People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-03-16
CHAPTER II.

place in the midst of the Cornish
sing-song voices trying to think of
any loop-hole by which she might
escape, but found none; then l be-
thought me how ADLER brains than
mine would marshall every little of
evidence in her favor, for, !, who had
brought her there, could do no less
than engage one of the most brilliant
advocates in the world to defend her.
He was probably now speaking,
for the burst OF applause that just
now broke forth announced the end
of the opposing counsel's speech.
/ went back, found a man holding
the court breathless, and as | listen
ed, felt my doubts waver more and
more OF her guilt, while a hope
began to stir in me that she might
escape.
He began by contemptuously dis
missing as hyperbole, and wild
imagination, his learned friends
sketch Of what went on in the
kitchen of Smugglars' Hole on
the night OF Seth Treloar's return.
In some points that imagination did
not carry him far enough. for why
was not the court treated to a de-
scription OF man in all the agonies
OF poison, which must have declared
itself long before the narcotic had
time to take effect? The fisherman
within earshot Of the house heard
not sound-not even raised voices
and was it for a moment credible
that maddened and betrayed man,
realizing that his wife had muir
dered him, would not have raised
a cry for help, or uttered a
single Shrek at the agony
which devoured his entrails? Such
conduct was not only incredible,
it was physically impossible, and no
woman, however powerful, could
have strangled his furious cries and
curses, that not even an echo crossed
the threshold. The real truth was
that she never gave him the arsenic,
70: how, pray, did she manage to dis
solve it in water before his eyes, and
then add it to milk, for if she had
merely shaken the powder into the
cup, it would have risen to the sur
face, and attracted his attention i'm
mediately. l say that this woman
did not touch or see any poison, but
that she did administer a narcotic
she had with her, probably with an
intention OF gaining time while he
was asleep to think out her terrible
situation. The sight of the trap
door suggested to her mind a hiding
place, and grasping the idea with
fatal hurry, she did actually, by the
exertion OF her unusual strength,
lower him into the vault while he
was unconscious, in the hope that he
would not wake before she and Ste
phen Croft left the house. That she
had no wish to harm him, is abun
dainty proved by the care with which
she managed his descent; that sht
felt sure of his awaking, is proved
by the rope she affixed to the hool
inside the trap-door, left purposel,
open by her that he might see the
means of ascent and climb through
it. If further proof Is wanted tina
her mind was not murderish, abund
ant proof was given by the plate 0
victuals she set beside the open trap
door, nay more, it was the good
hearted and gentle action by a We
man who, while nerving herself t
an act Of force made necessary b
her desperate situation, could thin
OF the comfort OF the man who ha
been a brute to her, and by sue
thought show that she bore no ma
ice against him. True, the man
body contained arsenic, but who wa
to prove that she gave it him? h
had been in the house three days b
fore he was discovered, and whit
D might not have happened in tn;
s time' An old enemy might hay
, pursued him there, some old cor
panion have followed and quarrelt
p with him in the deserted house;
: he might have died by his own han
: it was utterly impossible to pro-
: that the arsenic found in his boz
q. was taken from the box subsequer
g ly found in her possession. Mo
n than this-(and the learned couns
e looked steadily around the court /
fore advancing his daring theory
e he would boldly assert that she d
"a not even know there was arsenic
e the box, it had been jerked from t
ID mans pocket previous to her love
ID ing him into the vault; and aft,
l. wards in the stress and hurry of t
,e moment, she had thrust it into /
70 pocket and forgotten all about it,
N she drew it out with her handk
y: chief in the train.
At l saw Judith, whose eyes me-
pc left her counsel's face, bow her era
he head as If she had said: "Yes,-tl
n is Grue," and then she turned {
lv laid her hand on that of Stepl
(whom she could just reach) and
" utter confidence Of the gesture {
We the look they exchanged of pure 10
nd quite apart from passion, might h;
ot moved the hearts Of many who
am there.
his "If," continued her counsel,
ng carried about arsenic, might he
he have had more with him, or at
m rate enough to take his own i
True. his arms were hound. but