Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-12-07

strangely impressive, made such theory
impossible. They called upon him to re
peat his confession and to state his resi-
dence, his calling, his name. AS Uncle
Fedia calmly testified to his own out
lawry, the sensation in the courtroom
was such as to call forth warning from
the bench.
When summoned to give the details of
/ his crime, Uncle Fedia's readiness, his
frankness, his composure carried convic-
ton to the minds of all. On the even
ing preceding the destruction of tn e
mansion, he had gone to the barn near
the mill pond to seek shelter and had
met Akoulina with her straw on her way
to the house of Anton Petrovitch. Some
what after midnight he had left the barn
and passing through the forest had
crossed the fields and had come to the
rear Of the outbuildings of the mansion,
to which he had set fire, knowing that
the wind would throw the fiares against
the mansion itself. He had long medi-
tated this piece of revenge, on account
of cruel beating which the owner of
the estate had caused to be inflicted up-
on him. When confronted with the
records OF the preliminary examination
from which the clerk Of the court now
read to him his repeated denial of guilt,
Uncle Fedia for sole reply asked if pot
of tar had not been found on a spot
which he designated with great particu-
larity. He specified the name of the
manufacturer upon the label and in
formed the court when, where and of
whom he had bought the tar in neigh
boring town. These details were exact.
This pot of tar, which Uncle Fedia
confessed to have used to start the con-
Migration, had already been put in evil
dence.
After the court had recovered its
wonted dignity and composure, there
were visible in the faces of the judges,
although as carefully veiled as possible,
indisputable signs of satisfaction that
this confession would spare them the |
terrible necessity of pronouncing a SEN
tence upon woman of whose guilt |
there was no direct evidence
The judges recalled to mind the re- |
luctance with which the prosecution
had abandoned the case against the |
peddler, although at the time everyone, |
peasant and noble alike, felt morally |
certain that he was the criminal. Was |
not the finger of God visible in this |
sudden and unhoped for rescue of the |
widow from her awful peril? Had not a /
merciful Providence moved Fedia's heart |
TO confess his guilt, guided Fedia's foot
steps to the hall of justice as the clock |
was striking the death-knell to Akou-
lina's hopes?
After brief elaboration the court
now determined to proceed at once with |
the peddler's trial. Uncle Fedia was
put upon his oath and called upon to
repeat the details of his terrible crime
1t seemed to me th0t my old friend hest
tated an instant as he was ordered to |
raise his hand toward the figure of the
Savior. but 1t may have been my imag-
ination. In few moments the peddler
had repeated his impressive evidence
under oath, and the judges again retired
to draw up o new sentence.
Uncle Fedia stood there with bowed
head. He dared not raise his eyes, for
he felt that all the hatred and malevo-
lence which these hundreds of hearts
had been distilling for years were now
being poured upon mis- defenseless head
And yet, although he looked the wretch
ed ,outcast, the self-convicted criminal,
as he stood there in the presence of that
large assembly, some way 1 could not
bring myself to turn against him like all |
the rest of the world The tears gath
cred in my eyes, and would have given
30 mnch-Oh, SO much!-to have been
permitted to rush up to bis side and cry
out: