Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-05-29


villagers, and loss and annoyance to
the neigbOrhOOd; and as those who EN-
ployed him considered his only fault was
poaching, and from which no remOn-
STRANGE could wean him, they, as their
presence i'm court testified, were one and
all considerably interested in his trial,
which commenced on the previous day.
was now about to terminate, and, as
they feared, terminate badly.
The evidence, as we have said, was
circumstantial, and his defense was an
alibi; but as it was an alibi without
proof-being entirely unsupported by
the slightest testimOny-it was felt by
all there that the verdict would be
Guilty. and even if he escaped with his
life, that the sentence would be heavy
one, for he was too old pOacher not to
be made an example of.
As for Perks himself, as black a5 things
looked against him, he still held his
head up, Just as though he was wholly
innocent, and he counted on an acquit-
tai
NO blood of his" said he, "is on these
hands; was miles away, too"
But the tale he told, to strengthen
what he said, sounded more strange than
true, and few believed it.
Briefly, the evidence was this:
On the night in question-MOnday
night, the 23d, of November-Walter
White, the keeper. the man who was said
| to have been murdered, turned out with
three OF the watchers, to go through the
covers-the Home Woods. Fox Hill. and
the Locketts-hOping to meet with
Perks, of whose intention to visit them
that night they had received intimatiOn |;
and they were determined to capture
him if they could, as a few nights previ-
ously he had threatened White that the
next time he interfered with him he
should "haVe something for his trouble
An old grievance, it was stated, had
existed between them, and they had
been at enmity for long time; and it
| was in no wise lessened by the fact of
Whites wife being Ralph's old sweet
heart, pretty village girl who, after
she had promised Perks, preferred the
keepers cottage to the blacksmith's
shop. 1t was also shown that when the
two were lads, and at school together,
they were at enmity even then, for
Perks could throw and thrash him with
the greatest ease, and so frequently, as
ne had done so since they having had
many bout together during the past
four years, when, Sir Norman having
engaged White as keeper, they found
themselves settled down together ut last
in the same parish.
For many years an inveterate poach-
er, but never taken, Ralph Perks. after
Whites marriage. became more daring
than ever; and whenever he was
on the drink at the village ale-hOuse,
Or boozing at the cider-shOp. he used
to boast how little he cared for the
keeper, for big as he was, he could "turn
him over in two minutes, and thrash
him handsomely while White, on his
part, used to chatter about the time
when he would have Perks "in Jail"
There was, therefore, no love lost be-
tween them, and many had predicted
that some day it would end badly to one
or both. as they were alike equally de-
termined and unforgiying
A few nights before the murder-for
murder it was supposed to be-they had
met in Fox Hill; but Ralph was in II
ride, a public path, and had then neither
gun nor stick, visible TO him at least,
threats only had passed between them.
When White and the watchers enter
ed the Home Wood, hoping to meet
with Perks, they went ON by the big elm
together to where the rides diverged,
and then, signal being agreed upon if
either wanted help, they separated, the
keeper taking the middle ride, Clarke
the outer one, and Crump ane Kirby the
inner one, as the cover there was unusu-
ally thick and strong from dense scrub;
besides which, as foot path led from
there across the fields and so to the vii
lage, escape was usually madt in that
dierctiOn.
The night was foggy, and before the
men had reached the end of their beat a
shot was heard from the middle ride;
and though the signal whistle was not
given, they at once turned right and
left and went toward it.
As the three men met at the bottom of
grade where the middle ride terminated,
they found White down and grOaning, his
gun beside him. On raising him up,
Take Perks" said he: I'm done fol"
He then fell back and died.
They brought the bodyhome they went
for Perks. He was out; they waited.
At four o'clock-twO hours from the
time that shot was fired-he came back
to his cottage. He clothes were bloody,
and his head was cut, one barrel of his
gun had been discharged, and that quite |
recently, and his coat was torn and had
mud on it. He was quite lame, too, and
hobbling. That day they took him.
At the inquest and before the magis-
trates things look dead against him; and
although his solicitor brought forward
all he could in his favor, it was felt,
when he was committed for trial, that it
would go hard against him.
For the defense an alibi was set up and
the keepers death accounted for by the
accidental discharge of his own gun, one
barrel of which had been fired; but as
White had been up in the wood prior to
going with the watchers, and might then
have had shot at some poaching dog or
lureher, little could be made of it. AS to
the words, "Take Perks; I'm done for"
it was strongly urged by the prisoners
counsel, when the trial commenced, that
they were in fact only the words of a |
man strong in his duty, and who was
bent on carrying out that for which they
were together.
HE felt" said the counsel, "that he |
was done for, shot by his own gun, |
through fall or stumble. 1t was there
fore of no use hindering with him.
Perks was out; let them go and take
him."
But such solution of the difficulty |
was not credited for an instant, and the |
counsel for the prosecution had it all his
own way.
''The long-standing enmity, the previ-
GUS threat, the intimation they had had
that he would be there that night, the
condition of himself and his clothes and
his gun when the watchers met him, and |
his total inability to substantiate his
own statement, and, above and beyond
all, the keepers own words-his last
words, as he felt them to be-all tended"
ha cosl s.fn sh...x, tlok Dol,>l. Tn-l-. |