The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-03-23

almost UNIVERSAL of excluding Witness
es from court until their testimony was
required, she had been kept at house
near at hand, and had not heard single
word of the trial. There was nothing
remarkable In her manner or appear
ance; she might be about thirty-five or
a little more, with regular though not
agreeable features, and an air perfectly
free from embarrassment
She repeated, almost in the prisoners
own words, the story he had told of his
having called her up, and she having
accompanied him to his room, adding
that after leaving him she retired to her
own room and had been awakened by q
man servant in the morning with an ac-
count of the travellers death.
She bad now to undergo a cross-exam-
ination and l may as well state here,
which, though not known to me till
afterwards, what will assist the reader
in understanding the following scene:-
The counsel for the prosecution had, in
his own mind, attached considerable
importance to the circumstance mention
ed by the witness who saw the light,
that while the prisoner and housekeeper
were in the room of the former, some
thing like door had intervened between
the window and the candle, which was
totally irreconcilable with the appear
ance of the room when examined and
he had halfpursuaded himself that there
must be a secret closet which had escap-
ed the officers of Justice, the opening of
which would account for the appearance
alluded to, and the existence of which
might discover the property which had
SO mysteriously vanished.
His object therefore, was to obtain
from the housekeeper-the only person
except the prisoner who could give any
clue to this-such information as he
could get, without alarming her by any
direct inquiry on the subject, which as
she should not know how much or how
little the inquiry had brought to light,
and by himself treating the matter as
immaterial he might lead her to consid-
it in the same light, and by this means
draw forth all she knew. After some
unimportant questions he asked her in a
tone and manner calculated rather to
awaken confidence than to excite dis
trust:
During the time you were in Mr..
Smiths room you stated that the candle
stood on the table in the centre of the
room 2"
Yes"
Was the closet, or cupboard, or
whatever you call it, opened once or
twice while it stood there 2"
A pause no answer.
81 will recall it to your recollection.' =
After Mr.. Smith had taken the medi-
cine out of the closet, did he shut the
door or did it remain open 2"
He shut it,"
"Then it was opened again for the
purpose of replacing the bottle, was it ?"
SIT was.n
Do you recollect how long it was
open the last time Y''
w CiAf NV NOONN ~ hAahutOs
"The door when open would be ex-
actly between the light and the window
would it not 2"
" 1t would.'
81 forgot whether you said the closet
was on the right or left hand side of
the window 7"
"On the left"
Would the door of the closet make
any noise in opening it 2"
None"
"Can you speak positively to the
fact ? Have you ever opened it your
self, or seen Smith open it ?''
never opened 1t myself"
Did you ever keep the keys 7"
4" Never"
"Who did ?'
/" Mr.. Smith, always"
At this moment the witness chanced
to turn her eye toward the spot where
the prisoner stood, and the effect was al
most electrical. A cold, damp sweat
stood upon his brow !; his face had lost
all its color. She no sooner saw him
than she shrieked and tainted. The
consequence of her answers flashed a.
cross her mind.
She had been so thoroughly deceived
by the manner of the advocate and by
the little Importance he seemed to at
tach to her statements, that she had
been led on by one question to another
till she had told him all he wanted to
know.
nur;no tho ;r4..ot ..i u,