Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-09-03

AT tQdt Time Tue muiucE muob nave
been done, and John Mainwaring and
the groom, after carrying the body to
the house, had returned to the camp.
And presently the wagon came up. and
Joined the others, and they told me
what had happened. but no oDe asked
me how l CHANGED to be mounted and
abroad so early. That Is all"
Pardon me, / have one more ques-
tlon TO ask" said the lawyer, who held
the derrlnger in his hands. 81 think
you said this pistol was In the same
condition as on that morning. Are you
aware that it has been discharged and
that the she'll OF the cartridge still re-
mems in it?"
At this announcement John, whose
face had lightened little during the
previous few moments, suddenly turned
white and leaned heavily against the
back OF his chair.
"Yes, 1 know that" returned Sinfre,
quietly.
How do you account for it?"
"As 1 was on my way back to the
barn l saw arabbit crossing the path
and fired at it. 1t was the impulse Of
a moment, and I was sorry directly
afterward that / had killed the poor
creature"
at was an impulse that may have
fatal consequences for you madam" re-
Joined the lawyer, while 3 low mutter-
ing of dlscordant feeling ran through
the room. "Your honor" he con-
tinued, I'VE have treated this lady
with every consideration, and she has
been allowed to take her own course 10
the story she has told. We had wit
nesses ready to speak TO several points,
but the cynical frankness which has
characterized the greater part or the
narrative to which you have just listen
ed renders their confirmation superfu-
Gus, while as for the conclusion
OF the tale, 1t is so manifestly
artificial and out Of keeping with
the rest. it will not, l think,
carry any weight Of conviction with 1t.
We have been told that the witness had
a motive for enmity and hatred against
the deceased reaching back to a period
antecedent TO her appearance in this
community, and her presentation Of
herself before US as the offspring OF an
unconsecrated union, and therefore
without recognized social status, justi-
fies the inference that in whatever may
have happened between her and the de-
ceased he was not the only or the chief
one to blame. Be that as 1t may, she
conceived malignant purpose against
him."
Why should l concern myself TO re-
produce the fluent rigmarole uttered by
this solemn legal fool? He spoke &C.
cording to his light, but his light was
darkness. He ended by proposing that
Sinire should be committed for trial,
without further ceremOny,on the charge
Of the willful and premeditated murder
of Henry Mainwaring, apd 1t would
doubtless bave been so ordered II | had
not arisen and stated that was prepared
TO make a disposition OF the gravest I'm
portance, which would put very diff
ferent construction upon what had just
been heard. The judge accorded me
permission to give my evidence In my
own way. In accordance with what l
had resolved upon the night before re-
quested to be sworn, and when the oath
had been administered this is what l
said:
81 do not pretend to explain why the
lady who has just testified has willfully
laid herself open to charge OF which
she Is as Innocent as am myself. 1t Is
my business only to prove that she is in
nocent OF it, and that shall do beyond
any doubt. AS TO the account she gives
of her origin, something Of it | already
knew or suspected, and also that she was
hostile to my brother Henry, though the
causes of that hostility l was content to
conjecture. / never asked her and she
never told me what they were. l must
reveal also what hitherto has been
known only to her and myself-that
have loved this girl almost from the be-
ginning of our acquaintance, and Ia due
time l had reason to believe that my
love was returned. But no definite con-
tract was made between US, because II
was first necessary that some conclu-
sion should be reached In her relations
with my brother. | did not know what
she intended as 10 that, aud she prob
ably did not know herself. But on the
night of which so much has been said
we agreed to meet.
my illness prevented me from TAX
ing part In the proposed ambush, and
everything was propitious. She could
come to me without suspicion or peril,
and we could remain together many
hours. Accordingly she left the camp
at the lake before 10 o'clock and reach
ed my rooms at IL. She was still with
me when the groom came TO announce
the murder, and while he was with me
she withdrew into the laboratory. She
was still there when we brought back
the body, and after my brother and the
groom had departed on their errand she
helped me to lay out the body, and she
put upon his breast the opal ring which
was the witness OF his fault. Then at
my advice she returned, as she has
told you, toward the camp until she met
the returning party"
While | was uttering these perjurles
looked neither at my brother nor at
the lawyers, but straight at Sinfire. At
first her eyes encountered mine, but
presently she dropped them, and the
flush in her cheeks faded and faded I'M
I'll even her lips were white. was
prepared to have her spring up and
give me the lie, but she did not stir.
She hardly seemed to breathe In her
stiffness. What she would say TO me in
private remained TO be seen, but at least
1 ahould have saved her life,
aud inasmuch as her fair fame was al
ready overshadowed by her relations
with Henry, she might recognize that
my action was at worst the only posi-
BILE means Of clearing her from COM
plicity with bis murder. Nevertheless
her utter observation-disclosures made
me more uneasy than any outbreak
would have done. 1t was the sign OF
inward storm.