill her ?
What other way is possible r
u had mused loud ut this point
aud my wife had heard me-
"rhere are many ways she said,
with directness which showed thai
her thoughts had been in company
with my own. Ashcroft left her
sitting upon log crying, When
she got up to start for home she
blundered along almost blindly thinks
ing OF nothing but the betrayed
lover she had sent from her. There
have been plenty Of pigeons in those
woods, and others besides Charles
Ashcroft were in all probability hunt
ing there on that Saturday afternoon.