The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-12-21

he rapidly gained strength but the days
flew all too quickly, and it now wanted
only little more than a week to the trial.
This was fixed for Monday; and on the
Monday previous the doctors thought the
attempt might be made. 1t was done !;
and the patient bore it much better than
was expected; but the result could not be
known all at once, as he was, of course,
greatly prostrated. During the whole of
Tuesday and Wednesday he was in very
critical state; but on Thursday the danger
was considered past, and on that evening,
as Rose was sitting at his bedside, she
heard his voice calling feebly:-"Rose,
Rose !" The tone was so natural that she
was at once convinced that he knew her.
Repressing with great effort the violent
desire she felt to throw her arms round
his neck, she answered; "Here l am, pa
pa"
elbow quiet the ship is p he murmured,
''I can not feel her roll at all. l wish
the breeze would come, SO that we might
get home"
''Rose hardly knew what to make of
this or what to answer; at first she thought
his mind was still affected, but the clear,
intelligent look Of his eye convinced her
that he was sane. As gently as possible
she soothed him, and he soon fell off to
sleep again. When DIR. Bailey, coming
in soon after, was told of the success Of
the operation, he was much pleased; but
he enjoined the greatest quietude. especial
ly that all topics should be avoided likely
to excite the patients mind"
"From this time the General improved
very rapidly, so much as to be able to take
little walk in the garden on Sunday.
Following the instructions of the doctor,
Rose conversed only of commonplace and
present matters, although Of course to
some extent the past must have been al
luded to, in explanation of her father
change of position, that is from shipboard
to London. At the same time she was
burning to question him as to what he re-
membered of that terrible night.
"On Monday morning when she went
into his bedroom, he said :-"My dear
child, you look very i'll and careworn;' and
then, receiving no answer, he continued
II have been thinking about that Lieut..
Stevenson; what has become of him
This was more than Rose could bear, SO
falling on her knees at his bedside She
with many a sob and tear-told him all. y
II pass on now to the trial of the pris-
oner. 1t happened that this was the first
case on the list, so it was still early when
the trial commenced. l should like to
describe to you the scene in court, did
time permit, but must ask you to imag-
inc it. Capt. Bowlby proved the finding
of Stevenson in the Generals cabin, and
described the state in which he appeared.
Col. Morton proved the fact of the will
having been made and deposited in the
box, and told how it was against Steven
sons interests, which fact was known to
Rose, and therefore presumably to Steven
son also. Others proved the finding OF
the box, hidden away behind the prison
er's bed; and last of all the paper written
by the General was brought forward, con-
tanning the first three letters of Steven
sons name The counsel for the defense
did all that could be done, but was quite
unable to dispute the facts or break down
the evidence. Then came the judges
summing up. He pointed out that al
though the evidence was clear, yet it was
in a measure what is termed circumstan-
tial on the other hand it must necessarily
be so, as many murders were committed
with no actual eyewitness. Much more
he said fairly and pointedly, and then the
jury retired. You might have heard
pin drop when they returned, and although
the foreman pronounced the word aguilty"
in low tone, it seemed to sound and re-
echo through the whole court.
"Prisoner at the bar" said the judge
in solemn voice, "a jury of your fellow
countrymen have found you guilty of a
dreadful crime, and am bound to say
that I agree with the verdict. lam quite
willing to believe that you did it under
sudden impulse, hardly knowing what you
did; nay, may believe that in the first
instance your only object was to get pos
session of the will; but finding yourself
discovered either by the servant or the
General, you committed the greater crime
to conceal the less. 1t therefore only re-
mains to me" he continued, assuming the
black cap, while a visible shudder trem-
bled through the room, sto pass sentence
upon you, which is"
"But just at that moment there was
disturbance near the door, and female
voice was heard imploring :-"For mercys !
sake let us pass. 1t is Gen. Page. The
prisoner is innocentI' All eyes turned to
the spot; and Rose, in state of great ex-
citement, was seen leading her father for
ward
"The counsel for the defense ipmedi-
ately obtained permission to place the
General in the witness-box, where, on ac-
count of his great feebleness, he was ac-
commodated with chair. After the
usual preliminaries, the question was
asked, "Do you know the prisoner at the
bar p
ayes; it is Lieut.. Stevenson"
"Did he enter your cabin the night
your servant was murdered ?"
s'Not that l am aware of.
"But you wrote portion of his name
on piece of paper. See; here it is.
eyes; but it appears | did net finish it.
Give it to me, and will do SO now" Hand
ing back the paper, he continued There;
that is the man who attacked me.
"The mystery was all explained now;
the completed word was-STEWARD;
and all this misery had been caused by
the want of four little letters-ward. The
steward was then actually the man. No
one had thought of him, and yet what
more easy? He was always in and out
of the cabins, and would be sure to notice
the box; and evidently thinking it con-
tanned valuabies; had stolen it. Having
done SO, and finding suspicion already
fallen upon Stevenson, nothing was more
easy then to hide the empty box where it
was found. All this was ascertained to
be substantially correct, for the man was
arrested and soon afterward confessed his
dreadful crimes.
"I have nothing more to add, except
that Stevenson was discharged without a
stain ON his name, and that the old Gener-
al, yielding to the solicitations Of his
dauohter. and convinced of StevensOn's 1