Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1886-05-22

i S01Q l OeSlr60 10 COnOuCt Nf OWu uelouSo, l
and was allowed so to do. My counsellor was
not at all pleased thereat. Having heard
something of our resources he had seen in
prospective some remuneration If he con-
Quoted the case successfully, as well as a pos
of establishing a reputation for a
good criminal lawyer.
I thought I could tell my story as well as
have another tell it for me, and I didn't
want a lawyer to tell any new stories for me
or put any shades of color on mine which did
not belong there. Could I prove my asser-
tions? No. There were no witnesses to any
hostile meeting between Pratt and myself.
The evidence against me was all circum-
In other words, certain events,
as interpreted by certain individuals,
were regarded as proofs that John
Holder might have tried to kill Jedediah
Pratt. Because John Holder and Jedediah
Pratt had a quarrel last week, John Holder !
might have tried to kill Pratt the next Be-
cause no one could tell how Pratt got his
hurts, why, John Holder might have inflicted
them. Because John Holder was seen the
evening Pratt was missed, with blood on his
clothing, it is inferred it was Pratt's blood,
drawn in enmity. Because John Holder was
the first to find Pratt IN the mountain, it is
inferred that John Holder knew Of the affair
more than he told, and because he knew more
than he told, it is inferred that he must have
tried to kill Pratt.
All these ''might-have-be ens' were ably in
terpreted to the jury as must have-beens"
by the district attorney who, naturally thirst
ed for my blood, because he desired to make
a brilliant reputation as an able prosecutor
of the innocent or guilty. He dwelt strongly
also on the fact that there were neither
notices nor tools on the ground, and that I
claimed the whole mountain" or a great deal
more ground than I could legally hold. These
were Pratt's rawlings which had been reported
to him. True, these were not legal evidence,
but he used them as arguments against me,
taking the chances that the jury might he
stupid enough to receive them as such, or
that they might forget, even if reminded,
that Pratt's words, not backed up by proof,
were no more evidence than mine would be.
He pictured me as DIGGING Pratt day by day.
OF my interfering and meddling in this "hon-
est, Woodworking mans business" and dwelt
on my ''skulking ambush in the bushes, the
''assassin's shot, :" and the fall of the innocent,
honest victim" Then /, to cover up the affair
and divert suspicion, assume the guise of the
Good Samaritan, pretended to find Pratt and
bring him home.
Lastly, he adverted to my habits as 'ssus-
picious"-working little and loaf1ng much,
absent frequently, on what business no one
knew, but all the while inferring, by hint
and inuendo, that 1 might be or must be
both terms being by him made to mean about
the same thing engaged in some disreputable
business.
It Is the boast of Law that all facts ALLEGED
against a person must be proven; yet the la n
makes little provision against Islander by in
ference in open court, by its own ministers,
which cannot be proven.
Setter and Long Mac were summoned as
witnesses-unwilling ones, now, with the
memory of their recent unsuccessful attempts
on me. They testified to seeing blood on my
clothing. Setter told the story of my par.
ticipation in guiding himself and Hillyear tc
the spot where Pratt lay wounded Oh the
mountain.
The attorney had the audacity to put Hill
year on the stand, mainly with the view that
he should give Pratt's version of the story a
inferred from his delirious u~tterances. die
not attempt to stop this hearsay evidence a,
all. I wanted the lawyer to have his OWL
way entirely, because 1 thought in suct
case he would all the quicker get through
and leave the jury with q fragment, at least
Of clear mind. If we got into a wrangle as t.
the admissibility of evidence it would pro
long the case, and in law it is often the MAR
object, on one side, at least, to so confuse anG
wear out the jury that it won't know thu
difference between right and wrong sens
and nonsense.
Finally he had finished, and I remained
with q very black character indeed-in short
the assassin of Pratt, and, by inference, tn
author of half the untraced murders in til,
county for the last four months I said Il
the jury that l ''should make no plea, bu
simply tell my story. First, I was the keepe
and, to an extent, worker Of a rich claim,
very rich claim. It was a mine Of a sort no
generally known in the state. No laws ha.
been made to hold claims of this character
will introduce now," l said, tiny witnesse
aud taking from a bag several Of the riches
specimens Of quartz gold, I handed them t
the jury.
The specimens were indeed good to look a
from every point of view. The yellow meta
protruded in places from their sides in thi
fakes-in others it was as if solid, heav
nuggets were embedded in the stone. tn
effect on the jury was electric. They ha
never seen such rock. Their eyes gil
tened. They passed them from one t
another, yet each seemed 10th to part wit
the one in hand. The clerk of the court, b
deputy, the sheriff and his assistants reache
eagerly forward to handle the covete
pieces. The Judge put on his spectacles an
put one piece after another under a rigid ii
spection.
Hammon had invaded the court-yes, cal
tured it. The whole previous atmosphel
was changed. Whatever of interest had bee
centered in the trial was now all concel
trated in this new development coming o,
Of it. The audience, first bending forwar,
at last rose in their seats to get q betts
view of the wealth there displayed. At
rough guess I had put OF exhibition abo,
two thousand dollars In quartz specimens
leing gold in . form never before seen
that part Of the country.
The district attorney felt his case slippir
away from him. The introduction Of SUI
evidence was an indirect contradiction
his differences regarding my floating abou
aud suspicious habits." 1t was plain tn
i'll had been mysterious, there was som
thing which would justify mystery. He o
jected to such things being put in as e,
dence.
But the ''thinesn had done their work.
Il wa finally necessary to call the court
ordsr ere the trial ennld he -sn,med y