The Worthington advance., 1880-09-02
A STORY OF CIRCUNISTANTIAL Ev
IDENCE.
BY L. n. WELLS.
Be still, sad heart, and cease repining,
Behind the clOnHa tho arm Ia o+i1l Oh; ;ni,,,

BY L.. n. WELLS.
Be still, sad heart, and cease repining,
behnd the clouds the sun Is still shining.
There are many people in this world
who have lived lives full Of active ex-
perience. Such class are very ant to
imagine that they have lived long. when.
in truth, they have only lived fast.
Such was the character of Harry
Woodward, of whom we are writing.
Although he was but 81 years Of age.
his dark hair contained many tinges Of
gray, and his countenance was sad and
thoughtful ; and yet he was a strong
and what might be called handsome
man: One thing can be said to his
credit, and that is, he was we'll liked
and respected by all his associates, and
none entertained for him any dislike.
The time when the the narrative Of
his life and events occurring therein be-
gins was when we find Harry q miner in
the gold fields Of California. That was
the time Of 1849, when the golden State
teemed with adventuresome men from
the crowded cities of the Atlantic, and
when almost every day some poor miner.
who had left happy home, was assas-
sinated in some lonely spot surrounded
by frowning mountains. Harry was q
successful miner. but that settled sad
ness on his face never gave way, and
his most intimate friends were unable
to divine the cause Of his sadness. But
here we must pause and tell something
about the history Of Harry Woodward.
Harry had been brought up by rich
bachelor uncle, his father having died
when he was but child, and his mother
soon followed the father to the grave.
His uncle, John Woodward, was a cross
old gentleman, but in heart kind and
liberal. He gave Harry collegiate
education, and fitted him for the profess
sion Of the law, for which he was we'll
qualified. Between the uncle and
nephew frequently occurred stormy
quarrels, but up to the time he had fin
ished reading law and had been admit
ted to the bar no serious misunder-
standing ever occurred. About this
time Harry had formed the acquaintance
Of and become engaged to the daughter
Of a neighbor, Alice Warren. To this
the uncle objected, as there had long
been Q feud between Mr.. Warren and
John Woodward The uncle threatened
to dsinherit Harry, if he should con-
summate the engagement with Alice
i'll marriage. Harry determined, in
spite OF the opposition from his uncle,
to wed Alice Warren. let the conse-
quences be what they might, and he so
informed his uncle. John Woodward
stated that if Harry did not change his
determination to make Alice his wife he
would alter his will within the next three
days. As it then stood, should the uncle
due within the three days, Harry would
yet be heir to his uncle's fortune, as the
old gentleman had no other relative liv-
ing. On the morning of the second day,
John told Harry that he intended leav-
ing his money to some charitable insti-
tuition unless he relented in the allotted
time bnt Harry expressed renewed de-
termination to we'd the one of his choice,
and had some warm words with his
uncle. Harry left him for good.
On the morning of the third day,
about 6 o'clock, John Woodward not ap-
pearing at his usual hour of rising, a
servant went to his room, and, to his
horror, found that the old man had been
murdered in his bed. An alarm was i'm
mediately given, and officers were called
in. It was ascertained that Woodward
had been shot in the left temple. A
handkerchief, with the name of Harry
Woodward, was found in the room: and.
after some further examination, q small
pistol, with Harry's name engraved in
the handle, was found under the window
in the rose bushes, where it had devidently
bene thrown by some one. Circum-
stantial evidence went to prove that
Harry Woodward had murdered his
uncle, and that day, even before he had
learned of the death of his uncle, Harry
was arrested on the charge of having
murdered his uncle in cool blood. The
awful realities of hesituation were hard
~ comprehended until he was informed
what evidence there was against him, and
then he saw it would be hard matter
to establish his innocence. At the usual
preliminary examination it was shown by
the testimony Of the servants that Harry
Woodward had had, the day before the
murder had been committed, quarrel,
in which the old man had declared that
he would certainly change his will the
next day, and that Harry had used Ian
guage that might be construed into a
dangerous threat. Also, the finding
the pistol and handkerchief was intro
duced, and Harry was bound over for
trial for murder at the coming term Of
court, which was to be held within a
month.
The evidence against Harry Wood
ward was, indeed, very strong. Most
everybody believed him to be guilty of
the murder Of his uncle; but all were
charitable enough to think he had done
the deed in the heat Of passion, and that
in heart and soul Harry Woodward was
! good man. This expressed sentiment,
OF course. could not save him from what
seemed to be his inevitable doom, The
time for the trial approached. Harry
! and his counsel did all that was possible
to obtain some clew to the true murderer.
but all their effort was without success.
and at the trial Harry was convicted OF