Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-01-29

GU l. DE t2lIil9 us next Jl2J your name am
| Hugh Trelawncy, ate oYeISeeT OF the St
| GuTlott mine"
''Trelawney is my name, but"
'Of course il is: and Trela wney's the nume
of the man we want-the name on this here
warrant. My duty is to apprehend you for
| the murder of Mr. Ephram S. johnson, the
new overseer, who took your place.
johnson !-murderedr' | cried. at is I'M
| possible.'
''Oh, no, it amt" returned the imperturb-
able official. Deceased was found at the
foot of the cliffs. with his brains knocked
ont, and bearing OH his body signs Of vio-
| lence; worse than that he'd been stabbed
| with knife; and once more, you're the party
| we want for having done the job"
Utterly amazed and Mortified, [ staggered
/ and fell into a chair. As for Annie. she
! seemed completely petriied. | can see her
| white face n110-froZen, fearless, and aghast
| There was pause of several minutes. Ger
| tain Of his prisoner, the officer looked on
| quietly, and allowed me breathing time.
| Gradually, my brain cleared, and | became
| comparatively calm.
Il will go with you" l said, but / am
| perfectly innocent. Until this moment |
| Ifever even heard Of this horrible affair"
OF course not, returned the officer, cheer
fully That's what they all say, Young
man: and for the matter o that, every mans
innocent till the Nv proves him guilty"
! ''But | was not even there. | left St Cur
| lofts TWO days ago"
| Exactly" was the dry rct0rt: you hH06-
| ed it the very night Of the murder The
! bOiy was fOunG early Oh the morning of the
| 23d, and the warrant was issued yester-
| day"
| AS he spoke, l seemed to feel the net clos
| ing round me. At first the very accusation
had seemed prepoStcrOus: nO,C, began to
understand that my position was one Of ex-
! IRENE peril. II Johnson had really been
murdered, and on that night, as now seemed
clear | could not escap" suspicion by mere
| alibi. remembered, with . thrill of horror,
my last meeting with the murdered man, just
before my departure; and my heart sank
within me.
knew my own innocence-but who was
guilty? AS | asked myself the question, L
looked again at Annie who was still watch
| ing me intently: and in moment, as if by
! an inspiration, | thought of her father! Had
! John PendragOn, in a moment of madness,
taken the life Of the man whom he suspected
Of betrayhlg his daughter? The thought was
almost too horrible for belef-yet, alas. it
was not unreasonable.
Nov, then, are you ready?" said the Off
Ger, placing his hand upon my shoulder.
rose quietly. As [ did 50, Annie sprung
toward me with Outstretched hands.
Hugh! dear Hugh tell me you did not do
it! | cannOt-cannOt believe that YOU are
I,guiIty."
As ! looked at her. all my spirit darkened
and hardened against her
when the times comes" | said, sOlemnly,
may YOU be as we'll able to answer for your
deeds as | shall answer for mine. The trOub
lie began with y0u. If murder has been DONE
it is your doing aIso-remember thatr'
They were cruel words, and afterward |
bitterly regretted them: but ] was thinking
Of her father, and remembering how bitter
must be her blame, il, by any possibility, he
had been driven into crime and violence as
consequence of her conduct. Whether she
understood me or not, / cannot tell; but hid
ing her face IN her hands, she sank Oh
couch, historically Sobbing.
What followed seemed more like an CX-
traOrdinary dream than cruel waking reality!
| was led from the house, placed in cab,
and driven away. That very afternoon [ left
London by train, and late that night was
handed over, handcutfed and helpless, to the
authorities Of Falmouth Jail.
1t is a truiSm, | know, that the best consO-
latiOn to be found by the uniuStly accused is
the consciousness of their own innocence-a
consciousness which is said to sweetan suf-
fering, and tighten the weight of prison
chains. My own experience is that nno-
cence has no such effect on man indicted
for the fOulest of human crimes. My first
night in Jail was like many that followed it,
a night Of simple horror. Had | really been
guilty, could not have suffered 1.-THE of
what l actually endured.
To begin with, the whole affair was SO hOr-
rible, SO unexpected; it was like the solid
earth opening under my feet to destroy me
and swallow me up. BY strange fatality,
johnson had been killed on the very night of
my departure, and at time when | was
known to bear the greatest hostility toward
him. Remembering all | had read of men
unjustly convicted and even executed on cir
cumstantial evidence, | thought with shud-
der of how my very departure might be con-
strued into evidence against me.
In the extremity Of my position, one
thought haunted me with tCrmenting cruelty.
What would Madeline think, when she heard
that was accused Of crime 50 terrible, so
cOwardly? | could bear everything else but
the fear that her heart might be turned
against me.
My suspense aid not last long. The very
next day after my arrival at Falmouth JAN,
was taken from the prison. and placed in
dog-cart with a policeman at my side and
another on the seat beside the driver An
inquest on the body OF the murdered man
was to take place that day at 81. GurlOtts;
and, Of course, my presence was necessary.
How viyIdly l remember that drive! Snow
had fallen in the night, and the s.>iys were
dark and sunless; the whole prospect bitter
~ cold AMI deso.ate. We followed the same
road that ] had pursued long years before, III
company with john Rudd! Their | was a
lonely boy; nOlC | was melancholy man.
| wore a large uIster-coat, the folds Of
which covered the handouts on my hands:
but [ fauc;ed that every soul we passed knew
the truth-that1 was a criminal accused OF
murder. Talk about the consciousness of in
noceuce, l could nave wept Tor shame
What was a ions days Journey by John
RNdd's SOW. 0ld-faShioncd wagon, with IL
inmum2rahlc Stoppages for business. GOSSIP.
or refrcsim2nt, was 4 swift drive Of i've or
SIX hours on this occasion. We started II
SIX III the morning, and bGfOrt midday were
IN sight Of St CARROTS.
As we dashed through the village, / saw
several OF the miners hanging a5ous. but /
carefully aycrteJ my eyes tToal theirs. y
little further Oh. we passed the door OF the
cottage where / had dwell 50 happily ana 30
long: and | saw. with sigh OF relief, th.'t
there was no sign of any one about. W
trotted on, all We reached The gate or tt!e
avenue leading 10 Rejrutl House. Here. 10
my surprise, the horse was puIied up, While
one OF the men jumped down and threw open
the gate.