Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1873-11-07

uoot piinuiy, tnluhlnB OF nOJnlnp Out
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 hunting
there on that Saturday afternoon. Did
you ever hear of persons being shot by
sheer accident in such places? What
more easy than for Susan Lattimer to
have suddenly come into range of a gun
already aimed, with the finger of its own
er pressing the trigger p
but" | cried, staptled at the tho't,
chad such an accident occurred, the man
would have come forward and owned it. ;
1T was not man it was boy"
said my wife; 'and the catastrophe fright
ened him ont of his wits--a boy who
knows not the grades of homicide who
fears that the gallows would follow re-
violation of the decd"
II cannot tell you, gentlemen, how
that thing worked upon my mind. I
came to believe that my wife had truly
solved the problem and the more | re-
hected the more firmly became that solu-
ton fixed in my faith. The time for
Ashcroft's execution was drawing near.
How could | save him There was but
one way. A new trial without some new
evidence, was out of the question.
must set him free. | could not see him
hanged. / visited him in his cell, and
came away morally sure that he was in
noceht. | asked my wife if she had the
will and the courage to help that man to
break his bonds. She flashed in the glory
of her woman's power like an impatient
soldier. told her [ would set her on
the track, but | must not know how the
work was done, nor where the prisoner
had gone. She comprehended and agreed.
| lent my official influence to gain her
access to the Jail, and she did the rest
She came home one night radiant like
giant who has had glimpse of heaven.
On the following morning was informed
that the condemned man had escaped.
asked my wife no questions, and she of
fered no information.
Search was instituted, but not trace
of the fugitive could be found. The time
set for the execution passed, and not ma
ny days thereafter an honest farmer, liv-
ing near to the uncle whom Susan Lat
timer went to visit on that Saturday af-
ternoon, came to me in great tribulation.
His son, a boy of fourteen, had confessed
the shooting of Miss Lattimer. l went
over with the father and saw the boy
| found him sick nigh unto death his
| life worried away by the fearful secret
which he had held gnawing in his bosom.
promised him that no harm should hap
pen unto him, and he frightened up
1t was exactly as my wife had suggested.
The lad had seen pigeon upon a tree,
and had crept into clump of bushes on
the opposite side of the cart-path, in or
der that he might raise his gun without
frightening the bird. He had cooked the
piece, and taken aim, and his finger was
pressing the trigger, when Miss Latti-
mer, with her head bent down, came d.
rectly before the muzzle. She had come
like dark shadow between him and the
bird, and not until his piece had been
discharged did he know what bad thus
suddenly INSTRUCTED his sight. When he
hdu icdptu ouu rum Hib CUPeT anu Huu
seen the fearful work he had done, he
was for moment paralyzed with a ter
ror that was awful. Soon the phantom
of Murder appeared to bis appalled, sense
and he ran away and hid And from that
time he had suffered, until his secret was
so near killing him that he had 10 tell it.
| returned home and asked my wife If
she knew where Charles Ashcroft was.
She said she knew. | told her what /
had discovered, and babe her bring him
back On the very next day Ashcroft
appeared, and delivered himself up at
the Jail.
The final result you can easily COM
prehcnd. At the new trial the boy was
able to attend, and Charles Ashcroft was
set at liberty with but little ceremony,
his character cleared from even the ap-
pearance Of guilt.
And so the life of an innocent, high
minded man was saved. He would have
been surely hanged had he remained in
prison to the appointed day. People said
it was interposition of Providence. They
little dreamed how much of that precious
Providence lay in the subtle instincts
and in the heart of my wife; nor did
they suspect my own official treason -
But never blamed myself-never. And
the teachings of that experience have
served me well in later years"
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