The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1881-06-15

corporal called "halt," Short, whom SHE
had known intimately for years, re
piled, eco to-"an while standing
at her side, so that their elbows were
touching, both being Immediately un
der the gaslight, he pulled out a pistol
pointed it at the deceased, who wa fou.
or five feet from him, and fired and the1
ran down the alley, the deceased pursu
ing him. She heard. four or five more
shots fired, andimmediately the deceased
returned wounded, and Short disap
peared. While the shots were being
fired she saw both Ryan and Grey stand
ing at the corner some feet away from
her, and after that they separated anC
she went home. 1t was also proved tina
this alley was bounded on either side
by high fences difficult to climb, and lee
down to q stream of water about fit,
feet wide and three or four feet deep
No traces of footsteps were found in thu
snow except those Of n man leading
down into this stream, and it was evi
dent that the person who had fired hat
not climbed either fence, but had wadet
through the stream and disappeared OF
the other side.
The next witness was the soldier who
stood close by the deceased when the
! first shot was fired, and who, not know
ing either of the prisoners, described
the person who had fired and ran dowr
the alley as the man with red hair and
side whiskers, dressed in a light-blue
army overcoat and white soft hat, and
upon being directed to look at the
three prisoners Immediately identified
| Short as the man whom he had seen dc
the shooting.
The testimony of these witnesses wa
in nowise shaken upon c"ross-examina'
ton.
Then the sworn ante-mortem state
ment of the deceased, taken by a magis.
trate, was read to the jury. He said
that he had known Short personally fol
some time, but had never had any diff
Guilty with him. He fully identified him
as the man who had fired the first shot
and then ran down the alley, firing one
shot after another until he fired the
last and fatal shot almost in the face Of
the deceased. he also fully described
the clothing worn by Short as it had
been described by the otbes
These were all the WITNESSES to She
occurrence, except the prisoners them
selves, and, of course, they could not
be heard. The case against Short seemed
to be as conclusively made out as
though a score of witnesses had sworn
that they had seen him do the shooting.
Neither the judge, the jury nor the
spectators entertained the slightest
doubt OF his guilt, and when tie com
monwealth at this point closed its case,
it seemed as though the fatal rope was
already around his neck and his escape
impossible.
Ryan heaved a sigh of relief which
was audible throughout the whole
courtroom, for he was safe; there was
not one word of testimony against him,
or any circumstance tending to show
any previous arrangement or concert OF
action between him and Short.
After q whispered consultation be-
tween the counsel for the defense, one
of them rose and moved the court to
direct the jury to forthwith return a
verdict of "not guilty" as to Ryan, in
order that he might be called as a wit
ness for the other prisoner. This was
resisted by the district attorney, and
after lengthy and elaborate arguments
the court decided that it was bound to
grant the motion, and, accordingly,
Ryan was declared "not guilty" and
the verdict recorded.
Then an q scene as dramatic to
those present as anything ever wit
messed on the stage. Without any
opening speech by Shorts counsel,
Ryan, in obedience to a God from his
attorney, stepped out of the prisoners
dock and into the witress-box, looked
around the courtroom, took up the
Bible and was sworn to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the
truth" Every head was bent forward,
every car was on the alert, every eye
fixed on the Understanding start
ling was expected. Would he attempt
to show that Short had done the shoot
ing in ~sclf-defense? That seemed the
only thing possible. But how could he
be believed in the face Of the positive
testimony of three witnesses, two OF
them living and in the courtroom, one
IF them dead-murdered?
Ryan stood for a moment looking
down, and then slowly lifting his eyes
to the bench, in q silence in which the
falling of a feather might have been
heard, he said:
"May I ask the court a question:"
The venerable Judge, evidently sur
prised at being Intercepted, looked at
him and said: Certainly, sir"
81 understand that I am acquitted"
said Ryan, pausing for a moment and
then continuing: 81 want to know
from the court whether anything I may
say now can ever be used against me in
any way?"
What did he mean? What need for
that question? Every n looked at
his neighbor inquiringly.
The flushed face of the Judge showed
that he, at least, understood what it
meant-an attempt to swear his guilty
companion out Of the hangman's grasp.
Then, in q tone of unmistakable indiS-
nation, came the answer:
II am sorry to say, sir, that nothing
you may say now can be used against
you; that is, on a trial for murder. You
have been acquitted"
Rvan's face grew pale and then red,
and he said, slowly and distinctly:
ct was I who fired al the shots
not Short"
Most of the faces in the courtroom
wore looks of incredulity; some of in
dignation at the hardened wickedness
of the man who had just been declared
innocent, and who, by his W state
ment, had been guilty of murder, if he
vas not guilty of perjury.
But quietly and calmly, without a
tremor, as coolly as though he were de-
scribing some trivial occurrence which
he had casually witnessed, Ryan went
on, step 10y step, detailing all that had
occurred, and when he had finished his
story there was probably not a person
present who was not fully convincedno
only that Ryan had told the simple
truth, but also that he had himself fired
the fatal shot in s~elf-defense, OR at least
under such circumstances Of danger as
would have led any jury to acquit him
He detailed how lie had fired the frs
shot from q small, single-barrelet
pistol in the air without any purpose
except to give his challenger a scare
and then ran down the alley, and upol
being closely pursued by the deceased
with saber drawn and raised to strike
he was compelled to pull out a r~evolve
and fire several shots toward his pursuer
who was rapidly gaining on him, to keel
him back and when he had but on
shot left he stumbled over a large ston'
and fell on his knees, and at thi
moment the deceased struck at hin