The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1877-10-19

IF they have anything to do with fact:
bearing upon this case" said the Judge
with a smile at the boys attempt Al
forensic eloquence, you may proceed.
My mother and |, sir, do not believe
that Squire May shot my father. We
think that the murderer was stranger
from whom father had won a conSders
bic sum of money the night before.
\ The court has nothing to d." said
4, the Judge, with what you or your
i. mother may think or believe. The ques
!; ton is, can you prove anything
NO, sir, replied Gus. Il went down
to the Union saloon and found that IA
ther had won the money from peddler
that the man who lost it was desperate
but he had left the town, and no one
knew where he had gone, or what was
his name
MAY it please your Honor" said the
prosecuting attorney, "all this seems to
me utterly irrelevant, and Il useless con-
sumption Of time"
i Have you any thing further 10 slater
asked the Judge, kindly.
NO, sir said Gus, bursting into tears
"but if this trial could be put off, though
I've never seen the man. I'd track him
down like bloodhound, if | had to fol.
low him to- California" And the poor
boy sat down, covering his face in an
agony of grief
The discovery WAS nearer than he
thought, for messenger passed through
the crowded room, touched Gus upon
the shoulder, and whispered that he was
wanted. Utterly bewildered, he rose and
followed him to low boarding house in
a disreputable part of the town. There,
upon wretched bed, a man lay dying.
In drunken condition he had fallen
from high bridge, and his skull was
broken in several places. Father MUIR
ply, the catholic priest, had heard his
confession, and was now committing it to
writing. He did not look up or speak
as Gus entered, but went steadily on
with his work. \ peddler's pack lay
open upon a chair, and Gus Antoine's
sharp eyes detected an object which
made him start forward and seize it. 1t
was the strip of embroidery which Hope
had made. He had found the man he
sought.
Father Murphy, who had signed and
certified the paper, handed it at this in
slant to Gus. Its purport was that, hav
ing been ruined in play by Col. Antoine,
he had waited for and shot him in Wild
Cat Hollow. His money, which had
been taken from the murdered man, he
now left to the church, and he prayed for
the forgiveness of those whom he bad
injured. Gus turned to grant it, but the
hand that had committed the crime had
stiffened upon crucifiI, and with the
word peccavi upon his lips the soul had
gone.
Then Gus turned to Father Murphy.
"Come quick to the courthouse" he
said. "We may be too late now. I"
And with the confession in one hand
and the lace work in the other he
dashed out of the house
Meanwhile, at the courtroom, the
lawyer for the prosecution had summed
up his case and now the counsel for
the defendant, after making few re
marks, in which he drew attention to
Gus Antoine's statement as perhaps
not so foreign to the case, after all,
added that he thought it sufficiently
strong without it. They would soon
see that Squire May could not have
committed the murder, for he was
about to prove an alibi, and would
base it entirely upon the testimony of
one witness, and so saying he led Hope
to the stand. She had known that she
would be called upon to testify but
now her courage left her, and she felt
as if she must fly through an open side
door and escape from them all. But
glance from her father, and the
thought that she must save him, re-
strained her The little figure looked
very piteous with its white face, black
dress aud flowing fiaIen hair. Already
there was a murmur of sympathy in
the room, beginning with the women.
But the prosecuting attorney was equal
to the occasion.
~ protest, you Honor" he said
''against the testimony of such q mere
child being admitted in court. l am
willing to assert that she does not know
the nature of an oath, and it is a we'll
known fact that she has visited her
father in prison, and been instructed
by him as to what to say"
1.-The Court grants you permission to
ask herany questions you may choose, "
said the judge.
Hope held the back of a chair tightly
as the lawyer turned upon her.
''Do you know the nature of an
oath2" he asked, fiercely.
so! ye-, sir" replied Hope. ''It's
swearing, and I've heard Col. Antoine
swear lots of times"
A subdued litter, which Hope did
not hear, gr eted the words, while the
prosecuting attorney turned with a
gesture Of assumed despair. "Your
Honor sees" he began, then suddenly
turning to Hope. zone question more:
what did your father teach you to say
heref'
There was a murmur of Indignation
in the house of: why do they let
him sass her sol" and the like But
Hope replied firmly: "He told me,
whatever they asked me to tell the
tr1th."
"Yes, / understand he told you to
say that he had told you that. What
else!r
Nothing oh yes! he told me not to
be afraid if the lawyers were very i'm
pudent and tried to put me out, but
lust to tell the truth. the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, and God
would help me-"
81 think, your Honor said the law
yer for the defense, triuInphantIy, that
there is no longer any question as to
the eligibility OF the witness. and that
she may be now permitted to give her