The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-12-03


sired To know what was wanted OF him.
"Wc want Ia know what YOU know
about this case-about Stubcn stealing
those hams
"lch knows noting about dot
Ibid YOU ever see these hams be-
fore?"
Cant say for sure whether ever
did oder not
"Nhy, Mr.. Snben. here, saws that
YOU butchered his hogfor him and that
these are cut from that hog
"la, lch butcher dot hog for Stubcn,
and cut him up, but don't know dat
desc be selbSt-same hams oder not. Ich
will see Won sure ven zee lets me dry
desc legs on 'em." At the same time
he unrollod the paper bundle, display
ing four legs of hog, hoofs and all on.
"lch haber cut of desc feer legs Won
Stuben's schwein-vot you calls him?-
hook va, Won Siuben's hook lch
haben cuts tree nit der saw and ems
nit den Az. lch haben took de fuses
IN mine house, and dere dey bees. Ven
doze hams was de same, den desc fuses
fit yoost SO same As ever pefore vas"
Here was business. There was ex-
element for YOU. Triumph or ruin for
poor Stuben, inthe air His fate i rush
inc upon him with stayless footsteps.
The test of his guilt or innocence, be-
yond cayil or gainsaying, j. before u.
As if furnishedby magic genii. and with
in one brief minute is To be applied
Should these bones fail to match. Peter
Stuben's fate is scaled, As surely as that
of Lucifer. Dungeon-walls, the brand
of thief, the social ban for all time. are
his. Should they dovetail together, he
arises free man. free OF bonds and free
of suspicion As the Angel Gabriel.
Home, instead of prison-grates, shall
receive MIN, and ''frau and kinder. and
freunds" shall cheer and make him hap
his future days
My first impulse was To postpone the
test till | could ascertain If there was
any chance that the legs had been tam
pered with. lnstinctively | desired to
do. something to avert what | feared
was about To prove overwhelming disas-
ter 10 my client.
But the crowd pressed in on all sides,
in furor Of excitement. The jury are
j on their feet, and clustering Al the
table, where the witness is already
manipulating the severed members, and
applying them 10 the amputated ends
OF the larceniOus bacon Before | can
myself reach the table, a shout goes up
from those closest To it, which j. joined
in by the nearest bystanders, and then
taken up, a by contagion. by the en-
tire assembled mass, till the hall fairly
shakes with the uprOarious vOciferatiOn
The legs fitted. bone to bone, muscle to
muscle, marrow 10 marrow. Nv client,
from picion-clouded prisoner-at-
the-b bar, was. as by the presto. change
of enchantment, transformed into an
honest, respected. and prosecuted citi-
zen. neighbor and friend.
But Silence in Court" is again COM
manded The form Of acquittal must
be observed. This verdict Of the jury
must be recorded, upon which alone
discharge of the prisoner can be an
nounced, a. a proper benediction 10
close the exciting ordeal.
ANY appeal to the jurors in behalf of
the accused seemed now quite super
fluous; but all parties concerned evi-
IDENTIFY expected that should make one.
and would Toe disappointed If did not.
Ii never would do to have "city lyar,
and no speech.
What said after was on my feet.
never since could recall to memory, ex-
cept here and there fragmentary SEN
fences. Ii was no argument, or sum
ming-up of testimony. but rather a chant
of victory, interspersed with anathamas
against poor Stuben 5 enemies. who had
sought, by their vile perjury. to accom-
plish his ruin. liz must-as look back
now upon my recollection Of it-havc
been an incoherent rhapsody, ending
with kind Of Dutch apotheosis, in
which my honest but abused and injured
client figured as a representative Of the
Teutonic race. Ii was my maiden ef-
fort at public harangue; but no embar-
rassment, or hesitation for fitting words,
married my delivery. as they have often
done on other occasions since. when |
had made full preparation, too, before
hand, of what | was to say. 1t was an
illustration of the magnetic effect of
numbers massed together. the emotions
Of whom, strongly excited. sweep in the
same direction. Surrounded. as was,
by that seething. glowing body Of hui
manity, all in red-hot sympathy with
every word could utter, could but be
surcharged with the contagious senti-
ment of the hour. NY brain could
hardly help being electrified up TO its
highest working conditions, and utter
ance became as natural and unconscious
as locomotion.
Doubtless not one-half Of my language
was Ineligible to my auditors; but they
the facial expressions and
the pantomime, and that | was saying
what each one believed and felt.
closed. The jurors put their heads
together for few moments, and then,
resumng their seats. the Foreman an
nounced the verdict. Not guilty"
The prisoner was discharged, aud the