Telegram-herald., 1889-10-30


Is bein kii
I seelaea e step a. Sweet Ho1s. ana
ses she r~sult q TIE tslal. a. - Freet
a. Interest Lad been aroused zne Pon
arriving in tosn. / tlsa my horse -
. swinging hmb' ~ac Nsrt ists tes
old log court house The rooE ~As
crowded occasionally 3 ch4S so4t&
'souaNl ard then DuIe Colt o.
under The ETees would bray in response
TIE Jury lad lust been empanellea
the prisoner sat on nigh bench near
the twelve men WHO we're - decide his
fate The Hon MAJ Sarser, a. be y as
ca led, wore, In spite ~ al efforts ~ te
serious, 3 decidedly comlc@l east u
lie had sort ot sly hump
10 his shou ders-sly. Tor he appeared
70 bend over trying 70 slip % on some-
thing. His nose WAS long and thlu znG
Of seythe- blade shape ana he had small
pea-green eyes TIA. had been set loo
close together, bis complexion was
sallow and his -thin settlement" Of
whiskers ressnbled last years wheat
straw.
The Judge. an old fat fellow who sat
behind = railing made OF an Embarked
hickory sapling, Was Tar from being
dignined Ia appearance. He VAS TAT,
bald. red chewed tobacco ana spit on.
the revised statutes, but DO evidently
b al an idea OF Justice, for, turning -
the prisoner, he said
Hon Mr.. S2ryer, ! believe We can
get through with this thing a little
better without lawyers than Ne can
With them. that Is, 4 YOU Viii help me
10 get al the truth.
"Tn help YOU, the prisoner answered,
Ia q
and with a loud "spat" plastering IL
against the wall
Good, said the Judge. You Just
help me and the jury get at this thing
and well make il putty easy on the tax
payers. Hon. Mr.. Saryer, you air
charged here, sub, with stealin' OF
sheep. | am told that you are we'll
known in this community and that you
used 10 be overseer of the county road
running from the old Dan Biscomb
place, through the Tupelo Cypress
Swamp 10 McMurry's still-house. dis.
tance Of eight miles.
"Yas, sub, an reckon / kept the
road in as good fix as anybody ever did.
Folks allus had 10 go round the swamp,
anyhow
"Ah, hah well, Hon. Mr. Sarver, as
you might have gethered from my re-
marks Jest now, you air charged here,
sub, with stealth Of a sheep and. sub,
TO cut matters short, as these people
would like 10 get back TO their crops,
w;sn you would please tell me, sub,
-huther or not you air guilty"
81 amt guilty"
"All right. Hon. Mr. Sarver. as you
air disposed to prolong the proceedin's
py tellin' lie at the outset, III join
hands in that little game and examine
" of these witnesses"
4 number Of witnesses were examined,
proving conclusively that the Hon. Mr..
Sarver had stolen a sheep belonging 10
Widow Fulgum. The Judge condu cted
the cross-examination and then re-
ouested the prisoner 10 take the stand.
Now, Hon. Mr.. Sarver, you say that
you did not steal the sheep belongin'
to widow lady that never done NO
harm, IN"
''Tha S what l say"
'All right, bu. we'd like for you TO
clear up some of the statements made
by these witnesses. Mr.. Jasper Heni-
gan, who was stackin' wheat not far
away, saw you shoot the sheep"
''Yes, Jedge, | shot the sheep, but
lemme tell you why. ! was walkin'
long the road with nv gun-liko ter
toat it Gaze a rabbit or suthin' might
hop up-an' all at once | seed mon
ster big sheep comm full tilt after a
little boy. l stopped, | did, an looked;
an then | says, Hon. Mr.. Sarver, air
you goin' to stand thar, sub, an see
great big sheep butt the life outen a
little bit NV boy p Then / says, no;
thousand times no, as they say in the
legislatur', an with that / drawed a
bead an down went the sheep. That's
the reason | done it, ledge
Yes, and that's all very well, but
you skinned the sheep"
Il done that, sub; yes. But 1t was
this way: After | had dun killed the
sheep, | seed that it belonged TO Miz
souar TO myse'f, Hon. Mr.. Sarver, that
old woman amt got none too much
meat, so the best thing you can do is
to skin this sheep an take 1t right over
to her house, so | skinned the sheep,
and -"
But. hold on. " interposed the Judge.
at is true that you skinned the sheep
with prOmptness -
"Fearin' that it would spile," the
prisoner broke in.
instead of taking it TO the widow you
took it TO your own home"
II know that, Jedge. jest as soon as
got through skinnin' the sheep, thar
come up a putty heavy shower Nv rail-.
an as | didn't want TO git Wet an fetch
back the rheumatiz On me. ! gethered
up the sheep an run home with him. !"
'Ah hab. but two nights later the
officers found the sheep under your bed.
Why hadn't you taken II to the
widows or why hadn't you hung il in
the smoke house,"
Il would nave tuck it on over 70 her
house but the rheumatic hat me bout
the time got home; an | would have
hung it UP but some niggers that don't
live fur away have got in the habit Nv
slippin' into our smoke house an
stealth ever thing they can git their
hands on"
That's pritty good. Hon Mr.. Sarver,
but so soon as the officers pulled the
sheep out from under your bed, YOU
made break for the woods. Where
WAS your rheumatism. then ?"
All at once, about supper time, my
rheumatiz let mo an ! lowed 10 my
self that "a soon n | got up from the
table I'd take the sheep home. but Just
about the time | was done eatin the
men come"
but why did you run away
"Wall. Jedgc, jest as they pulled out
the sheep. my old dog JEFF trccd down
in the swamp, Dunk DUNK. DUNK. he
velped, an knowcd he had =
possum. an / knowed that 81 ] aidn
GIT thar he'd leave pstty soon. fur he
don't like 20 stay long lessen somebody
comes. But I've pup. though, that's
goln' 20 make the snatchinest possum
dog In this country an -
Hold on. demanded the Judge.
Have you made arrangements Tor next
year
tsNn