Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1882-10-21

found my cousin, accompanied by a
strange lady and gentleman"
This is the prisoners counsel, .
said the former, rs 1 entered. al
low me to introduce Mr.. Lestrange
Miss Darcy, MIR. French 1
turned to the lady as her name was
pronounced, and, am afraid, forgot
TO bow, in my surprise aud delight,
at recognizing in the tall, fair-hair-
ed girl before me my dream of the
last six months my unknown love,
another glimpse Of whom had been
my chief delight ever since / lost
sight of her as she stood on the plat
form Of the little roadside station
where she had alighted.
ut was Miss Darcy who did that
sketch, " said my cousin, "and she
remembers all about it.
"Yes, said the girl, "the sketch
was taken at Kilcarran, on the 10th
of May. / remember all the circum-
stances perfectly, and should have
no difficulty in identifying the origi-
nal
Having by "a few hurried questionsf
convinced myself of the value
Miss Darcy's testimony, l took her
and her brother-in- law placing them
where they had a full view of the
prisoner. Miss Darcy looked atten-
lively at the latter for q minute or
two, and then said decidedly;
Eyes, that is the man."
opened the case for the defence
in as few words as possible, land then
called up my witness-Winifred
Darcy. She gave her evidence very
well, in grave, concise language,
without irrelevance or eircumlocu-
ton. She stated that she lived at
Redcourt with her sister, Mrs.
Ffrench, and that on the 10th of
May she and her cousin had spent
the greater part Of the day sketch
ing by the riverside at Kilcarran.
At about two o'clock, gust of wind
had carried her hat into the stream,
whence it was recovered by the pris-
oner, who happened to pass by at the
moment. Interested by something
in his appearance, they tried to enter
into conversation with him, but
without much success, his English |
being very imperfect. They, how
ever, managed to make him under
stand that they wished to employ |
him as q model, and he sat to them |
patiently for more than an hour, at |
the end of which time he went away |
with many expressions Of gratitude |
for the money they gave him. Miss
Darcy would have been certain as to |
the date, even if it had not been af-
fixed TO the drawing (which was pro-
duced in the COURT, as her cousin |
had arrived at Kilcarran on the 9th
of May and left on the 18th.
Cross examination failed to cast
any doubt on the accuracy of Miss
Darcy's evidence, while her veracity
was Of course above suspicion.
The jury professed themselves sat
isfed with the evidence, and, de- |
clining to hear counsel for the de-
fence, returned a verdict of "Not
Guilty. The prisoner was seized
upon by some Of his compatriots,
who were serving on the mixed jury,
and carried off in triumph, some
what dazed by the change in his
prospects.
Some months afterward, a man,
dying from the effects of a hurt re-
ceived in a drunken brawl, ac-
knowledged himself guilty of
the crimeo Of which Bernini had been
accused. He also was an Italian,
and bore sufficient resemblance to
his countryman in height and COM
plexion to account in some degree
for the mistake of the witnesses.
AS for me, | date the beginning Of
both my professional success and of
my life's happiness from the day of
Bernini's trial.
Consumption.