The farmers' union., 1894-08-16
CASE OF MOA BARRIOS
A Spaniard's American Story. Written for This
d., Paper by Phillip Braggalan

in way little short Of madness. AT
breakfast she sets aside food as If for
visit, r: she returns t, the house after
they have both presumably left it for
ever; she lifts the trap door and leaves
it open, and rom q hook inside sus-
pends a long piece of cord. by which
person might easily de cend to the
vault below. or ascend from it to the
places the plate Of broken food, and
having thus drawn attention to what
| might never have been suspected but
for he. Indication, she rejOins her hus-
band, very soon after committing an
, other ana even worse act OF stupidity,
since it is with ,ssed to by one who
| grasps the full significance of the Incl
dent and who, in following up the
clew then given, brings all the facts
home to the W. man at last. This gen.
tleman. on reading of the murGe went
straight to Ho sac. Tne town autho..-
itics had thought that the man might
have got in after the two le t, and had
chosen for his own reasons to conceal
| himself below: but the medical evil
dence proved that he had been dead at
least three days. and the key wa,
found by the landlord in the place
v
S curely bolted from within. But sus-
picion was certainty. and this pris-
Oner would have reached the far West
unmolcsted had not the stranger who
travel ed with them produced the ar
senic box, an given his evidence at
the inquiry then being held. The re-
suit YOU know. The woman was
brought back Immediately and COM
mitted to prison to await her trial.
One cannot sufficiently admire the "a
gacity and acumen of this amateur de-
1cctive, who would put to shame pro-
fcsslonal expert. We will place him
on the stand as our principal witness.
CHAPTER: ~.
On the ensuing day the case against
Moa Barrios was completed in a single
forenoon session of the court. All the
points for conviction were made as
promised in the District Attorneys
| opening address. | was placed on the
stand and made to testify to what I had
obser; ed in the car. no l,nger ielt
proud of my work, but as q mean fell
low who had bounded down ,ssibly
innocent woman. But for my evidence
about the poison seen in her possess
sion, and that of her hu band about
the rope and the food, she would not
have been suspected. Why had l put
the slumbering authorities on her
track? She had done me no harm:
II " surely should | have done any in
leaving a hunted soul one chance Of
salvation, and life of love with the
man who honored her. for the main
spring OF his happy existence was now
as surely broken as hers. For one
piece of reticence [ now congratulated
myself. | had made no mention of the
meeting between Moa and Mercer at
the Snow Hole, and it was not devel-
opel in the evidence that they had
ever met alter their separation in New
York until his fatal visit to her home
on the mountain.
The cJurt took 4 recess. aud after it
tho proceedings were resumed with an
address by the lawyer employed to de-
fend the prisoner. He spoke at con-
siderable lenot tn of her previously good
reputation, and felt convinced by his
emphasis upon that point that he had
nothing substantial upon which to rely
for an acquittal. He vehemently de-
clared that his client was innocent,
b 1t his utterancc did not eam sincere,
and the case of Nloa Farrios was at
that time hol eless. His first witness
was the woman herself, ard after she
had answered $, me preliminary oues-
lions without revealing anything that
the reader does not already know, she
wa dir ected to give an account OF her
connection with the death OF Henry
Mercer.
He did come to me late that af.
ternOon. as las been testified to-" she
said, speaking with dogged caimncss.
Il asked how he dared to. and what he
wanted. He said that he loved me
) that he had always loved me, and al
ways should. He was my husband in
the sight o; heaven. and must be his
wife. | wouldn't let him touch me.
, told him he mustn't even talk to me any
more. That loved my real and true
husband, and was Just going to go to q
distant part of the country, SO as to be
far away from the places that had sad
reminders for .Alrert. Then he got ex
. citeu. He blamed me. He said had
done an injury to him as great as h,
had done 10 me. and we both ought tC
forgive and forget"
What did he refer to-" the Judge
asked.
He meant that l had destroyed
| some papers belonging to him, wa.
the reply. He gave them TO me for
, s"fe-kceping. when we were living to-
gethe" in New York. and when we
, parted I brought them away Thi
+ loss was his ruination-so he said
: and that was As bad as his deception
OF ME. So he argued that one wrong
l ought to Offset the other. and we
: could be happy together if would de
D sert ALI ert."
What was the nature of the papers?
j.. the Judge inquired.
a Il don rightly know. she answered
D He WIS mixed up in q deacatioa-
< never understood p eci-eiy how.
), think one of the documents was G. n
: 1ess;on. I'm sure he tod ne he wa
D guilty of wrong-d ing in the matter
: but that the worst charge was false
. and that he couldn't clear himself 0
Il Il e one without convicting himself o
= the other: 80 the time hadn t come t,
: use the documents. ard. as he die
= dare to keep tnem. he trusted them t,
|, me-
o Ard you destroyed them:"
0 Yes. sir.
y Burned them:"