Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-06-21

much against his inclination and con
trary to his usual habit, gave way an(
yielded to the request.
The prisoner then addressed the jury
and entreated their patience for shor
er could feel satisfied to be acquitted
conclusive, and pledged himself in &
very short time, BY few observations
he should make, to obtain their verdict
upon much higher ground-upon the
impossibility Of his being guilty Of the
awful crime.
OF the stopper which had been found
he disclaimed all knowledge declared
most s0lemnly that he had never seen
it before 1t was produced in court and
he asked, could the fact of 1t being in
his house only few days ago, when
hundreds of people had been there, pro.
duce upoDan impartial mind even mo-
mentary prejudice against him /? One
fact, and only one, had been proved, to
which it was possible to give an answer
1.-The fact Of hie having gone to the
room of his housekeeper on the night
in question.
/ Hehad been subject for many years OF
his life to sudden fits of illness he had
been seized with one on that occasion,
and had gone to his housekeeper to pro.
cure her assistance in lighting q fire.
She had returned with HIM to his room
for that purpose, he having waited for q
minute in the passage while she put on
her clothes, which would account for
the momentary disappearance of the
light and after he had returned with
her to his room for q few minutes he
and retired again to bed, from which he
had not arisen when he was informed
of the death of his guest. It had been
said that after his c0mmittal to prison,
his housekeeper had disappeared. He
avowed that, finding his enemies de-
termined If possible to accomplish his
ruin, he had thought it probable that
they might tamper with his servant
He had therefore kept her out of the
way-but for what purpose ? Not to
prevent her testimony being given, for
she was now under the care Of his solic-
itor, and would instantly appear for the
purpose of confirming, as far as he was
concerned, the statement which he had
just made.
Such was the prisoners address, which
produced powerful effect. It was de-
livered in firm and impressive man.
ner, and its simplicity and artlessness
gave it an appearance of truth. The
housekeeper was then put In the box
and examined by the counsel for the
prisoner. According to custom, at that
time almost universal, of excluding wit
nessee from the court until their testi-
mony was required, she had been kept
a q hAS1co N n0p hvy onG hnA ~ nr,1n
single word of the trial. There was moth
ing remarkable in her manner or ap-
pearance. She might be about thirty
five or little more, with regular though
not agreeable features, and an air per-
fectly 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, and had
been awakened by man servant in the
morning with account Of the travellers
death.
She had now to undergo croes~ex.
cminati0n, and may aoWo1l efate here |
what~'thcHgh not known % ne till af- |
|thrWaxd-will assiat tho reader in IN.
derDtanding the following scene. The |
counsel FOR the prosecution had, In his |
own mind, attached considerable inn
portance to the circumstances mention
ed by the witness who saw the light
That while the prisoner and housekeep.
er were in the room ofthe former some- |
thing like door had intervened be-
tween the window and the candle, which |
was totally irreconcilable with the ap.
pearance of the room when examined,
and he had persuaded himself that there |
must be secret closet which had es-
capped the officers of justice, the opening
of which would account for the appear |
ance 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 |
who could give any clue to this) such |
Information as he could get without a.
farming her by the direct inquiry, and
he asked:
During the time you were in Mr..
Smiths room you stated that the candle |
stood on the table in the centre of the |
room ?" "Yes.n
"Was the closet.or cupboard or what
ever you call it, opened once or twice |
while it stood there ?"
A pause no answer.
II will call 1t to your recollection. At |
ter Mr.. Smith had taken the medicine |
out of the closet did he shut the door or |
did it remain open ?"
HE shut it.n
''Then it was opened again for the
purpose of replacing the bottle, was it?"
"It was"
"Do you recollect how long it was
open the last time ?"
mot above minute"
1.-THE door when open would be ex-
actly between the light and the window,
would it not ?"
1T would"
II forget whether you said the closet |
was on the right or left hand side of the |
window {"
"Tffe 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 1t yourself or |
seen Smith open it ?'
II never opened it myself.n
did you ever keep the keys ?"
"Who did ?"
"Mr. Smith, always.n
At this moment the witness chanced |
to turn her eyes toward the spot where |
the prisoner stood, and the effect was |
almost 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 con- |
sequences of her answers flashed across
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 statement that she had been
led on by one question to another till
she had told him all he wanted to
know.
During the interval occasioned by her
illness the solicitor left the court. It
was between four and five O'Clock when
the Judge resumed his seat upon the
bench, the prisoner his station at the
bar, and the housekeeper hers in the
witness box. The court In the interval
had remained crowded with spectators. |
scarce one of whom had left his place. |
lest during his absence it should be |
seized by some one else.
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