Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-02-18

dressed himself. picked up his valise from
the floor, took his horse from the stable
and departed from the inn, resolving tt
seek safety in fight. 1t was daylight wher
he reached Coninbro', and then for the first
time he discovered that the valise which
he had taken from the floor was not his
but the pedler's, which he had no doubt
him, and in the place of which they doubt
less seized and carried off Scott's, which
lay on the carpet close by.
This extraordinary story was not be.
lieved by the coroner's jury in the face Of
all the damning evidence against Scott
1t was shown that he had seen the pedlel
produce his wallet from the valise in the
blacksmith shop; that he offered to accom-.
pany the pedler to Doncaster, and that he
had taken up his quarters at the same inn
and slept in the same room with the muir.
dered man. Besides this, he was captured
with the valise in his possession, and what
better evidence of his guilt could there be?
Scott was sent to Jail, and in due course
tried for willful murder. Out Of charity a
young lawyer undertook his defence. The
evidence for the prosecution was clear and
convincing, and Mr.. afterwards
Sergeant O'Brien-the prisoners counsel,
saw no chance for his clients escape. The
principal witnesses against him were the
blacksmith, John Steele, his son Richard,
the men that were in the smithy when the
pedler and Scott first met, the landlord of
the inn, who swore that Scott urged the
pedler to go to another inn, and the Off
GERS who found Scott with the pedler's va
lise in his possession.
The hammer with which the murder had
been committed was produced on the trial
and shown to the jury. One of them re-
marked to the court that it was a(black-
smiths shoeing hammer. Mr.. O'Brien
quietly asked to he allowed to look at it,
and he examined it closely. Then he stood
up and handed it to the prisoner. Scott
glanced his eye over it for moment, and
then handed it back to his counsel. The
next instant he clutched it, drew it from
Mr.. O'Brien's grasp and scrutinized it with
the most intense interest. Then he leaned
on the dock and spoke in hurried tone tv
his counsel. The latter, with flushed face
and hasty movements, made his way to the
side of the prosecuting officer, and con-
versed with him in low tone for several
minutes. The prosecuting officer then
spoke with the judge. and after few Sec.
onds .beckoned an officer and whispered to
him few words. Mr.. Steele, the black
smith, was recalled to the witness stand
by Mr.. O'Brien, who said:
''Mr. Steele, you are an old and expe-
rienced blacksmith, are you not?"
eyes, sir" Steele answered, with per-
ceptible tremor in his voice.
'sDid you work at your trade in Holder
ness?"
eyes, sir. when I was a young man,"
Anything peculiar in the manufacture
of horseshoe nails in that district, Mr..
Steele?''
81 think there is, sir"
''Pray tell us what that peculiaritv is,
Mr.. Steele.'
ssThe head is divided like in the middle"
Anything like the head of that nail
used as a wedge in the handle of that ham.
mer, Mr.. Steele?" the counsel asked, hand
ing the witness the weapon found near the
body of the murdered pedler.
The witness hand shook like leaf as he
reached it out for the hammer, his cheeks
grew deadly pale, his lips became parched,
and though he held the hammer in his
hand, his startling eyes were fixed on his
questioner.
Anything like that nail ?" Mr.. O'Brien
repeated, calmly looking at the witness.
eyes, sir, " Steele replied. at length, with
difficulty.
'Should you say that nail had been made
in Holderness, Mr.. Steele ?''
sit looks like it, sir,'' was Steele's re-
ply.
''Mr. Steele" the counsel said, moving
almost close to him, and standing so that
judge and jury could see both witness and
interrogation distinctly, Ibid you ever see
that hammer before you saw it in this
court ?''
The witness gave gasp, and then re-
covering himself, said:
eyes, sir; I saw it in the hands of the
coroner"
At this juncture there was disturbance
in the court, and the officers were seen
striving to prevent young man from
quitting the room.
The young man was Richard Steele, the
blacksmith's son.
LET me CO." he said, ''that's the old
scoundrel that did it. He knows that ham
mer's his, well enough. He knows that
he planned the whole thing and led me in
to it. LII turn Kings evidence; I'll blab
the whole story. Let me go and I'll hang
the old villain, though he is my father"
The scene that followed cannot be de-
scribed. Suffice it to say that nolle pros
equi was entered. and Scott was transfer
red into an important witness, Steele and
his son being duly indicted and tried for
the murder of the peddler. Scott swore to
the blacksmith's having taken the nail
from the old horse shoe, remarked that it
had been made in Holderness, and driven
it into the hammer head as wedge. The
hammer was furthermore identified as
having belonged to Steele, and testimony
was given which showed that the black