The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1886-09-25

time heard of the robbery, and l paid
the guinea away with some other money
in settlement of bridesmaids account.
| But this | am sure of-there was mark
on the guinea which Jennings gave
back to me. 1t Is, of course, possible
that there might have been a mark
| (Which escaped my notice. on the
guinea which took out of my purse
when l sent for change"
"Or,' the traveller suggested, ct
may have been one of my stolen guineas
given back by mistake by this drunken
Waiter of yours instead of the guinea
handed to him by yourself. Do you
think he is asleep?"
"Sure to be asleep-in his condi-
| ton
"Do you object, Mr.. Brunell, after
what you have told me, to setting this
matter at rest by searching the mans
clothes ?"
The landlord hesitated. "It seems
hard on Jennings, he said, eff we prove
to have been suspicious of him without
cause. Can you speak positively, sir,
to the mark WHICH you put on your
money!"
The traveller declared that he could
swear to his mark. Mr.. Brunell yielded.
The two went up together to the wal
ter's room.
Jennings was fast asleep. At the
very outset of the search they found the
stolen bag OF money IN his pocket. The
guineas-nineteen in number-had a
mark on each one Of them, and that
mark the traveller Unidentified. After
this discovery there was but one course
to take. The walters protestations of
innocence when they awoke him and
accused him Of the robbery were words
fatty contradicted by facts. He was
charged before magistrate with the
theft of the money and, as matter of
course, was committed for trial.
The circumstances were so strongly
against him that his own friends recon-
mended Jennings to plead guilty and
appeal to the mercy of the court. He
refused to allow their advice and he
was bravely encourage d to persist in that
decision by the poor girl, who believed
in his innocence with her whole heart.
At that dreadful crisis in her life she
secured the best legal assistance, and
took from her little dowry the money
that paid the expenses.
At the next assizes the case was
tried. The proceedings before the
judge were a repetition Cat great length
and with more solemnity) of the pro-
ceedings before the magistrate. No
skill in cross-examination could shake
the direct statements of the witnesses.
The evidence was made absolutely COM
plete by the appearance of the trades
man to whom Mr.. Brunell had paid the
marked guinea. The coin $50 markedly
was curiosity the man had kept it,
and he now produced it in court. The
judge summed up, finding literally
nothing that he could say, as an honest
man, in favor of the prisoner. The
jury returned a verdict of guilty, after
consultation which was a mere matter
of form. Clearer circumstantial evi
dence of guilt had never been produced
in the opinion of every person but one
who was present at the trial. The
sentence on Jennings for highway rob-
berry was, by the law of those days,
death on the scaffold.
Friends were found to help Esther
in the last effort that the faithful crea-
| ture could now make-the attempt to
obtain communication of the sentence.
She was admitted to an interview with
the Home Secretary, and her petition
| yracartaI to tho
again, the indlsputable evidence for
babe the exercise Of mercy. Esther S
betrothed husband was hanged at Hull.
His last words declared his innocence
with the rope around his neck.
Before year had passed the one
poor consolation that she could hope
tor in this world found Esther in her
misery. The proof that Jennings had
died a martyr to the fallibility of human
justice was made public by the confess
sion of the guilty man. Another GRIM
inal trial took place at the assizes. The
| landlord of an inn was found guilty of
having stolen the property ola person
staying in his house. 1t was stated in
evidence that this was not his first OF
fence. He had been habitually rob-
Der on the highway, and his name was
| Brunell.
The wretch confessed that he was
the marked hlghwayman who had stolen
the bag of guineas. Riding by nearer
way than was known to the traveller, he
had reached the inn first. There he
found a person in trade waiting by ap-
pointment for the settlement of a bill.
Not having enough money of his own
about him to pay the whole amount,
Brunell had made use of one of the
stolen guineas, and had only heard the
traveller declare that his money was
marked after the tradesman had left the