The Monitor., 1888-05-25

HAll evidence is more or less circumstan-
| tial," answered he of the forid complex
ion; "and this man is as clearly guilty to
my mind as if there had been dozen wit
nesses to stand by and see him do the deed
That's my opinion, Haywood, " and the ora
Gle disappeared behind it's newspaper.
Feeling glad to discover any topic that
would divert my thoughts from their
| gloomy forbodngs, | addressed myself to
| Haywood the young barrister, with whom
| had a slight acquaintance.
"You seem much interested in this trial
that is going on" said. MAY ask if
you are engaged upon it?"
NO." he answered. ''But it is a curious
case. man, a clerk dismissed from his
employment, is accused of numbering the
cashier of the firm. The evidence against
him is entirely circumstantial; but the de-
fense broke down at the most critical point,
and the case certainly looks very black for
the prisoner"
| The train was now slackening speed, and
there was general rising. | rose too.
''Are you going to get out here?" said
Mr.. Haywood, opening the door as we
glided into the station. "IIaye yon come
down so early on buisiness?"
"Ye-es," said I, Wishing TO goodness
knew what the immediate business was.
Nothing very urgent, though" | added,
half to myself, as got out.
eff you have the time to spare, you had
better turn in and hear the end of the trial, y
said Haywood. "The court will be crowd
ed with ladies, no doubt, but can smng-
gle you into :. corner
Not knowing what to do with myself for
the next two hours | accepted the offer
with gratitude. was soon settled in an
obscure corner of dingy, ill-lighted, i'll
| ventilated courthouse, which would have
been ill-smelling too, had it not been for
| the scent waited from the numerous ladies
who were present. One of these, a buxom
| female obstruction who ought to have
| known better, was just in front of me, and
blocked my view with an enormous bon
| net. / could not see the prisoner or his
counsel, or even the clock over his head,
| at which the people kept looking eagerly
as the hour fixed for the recommencement
of the trial approached.
At last there was stir and hustle caused
| by persons invisible to me, then call for
silence and, after few preliminaries, the
summing up commenced.
| listened the more intently because |
could see nothing. The clear, cold, telling
sentences cut deep in my consciousness.
How distinct and convincing it all was!
| How all these minute facts, the mute testi-
mony of footmarks and the like, arranged
and distributed by that powerful intellect,
| grouped themselves into the damning
proof of guilt!
| l cared nothing for the prisoner, had no
personal interest in the trial, but my mind
was wonderfully fascinated by this tale of
horror. At length the weighty tones
ceased, and a murmur of relief and expec-
tation ran round the assembly. At this
moment the woman with the huge sun bon
net shifted her seat, and obtained full
view of the prisoner. | started involun-
tarily Where had seen that face before?
The jury returned after a short absence;
the verdict was guilty, accompanied with
a recommendation to mercy. Again the
| indge's solemn tones sounded through the
| court, again they ceased.
There was dead silence. | sprung to
my feet as if impelled to do so by some un-
seen power, and looked steadily at the pris-
oner. His face was averted from me for
the moment, but the looks of the people
showed me that he was about to speak.
Slowly he turned round, and in voice
whose deep, earnest tones could be heard
all over the assembly, he said:
There lives but one man who can prove
me innocent-and there he stands"
With white face and outstretehed arm
he pointed at me. gazed at him with a
sudden flash of recognition. 1t was the
man had seen under the lamp. And by
a strange coincidence at this moment the
court clock struck twelve.
The plea that had been got up by the de-
fense was an alibi. But there was space
of some two hours that could not be ac-
counted for, and the theory of the prosecu-
tion was that the crime had been committed
during that time My evidence supplied
the missing link, for the place in which
had seen the man was so far distant from
the scene of the murder that it was impos-
sible for him to have been anywhere near
at the time of its coincidence.
And the dream? Only a coincidence,
you will say, perhaps, or fit of indiges-
tion, or my timber contract. Nevertheless,
as | have told it to you, so it happened.
Explain il away who can?
Rev. Annie II. Shaw has just made
short visit East, where she has been warm
ly welcomed by her old friends. She is en-
gagged for lectures in Michigan, Kansas,
Iowa and Ohio, for the next three months.
She is National Superintendent of the
franchise department of the w. c. I. T.,
and National Lecturer for the American
Woman Suffrage Association. She is ad-