St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-05-15
A LAWYERS STORY
New York Advertiser.

The most curious and interesting case
or circumstantial evidence in my'prac-
tice was that of Nat Ford. 1t occurred
when was much younger man than
now am. In fact, | never had crIminal
case, aud was beginning TO wonder II
ever should nave Cne, when 1 received
the following telegram:
81 am arrested on a charge of murder
You must defend me. Come at once,
NAT"
Nat Ford had been my friend from
bOyhOOd. Left all orphan at an early
age, he had been adopted by bachelor
uncle who was said to be very wealthy.
His home, called Winthrop Place. was
like many Southern mansions OF that
period-very large. with numerous
wings. and a double piazza on three
sides. l had visited Nat more than once
and remembered the house very dis
tinctly.
| wondered whom Nat could have
been accused of having murdered. He
was rather of wild boy, but not at all
QuarrelSOme; and he never had all
enemy in the world. 1t was of no use
wondering; the telegram gave me no
cue, aud | must wait till reached my
destination.
In response to my telegram that
would arrive on the next train. was
met at the station by old Aleck, the
coachman. with tie Winthrop carriage.
lie greeted me very S0rrOwfully. L
could hardly wait till we were OH the
way when | began my questioning.
"Aleck, what is all this trouble
ab0ut?"
IVY Dress yo' soul. Massa Harry
Amt yo' done heard it?" Aleck looked
wonderingly at Inc. "Somebody done
killed ole Massa, an the hossifers Says
twas Massa Nat"
could not repreSS an exclamation of
horror.
NAT never could have done such
thing" l said.
''Co'se he nebba: we all knows dat.
You'll sabe lin, MasSa Harry; you'll
tell lie hOSsiferS he didn't, wont yOu?'
assured the old man that L would do
everything i'll my power. L then asked
him for IL detailed account of the trag-
edy.
Nobody doanf know much bout hit.
Ole Masaa was a-writin' in his room at
midnight wen de ole woman went down
kitchen fO' hot Watah fO' her newralgy.
Den bout half hour arter we done
heard MaSsa Nat leave his room, aliet
nebba heard i'm come back. NeX4
mo'nin we done fin ole MaSSa dead oil
de fio', an marks on lis neck wha' some
body done choke i'm"
"Horrible" exclaimed. ''But why
was it dolIe?' =
"Fo' money. Dey say dere's heaps oh
it gone: - '''
could learn little more. and the re1C
maindtr of ifle' five-mie journey was
made in silence had expected to fintr
Nat looking worried; but L was not pre-
pared 20 meet the haggard, w1ld-eyeH
man whom | found i'll a cell at the jail
when ran down there after superb
We had. alOug conversation; but. II
could learn little or Importance Nab
had-g0ne to the library fora book about
midnight OF a litHedaterzOnthe hlghtOE
the'tragedy. iIe.saw his underwriting
i'll his room as he passed the door, Att,
er spending some time i'll selecting a
book he returned with ltst05his own
apartment; and, noticing as he passed
that the door was, cleSed and the light
eXtinguisheC, supposed that his uncle
had retired. The deed must have been
done while he was in the library. s..
At the inqueStit had been shown that
| the old man had been strangled in his
chair by some one who seized him from
behind. There were no marks OF vlO-
lcnce except the livid tingerprlntS on
his throat, and no sign of any struggle.
But the most damaging testimony
against Nat was the discovery of his
scarfpin. which had dropped down the
collar of his uncle's coat. and was found
by the coroner. This, it was argued.
could not have occurred unless Nat had
stood behind Mr.. Winthrop in the posi-
ton one must necessarily take to COM
nit such deed.
The safe door was standing ajar; all
the money and papers were missing.
The drawers of the desk, too, had been
ritled.
This was bad enough, out questioned
| the servants.
Alexis wife repeated what Aieck
had said; that when she went TO the
| Kitchen for hot water at midnight Mr..
| Winthrop was writing in his room.
Shortly after her return. they-both
! she and Aleck-heard Nat leave his
| chamber ana go along the hall toward
his uncle's room. They fell asleep
shortly afterward. and neither of them
| heard him return.
| Old Hetty, whose room was ON the
| first floor beneath Mr.. Winthrop'S. was
| awakened some time in the night by
| sound as of a weight falling on the
| piazza without. But she had no idea
! what time it was, and the noise might
or might not have had any bearing on
! the crime.
This was absolutely all that | could
| learn OF the matter. Personally, Twas
satisfied that Nat was innocent; but
| from the data at hand it seemed impoS-
/ sible to establish his innocence in court.
| Young and inexperienced as | was,
the responsibility was greater than /
| liked to GEAR, and | asked Nat to let me
bring in an older lawyer. His reply
was most emphatic negative, his
reasons being that no other man would
| believe him innocent, and, therefore, no
one else would put his whole heart into
the work. - EXpOstulatiOn was in vain;
must work out the case myself. RI
Court was at that time in session, and
Mats case was set for Friday. of the fol-,
lowing week. During the days that f0iT
| lowed worked as no man ever worked
before to find some cleW to the muir
derer. There were not wanting de-
tectives to ply their skill. but all in vaif..
| Nat passed the time i'll sort of Stuper,
! seemingly too benumbed to realize the
awful turn things were taking. fs
Hoping against hope that the sound
Hetty had heard had some connection
with the deed, locked for the twents,,
eth time for some indication of it; cause5
Every inch of the piazza floor near her.
room | went over, and was at last req
warded by finding very slight clews1
very slight indeed, but in darkness such;
as mine it seemed ray of light. o.,
the piazza floor discovered two curious
little indentatiOnS, one on each side Of
a pillar, aud very close to it. They
were in the form Of tiny horseshoe.
with the toe toward the edge of the
piazza, as if some diminutive pony had
left his tracks impressed upon the soft
pine floor. 1t might have been done 10y
children at play; but that was not
likely. for could find but the two. To
me they seemed like the dints made by
plates on the heels of shoes to prevent
their running down" They were in
the very spots where mans heels
wOuli, strike if he should slide rapidly
down the pillar from the floor above.
y tI., no rnnr.. oprtaiu I fold Hatfy to ,rn