Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-02-08

|
all / had seen, in spite Of all she had
| told me on that night when | found her,
| a Wild diStra acted woman, III Il storm the
widest that years have known, guiltless
of her husbands death, Innocent not
only as she had IL my eyes always been,
/ but alsO-What was far mOre-lnnocent
! in her own eyes!
! Small wonder that for nearly an hour
we sat with our arms twined round
each other, and used few words which
were more than rapturous Explanations
Of love and JOY
| the scene more fully. / will say no
more, except this: When at last we
grew calmer. Philippa turned to me,
and once more | saw terror gathering III
| her eyes.
Basil" she said, ''it is true it must
| be trueT'
''True! of course it is
''That man, the prisoner, could not
have pleaded guilty when he was limo
! cent"
~Why should he? 1t meant death to
| him, poor wretch
but why did he confess?"
| .Who can tell? Remorse may have
| urged him to do So.
| Philippa rose and her next words were
| spoken quickly and with excitement
''No, | did not do it. The thought,
| the dream haunted me, but | did not
| believe it until / heard those men talk
| of the way he died. Then it all came
| back to me- The mad storm, the dead
man over whom / stood; even then /
don't think / actually believed it. 1t
was when you told me how you found
me, that lost all hope.
Dearest, forgive me. / should have
| believed i'll the impossibility of the act
even i'll your delirium, even if ! had seen
! it done. Philippa, say you forgive me. =
/ throw 81
| sill, my husband" she whispered, "you
have done much for me, do one thing
more; find out the whole truth-find out
why this man killed him, how he killed
| him; find out satisfy me that his con-
| fession was a true one; then, Basil, such
| happiness as | have never dreamed of
| will be mine!"
''And mine.' I echoed
l promised to do as she wished
| Indeed, the moment / had recovered
| my senses, | resolved to learn every
thing that could be learned. Once and
| for all / would clear away every cloud
! of doubt, although that cloud might be
no bigger than /; mans hand.
| But Philippa must not stop in TeWn-
| ham. Her strange conduct during the
| trial, her fainting-ft after it, were
| bound to have attracted the attention of
| those present. No doubt she was looked
| upon as a friend of the prisoner, who
| full ending of the case. Still, she must
not stay at Tewnham.
We went to London by an afternoon
| train. The next morning l again can
| down to the place at which: the trial was
| held. / ascertained the name of she con-
| yictS solicitor and as soon as l found
| him at leisure requested the favor Of an
| interview.
| / found him apparently worthy. re-
| spectacle man, but of nature inclined
| TO be choleric. | told him | called on
! him because / was interested in the case
| of the convict William Evans Mr..
| Crisp, that was his name, frowned and
| fidgeted about with some papers which
| were in front of him.
Il would rather not talk about the
case" he said, sharply. Nothing for
many years has SO much annoyed ME. !"
| why? Your client only met with his
| deserts.
| Our province is not to think SO much of
| deserts as of what we can do Tor a
client. 1t is hard to try and serve a
| fool
mo doubt; but l scarcely understand
your meaning !.
Meaning! | could have saved that
| man. There is no evidence to speak of
against him. What did it amount to?
| A pistol of a peculiar make found i'll q
/ field half mile away from the scene of
| the murder: one man who could swear
! that the pistol was my clients property
"a Dawnbroker, to whom he wanted to
sell it. Positively, sir, that was the
whole case for the crown. Never Sc dis
gusted in my life-neverv'
| The excitable little mans looks
showed that his disgust was not as
| sumed.
SO the pistol which I had thoughtless-
| ly hurled away had, after all, furnished
| the clue and brought the criminal to
1 justice. Although | was not quite salts
fed that the right person was to suffer
| for the dark crime, | resolved to get all
| the additional information / could.
but why did he plead guilty" |
asked.
| Because he was FOOL raped out
Mr. Crisp. 1T was like committing sui
| eide. I don't care u button for the man
| HIMSELF but | confess | was annoyed at
| seeing my case all knocked to pieces by
| his obstinacy. [ went to him; it you were
in court, you no doubt saw me. begged
him to Withdraw his plea | told him |.
| could save him. Yet the fool insisted. =
| 1T was like committing suicide. | don't
care button for the man himself; but l
| confess | was annoyed at seeing my case
all knocked to pieces by his obstinacy. |
went to him; # you were IN L.. court, you 431
draw his plea told him l could save
him. Yet the fool insisted"
| Did penitence or remorse urge him.
Il don't know. He could have had
more time for penitence and remorse if he
had let me save him from the gallows;
! No. he says, It's no good-not a bit Of
good You don't know all l know:
! There's some one in court who knows all
about it-saw it all done. She's come to
hang me" | have no idea what he
! meant"
/ started l knew what the man
| ment He, in common with everyone
| else in that court, had turned and looked
at Philippa as she rose from her seat and
addressed the judge. 1t was the sight of
Philippa that had taken away the
| wretch's last hope of escape
Il wash my hands Of the fellow, e
course" continued Mr.. Crisp; but did
| take the trouble to inquire if any wit
nesses for the prosecution had been al
lowed to enter the court: am assured
| they were all kept in waiting outside;
[ sat for some moments in deep
thought. The solicitor looked at me, as
! if he fancied l had already taken UP as
| much of his valuable time as he could
snare,