Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-03-27

prisoner at the bar, yol are guilty, by
your own confession, of an atrocious, cold
bloode1 MURDER the motrle for which is
known Lut to yourself and your God. For
me only the painful duty relnalns-"
Guilty! On his own confession The man
guilty! The man to save whom we have
travelled night and day-he thu criminali
Philippa. my peerless Philippa! my wife!
my love! lanoc.n.! InuoceA,! I,4L>--.nis
revulsion of feeling is N )re than human n@-
ture can bearl
"Order in the court! Order in the COURT"
What is it? Who is it? Only woman in a
dead faint She is borne out tenderly,
lovingly, proudly, by man who clasps his
precious burden to heart full Of such rap
ture as few of his fellow creatures can ever
have known.
But let it also be hoped that few have
ever endured such grief and anguish
CHAPTER XVI
"wHERE ARE THE SHOWS THAT FELL LAST
YEAR"
Although, while engaged in the labor of
writing this story, have many times re-
GREETED that I am nothing more than plain
narrator of facts and incidents, not q master
of fiction, think l have no5 felt thu regret
so strongly as at the moment when begin
this chapter. The sombre acts of the life
drama in which Philippa and played parts
so painful, so full OF grief, and even if
frightened by a ray of joy, of joy falia-
clous and OF uncertain tenure-thase acts
have found little difficulty in describing;
had simply to throw my mind back to the
pictures of the past AMI reproduce them in
words. The task, whether well or i'll done,
was not hard one
But now, when in one moment and as if
by magic, everything changed; when sorrow
seemed to be simply swept out OF our lives;
when that poor wretch's abject confession
of guilt, forced from him in some mysterious
way, not only left our whole future bright
and coudless, but consigned to rest all the
ghosts of the past, whose shadowy forms
had hitherto logged our steps and denied US
the happiness rightly due to those who love
as we loved now l feel my shortcomings
acutcly, and wish my pen was more power
full than it is
And yet a word will describe the state Of
my own mind as, when the last solemn
words were spoken by the judge-sroken in
voice which showed emotion and distress
at being compelled to condemn fellow
creature to DEATH carried my fa1ntlng
Wife rom the crowded, reeking court The
nomentary sense of capture passed away;
bewilderment. sheer bewiderment, is tine
word for what was left. l could not think.
All my reasoning faculties had left me. In
fac5, believ that had Phnippa not swooned.
and so needed my mechanically given care,
l myself SHOULD have fallen senseless on that
threshold which an hour before we crossed,
thinking we were going to endless misery.
remember this much. As l laid Phil
ippa on one of the hard wooden benches in
the stone corridor kept repeating to my
SELF Innocent, my love is innocent; that
man is guilty" l suppose this continual re-
iteration was an enieavor to impress the
tremendous fact upon my brain, which for
q time was incredulous, and refused to en-
terrain it.
I threw up my wife's veil and bathed her
face with water, which was brought me by
kindly policeman. Presently her eyes
opened and consciousness returned; she
strove to speak.
My presence of mind was fast returning.
dearest" l whispered, las you love- me not
a word in this place. In minute we will
leave it."
She was obedient; but knew from the
wild look of joy in her eyes that obedience
tasked her to the utmost. She was soon allie
pushed our way through the crowd who
waited in the street busily discussing the
sudden termination to the trial, threw our
selves into q cab AMI in another moment
were alternately weeping and laughing in
each others arms.
1t was. however, but for moment. The
inn to which we drove was close at hand.
There we We're shown into room, and were
at last free to give the fullest vent to our
pent up feelings.
1t would be absurd for me to attempt to
reproduce our words, our dis jointed exciama-
TONS 1t woul be sacrilege for me to de-
scribe the tears that we shed, the embraces,
the loving caresses we Iavished On each
other. Think of us all hour, one short hour
ago! Think of us now! This curse laid
upon us by that awful night removed for
ever! Our secrt kept, or secrecy, if still
advisable, no longer absolutely needful.
Philippe, in spite Of all l had seen, in spite
of all she had told me on that night when
found her, wild, distracted woman, in a
storm the widest that years have known,
gui!tless of her husbands DEATH Innocent,
not only as she had in my eyes always been,
hut also, what was far more, innocent in her
own eyes!
Small wonder that for nearly an hour we
sat with our arms twined around each other,
and used few words which were more than
rapturous EXPLANATIONS of love and jov.
There! l cannot, will not describe the
scene more fully. will say no more, ex.
cept this; when at last We grew calmer,
Philippe turned to me. and once more saw
terror gathering in her eyes,
"Basil,n she said, sis it true-it must be
trueg'
''True! of course it is
s'That man, the prisoner, could not have
pleaded guilty when he was innocent
''Why should lie? 1t meant death to him,
poor wretch"
but why did he confess?"
''Who can tells Remorse may have urgei
him to do So"
Philippe rose ami her next words were
spoken quickly and with excitement.
mo, l did not do it, The thought. the
dream haunted me, but / did not believe it
until | heard these men talk of the way he
died Then it all came back to M, The
mad storm, the dead man over whom l
stood; even then don't think l actually
believed it. 1t was when You told me how
you foun me that lost all hope"
dearest, forgive me-. l sh3ull have be-
lieved in the impossibility of the act even i'll
your delirium, even if l had seen it DONE
Philippe, say you forgive me-"
She threw her arms around me- 'Basil,
my husband" she whispered, ''you have
done much for me, do one thing more; find
out the whole truth-fnd out why thii man
killed him, how he killed him; find out,
satisfy me that his confession was q true
one: then, Basil, such happiness as 1 have
never even dreamed of will be mine!"
tAnd minep' l echoed.
promised to do as she wished Indeed,
the moment had recovered my senses re-
solved to learn everything that could be
learned. Once and for all l would clear
away every cloud of doubt, although that
cloud might be no bigger than mans
hand.
But Philippa must not stop in Tewnham
Her strange conduct during the trial, her
fainting fit after it, were bound to have at
tracted the attention of those present. No
doubt she was looked upon S a friend of the
prisoner, who was overpowered by the sud-
den and awful ending to the case. Still, she
must not stay at Tewnhan