The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-07-25


the details are all imaginary"
+" Christian Vcnius,;' said the Judge ~
so,emn tone. al counsel YOU to reilect ana
10 tell the truth; believe me, II VIII be oeV-
ter for you IN the end" ma,
Indignant at having my veracity calieu u,
question. I replied, with some splrit'
have said. sir, that this Is entirely WORK OF
the magination-o OF my imagination-ahu L
repeat It," t., w.
Write down his answer" sara Won
Spreckdal to the clerk.
AGAIN that ominous pen went scratching
over the paper A.
4" And this woman" continued the
iudoe-.. this woman who is being killed
at the mouth OF this weil-did you Imagine
this detail with the restY"
"Certainly."
sceneY"
"Never!''
Won spreckdal rose as though he was ex-
asperated; then, resuming his SEAL lie
seemed to consult with his colleague.
The mysterious whispering In front OF
me. the three men standing behind me, the
silence that reigned in the hall-eyerything
combiped TO make me shuGder
"What does all this mean? Whatam ac-
cused Off" asked myself.
Suddenly Won Spreckdal said to my
guardians:
"Reconduct your prisoner to the vehicle
in which YOU brought him here. We Will
ALI 90 10 Meter street" Then turning to
me. he added: "Christian VENUS, you are
in pcrilous situation. You should re-
member that, il the law is inflexible, there
still remains TO you the mercy OF Heaven,
which you may merit by confessing your
crime
These words stunned me like blow
with a hammer. | threw up my arms ana
fell back, crying out:
"Ah! what a frigntfu dresm
In a few minutes the two carriages came
10 a stop. One Of my guardians got out,
while the other held me by the collar I'll! his
comrade was ready 10 receive me, when he
pushed me rudely toward him.
These precautions 10 retain possession Of
my person augured nothing good; still |
was far from imagining the exceeding
gravity Of the accusation that hung over
me, when an alarming circumstance opened
my eyes and threw me into despair.
They had led me, or rather pushed me,
into low, narrow passaseway, with an IT.
regular, broken pavement. Along the side
OF the wall there was pool OF yellowsh
water that eXhaled q most disagreeablc
odor. The passage was quite dark. Be-
vond, it was evident there was courtyard.
A. | advanced | felt myself more and
more possessed with an indescribabe terror.
1t was feeling such as | had never eX-
perienced before: there was something
supernatural about it; II seemed to me i
sort OF nightmare. | hesitated at every
step.
go on! 90 on :" cried one of the ruff
fans behind me, at the same time pushing
me rudcly forward.
But wha; was my amaZement when saw
at the end OF the passage the court | had
skeiched the preceding night, with IFS walls
furnished with hooks, its piles Of old rub
Dish, its chicken-cOOp, and its rabbit-cage
Not window, large or small, high or low,
not a broken pane, in shert, not single
detail, had been omitted.
was overwhelmed by this strange reve-
ation.
Near the well stood The two judges. Won
Spreckdai and Richter. At their feet the
old woman lay stretched out on her back.
Her long, white hair was spread out over
the pavement. her face was deep purple,
her eyes were half open, and her tongue
bali protruded from her mouth. The spec
tacle she presented was indescribaDly hor-
rible.
"Well," said Won Spreckdal, in a tone
OF the utmost gravity, "what have you TO
say, sir 2"
| made no response.
"Do you confess to having thrown this
woman, Theresa Becker, into this well,
after having slrangled her in OIder To rob
her of her money 7"
Il strange this woman? | rob her Of
her money? Never! l never knew her,
never saw her till now! Never as Heaven
is my judge"
"That is sufficient" said he; and, with
out adding a word, he left the yard with his
cOnfrtre.
Nv guardians now seemed to think they
were justified in putting handouts on me.
They took me back to the RaSpelhaus.
was completely crushed what to think.
knew not; even my conscience troubled
me. almost thought that had murdered
the old woman but how, when Nv brain
was confused, everything seemed TO dan &c
before my eyes.
II was evident that the two policemen
already saw me on the road to the gallows.
| will not attempt TO describe the agony
OF mind suffered that night as | sat on nv
bunch OF straw, the bul's-eye window be-
fore and above me and the galOws in per-
spective, and heard, from hour TO hour, the
Waterman cry out: Zone O'clock and all
il well! two O'Clock, and all is WE'LL" and
so on the night through.
The day finally began to appear At first,
pale and undecided, it shed vague gIim-
mer on my bul's-cye window; then. little
by little, the sun neared the horizon.
Without, everything began to be a>tir; it
Glanced to be market-day, Friday. | could
hear the carts pass, loaded with vegetables,
and sometimes catch few words Of the
rustlcs who were driving them. | could
hear them opening the market opposite I;
then came the arranging OF the benches.
Finally, it was broad day, and going and
coming and murmur OF voices told me that
the crowd without must be quite large.
With the light, my courage in some mea-
sure returned. Some OF my gloomy fore
| bodlngs disappeared, and something skin to
hope usurped their place. felt desire to
look out.
Other prisoners before me had managed
to get up 10 the bulPs-eye; they had dug
holes in The wall in order to accomplish the
task more easily, or, rather. To make 1t pos
sible. climbed up in my tern, and, when
| was seated most intentionally on the
edge OF the oval around the window and
could look out at the crowd, the life, the
movement, abundant tears ran down my
checks. thought no longer OF putting an
end TO my earthly existence; | felt desire
to live and to get back into the busy world
again.
"Ab." said 10 myself" to live is to be
happy Let them harness me 10 a wheel
barrow, or attach ball and chain to my
leg--let them do no matter what TO me, so
nnl +boU onlu Lon. mn 1.-Two -