Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-12-01
N A D { AP.
THE STORY OF A SIN.
HELEN B. MATTERS.

L gave those geWgaWS some seven
years ago to the prisoner. who. was
then my n stress. That there may be
no misrepresentation in future on the
subject. and the reason for her murder
OF my wife be better understood, | also
declare myself to have been the father
OF the child for whose murder Janet
Stork was tried in this court. and SEN
fenced to fifteen years Imprisonment
in May last"
A dead silence succeeded this speech.
as If those present were unable TO take
III Its full significance: then Testers
counsel darted quick, angry look at
her. and made gesture as if he threw
up his brief.
The Judge looked for Lord Lovel.
but, finding he had left the court. shook
his head. and glanced codIy at Mr..
Eyre. who stood. with folded arms and
Indifferent eye, waiting till vulgar sur
prise and curiosity should exhaust it.
self, and permit justice TO proceed. But
lawyers are Injured to surprises. AMI
there was no very appreciate pause b.
tween his speech and the next question
put to him
If the trinkets belonged toh his form
er mistress. how did witness suppose
they had come into the possession of
his ServanI?'
They had probably been used to
bride the woman" Mr.. Eyre said, with
a look at Josephine, beneath which she
trembled; and the evidence of the con-
stable who had brought her being then
gone into. it was proved that the jewels
had that morning been found hidden
beneath a plank in the nurses room,
and that she had exhibited such extra
ordinary fear on their discovery that
much closer examination was now be-
ing conducted, in the expectation of
finding other boards.
Then suddenly flashed across Mr..
Eyre's memory the cupidity of the wo-
mans eyes on the night she had seen
her m stress dressed in the diamonds,
and he glanced at her keenly, but in the
same moment put the thought by-he
was so convinced of the guilt of the wo-
man who stood in the dock before him.
CrOSs-eXamined as to his reason for
practcing such deception, and asked
if he considered it the act of a man of
honor to allow his friend to be publicly
accredited with his sin, Mr.. Eyre re-
piled. carelessy that it was no question
of his onor, but Of his wife's happi-
ness, which, thank God! and in spite Of
the manner of her end, had been pre-
served to the last.
There were those present who be-
leved they saw Satan in the flesh, as
they gaZed at this man. i'll whom was
no truth or pity; who could own himself
TO their eyes man WHO had not Scru-
pied to sacrifice his friends honor to
lis own well-being, and who now de-
Hberately pursued to death woman
whose crime. il she had committed one,
distinctly lay at his door.
But there Was one present who loved
him better in his ruin than she had ever
loved him in his honor, though he was
not even conscious OF her gaze, looking
on all that passed around him, as fig
ureS in a Kaleidoscope, with which him
self and his inward thoughts had moth
ing to do.
Asked if lie thought that jealousy of
his wife was likely to have precipitated
the prisoner into the crime, Mr.. Eyre
repllsd that he considered the motive a
mixed one-intense jealousy of Mr..
Eyre being subOrdinaJed to the WO-
MANS rooted determination to punish
him through his wife.
He then detaile his conversation
with her on the afternoon preceding the
murder, and this produced a marked
effect on the jury, who, since Mr.. Eyre's
bold avOwal of the truth, had felt some
relentlngS toward the prisoner. There
was little more to be added, and when
he left the WitneSS-bOx Josephine en-
tered it, and, at considerable length,
was croSs-eXamined as to how the
trinkets had come into her possession.
She had by now regaiDed large pOr
ton of her self-command, and answer
ed without hesitation all questions put
to her. though every word she spoke
deepened the popular impression
against the prisoner at the bar.
She said, that not satisfied with see
ing the children out of doors by Mrs.
Eyre'S permission, prisoner had en-
deayOred to gain access to the house at
night and other times, and to this wit
ness had demurred, knowing that ii it
came to Mr.. Eyre'S ears Sne would lose
her situation. But by degrees she had
permitted herself to be bribed, first by
one trinket, then another, till at last
the prisoner had come and gone at the
house pretty we'll as she liked. "a
model of the house here produced show
ed that the nursery was reached easily
from the garden, the iron steps being
screened from sight of the opposite
wing by the thick shrubs that grew
around it, Witness knew that latter
ly prisoner had shown great bitterness
of feeling toward Mrs. Eyre, and had
dropped hints of Furnishing her Tor be-
ing so happy, before long.
This part of the evidence was only
elected with great difficulty, and it was
observed thatwitness held her eyes Studi
ouslv averted from those of the prisoner
in the dock.
She had not reflected that payment of
some sort would be required for these
trinketS, whose value might be roughly
estimated at some hundreds of pounds,
and would swear that she had never by
word or deed been accessory to the
murder of her mistress.
At the close of the crOss-eXaminatiOn
Of this witness. the court adjourned for
luncheon, and Mr.. Eyre saved his fell
low magistrates the awkwardness of
meeting him by going at once to par
ticular inn hard by. where, as he had
expected, he found Lord Lovel.
And so you're cleared, Frank" he
said, laying his hand on the bright head
sunk in the young fellows arms; and
now [ can walk erect and fear no man
morally I've been going tw- double
these six months"
why did you tell them?" said Frank,
lifting a haggard face; there was no
need"
WAS there not?" said Mr.. Eyre, look
ing at the young man with strange gen.
tleness. Il think so, and it will make
another link in the chain of evidence
that we will hang the woman
Did she commit the crime?" eX-
claimed Frank, involuntarily; the evil
denee is circumstantial enough-and
yeti think Digges was dismissed too
sooner what If T0Spnhinn com mittnd
the murder after aIl?' said Frank.
No" said Mr.. Eyre; ''she has the