The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1895-01-10
moment might wane il he were not
present.
FIRED THE FATAL SHOT.

L dIIOu Cdm0 up Tue Iuhu anu was vi =
rectly in front Of Macdonald the ia :
tai shot was fired. /;
The arrangement had been that il
Macdonald should have to run after
firing, Gray should leave the south
door OF the house open for him, and
if Patton attempted to follow Gray
would be behind the door and hit Pat
ton over the head if he entered in pur- ,
suit of Macdonald.
OF course this was Gray's plan. 1t
happened that at the moment OF the
killing Gray had been called to the
house by one Nick Probst, neighbor
who had come on the matter OF trading
some cattle. He did not see the shoot.
ing. But when the shot was fired he
ran quickly down the road and knelt
down beside the fallen victim oil his
hypnotism. Patton asked Gray to go
for doctor. Patton was shot through |
the lungs and was dying. Gray
promised to go for a doctor. First he
went TO the house, where he found
his subject pale and trembling.
"You made pretty job OF it" sneer-
ed Gray. "You didn't kill him."
The evidence shows that the spell
had gone from Macdonald.
His face lighted up and he exclaim
ed ;-"Not dead. I am glad of it,"
Gray, the hypnotist, stood and look
ed at his subject CONTEMPORARY,
Macdonald rushed from the house
and began to saddle up his horse.
"What are you going to do?" asked
Gray.
~ am going to notify the sheriff."
said Macdonald. "This man is shot
and the sheriff should know"
"Youi idiot" exclaimed his employer
"You shot him. You are the murder
er. You will be sentenced to be hang.
ed"
"No! No!' exclaimed Macdonald.
III did not murder him."
"You shot him." his employer ar
: gued.
"The evidence does not show that"
/ Macdonald answered.
Gray took a board in the yard, and
with the assistance OF neighbor,
named Sprague carried the dying
man to the Patton home.
Then Gray started out in quest OF
a doctor. 1t was shown by the evil
dence that he took his time in find
: ing one. He went into the little town
U of Conway Springs and not finding
= the doctor for whom the dying man
d had asked, proceeded to wait several
hours for him to put in an appearance
is although there was another doctor ir
1t the town, at the time.
'e After short time Patton died
II Macdonald had suddenly grown tt
~ despise Gray. He insisted on givin,
himself mp to the sheriff, after beinl
o. convinced that he had shot Patton
u He now knew it was murder. H,
r. insisted that at the time of the shoot
~ ing he did not know it was murder
Is But Gray, after considerable argu
" ment, forced this notion out OF Mac
IL Donsld's head. Gray told him h
would testify that the crime was tn
q work of crowd of Cherokee stril
ie boomers, who were passing along tn
O. road and got into an alteration will
or Patton, and ending by shooting him
er To cover up any suspicion of Mac Don
20 aid, Gray put on pair of large shoe
ee and carefully went over the tracks o
Re Mac Donald in the orchard.
le But at the inquest the jury found
that Patton was killed by Macdonald
lie When Macdonald was arrested he wa
n in the best of spirits. On the Satur
lie day following Mrs. Macdonald anC
is Gray were arrested, and while all O
ut them were in Jail but in separate cells
it Macdonald, overjoyed al being the
as informer, confessed all telling the OF
ne fcers how he had killed Patton, Blu
insisting that he was not the murderer
W He insisted that he knew what mur
der was, but when he fred that sho
ne he did not know that it was murder
Te On this peculiar confession Gray
a was held, and last week was tried il
re Wellington, the county seat, and con
in victed of murder in the first degree OF
the FIRST poll Of the jury.
In The latter part Of the week MacDon
s. aid was tried. He repeated bis con
to fession and former testimony, which is
Of substantially the same as in the nara
tive, and was acquitted, the jury hold
le ing that he was under the hypnotic
ID Influence OF Gray and was not respou
le sible.
Ie That is the story Of trial-the first