The state capital., 1892-04-30
A LAWYERS STORY,

circumstantial evidence in my practice was
that of Nat Ford. 1t occurred when was
much younger man than I now am. In
fact, had never had criminal case, and
was beginning to wonder if l ever should
have one, when l received the following
telegram:
am arrested on a charge Of murder. You
must defend me. Come at once. NAT.
In few hours the southern express was
whirling me over the country toward Daw-
son, and l lay back on the cushions and
tried to fancy how should feel with dear
friends life depending on my efforts
Nat Ford had been my friend from boy
hood. Left an orphan at an early age, he
had been adopted by a 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 double
piazza on three sides. l had visited Nat
house very distinctly.
| wondered whom Nat could have been
accused of having murdered. He was
Il rather wild boy, but not at all quarrel
some, and he never had an enemy in the
world. 1t was of no use wondering; the
telegram gave me no cue, and / 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
the Winthrop carriage. He greeted me
very sorrowfully. l could hardly wait till
we were on the way when 1 began my
questioning.
"Aleck, what is all this trouble about?''
wy bress yo' soul, Massa Harry! Ain t
yo' done heard it?'' Aleck looked wonder
ingly at me. Somebody done killed ole
massa, an de hossifers says twas Massa
Nat''
/ could not repress an exclamation of
horror. -
NAT never could have done such a
thingP' said
"Co'se he nebba; we all knows dat
You'll sabe i'm, Massa Harry; you'll tell
de hossifers he didn't, won't you?"
assured the old man that | would do
everything in my power. | then asked
him for detailed account of the tragedy
Nobody doan' know much bout hit.
Ole massa was a-writin in his room at mid
night wen de ole woman went down to de
kitchen fo' hot watah fo' her newralgy.
Den bout half hour arter we done heard
Massa Nat leave his room an nebba heard
i'm come back. Mex mo'nin we done fin
ole massa dead on de flo, an ma'ks on lis
neck wha' somebody done choke 'im.''
"Horriblep' exclaimed. But why was
it done?"
"Fo' money Dey say dere's heaps OBJ it
gone"
| could learn little more, and the remain
der of the five mile journey was made in
silence.
had expected to find Nat looking wor-
ried, but was not prepared to meet the
haggard, wild eyed man whom 1 found in
cell at the Jail when I ran down there
after supper.
God bless you for coming!" he said in a
broken voice, as | gave him the old, firm
grasp of friendship. 81 knew you would
not desert me-"
II never WILL" I replied, as I drew his
arm through mine Now tell me all
about it,"
We had a long conversation, but could
learn little of Importance. Nat had gone
to the library for book about midnight
or little later On the night of the tragedy.
He saw his uncle writing in his room as he
time in selecting book he returned with
it to his own apartment, and noticing as
he passed that the door was closed and the
light extinguished, supposed that his uncle
had retired. The deed must have been
done while he was in the library.
At the inquest it had been shown that
the old man had been strangled in his
chair by some one who seized him from be-
hind. There were no marks of violence
except the livid finger prints on his throat,
and nc sign of any struggle.
But the most damaging testimony
against Nat was the discovery of his scarf
pin, 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 be-
hind Mr.. Winthrop in the position one
must necessarily take to commit such a
deed
The safe door was standing ajar; all the
money and papers were missing. The
drawers of the desk, too, had been ri1ed.
This was bad enough, but / questioned
the servants.
Alexis wife repeated what Aleck 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 and go along
the hall to his uncle's room. They fell
asleep shortly afterward, and neither of
them heard him return. -t
Old Hetty, whose room was on the first
floor beneath Mr.. Winthrop's, was awak-
ened some time in the night by sound as
of 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, / was satisfied
that Nat was innocent; but from the date
at hand it seemed impossible to establish
his innocence in court. Young and mex
perienced as l was, the responsibility was
greater than liked to bear, and l 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; l must
work out the case myself.
Court was at that time in session, and
Mats case was set for Friday of the follow
ing week. During the days that followed
l worked as no man ever worked before to
lind some clew to the murderer. There
were not wanting detectives to ply their
skill, but all in vain. Nat passed the time
in sort of stupor, seemingly too be-
numbed to realize the awful turn things
were taking.
Hoping against hope that the sound
Hetty had heard had had some connection
with the deed, I looked for the twentieth
time for some indication of its cause.
Every inch of the piazza floor near her
room I went over, and was at last reward
ed by finding very slight clew-very
slight indeed, but in darkness such as
mine it seemed ray OF light.
On the piazza floor discovered two curl
GUS little indentations, one on each side of
pillar and very close to it. They were in
the form of tiny horseshoe, with the toe
toward the edge Of the piazza, as if some