The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-05-05


disclosure in regard to the barren
mound
Is this report circulated pretty
generally down your way2' I asked.
Yes he said, its on everybOdy's
tongue Under these peculiar circum-
stances it is necessary that Belle Tur-
ner be brought before the next grand
jury.
Squire Temple was as good as his
word When the grand jury met the
following week Belle Turner was the
first person il ordered to be tried when
the regular court convened on May 20.
This was a heavy blow to William
Turner. Doctors bills and undertake
ers' charges had literally devoured his
small property, and the poor man had
nothing left with which to pay for the
defense of his daughter. Kahn, how
ever, had taken a keen interest in the
case from the beginning. and, acting
on one of the generous impulses COM
mon to him, he offered to champion the
girls cause for humanitys sake alone.
When the affair was brought into court
Kahn endeavored to exercise exceeding
care in the selection Of a jury. but with
all his cautiOusneSS he had grave
doubts as TO the outcome Of the trial.
Saturated With Superstition.
Every mothers son of them, he
said, has heard that story about the
CRASHES grave, and level headed
though most of the men appear to be
on general subjects, / have not a
doubt that they are saturated with SUI
perstitiOn in regard to that one be-
lief which seems TO be old as the hills
and as firmly rooted in this COM
munity.
"One day shortly before the close Of
the trial, Kain came to me, with his
homely Ratchet face heavy and SOL
emn with serious resolve.
Do you know, Jackson he said,
that I've been thinking this matter
over, and l am positive that the only
way we can hope to save my client
is to resort to a sort of homeopathic
cure and meet Sheenanegan with St1ee-
nanegan? Do you suppose that an
all-wise Providence who a'Sominates
injustice, would make that grave bloom
out like a garden in one short night,
or two or three nights, at any rae, in
order that right might be vindicat5d?'
Yes said /, when l did finally
comprehend, but who is to assist
Providence in the blooming process?
Well said Kahn, I have come to
the concluaion that you are the most
Trustworthy of all my acquaintance.
SuppOsing you undertake the iob2 You
must understand that when 1 speak of
the grave blooming, 1 do not mean
that roses and peonies and buttercups
shall spring up in a literal sense. That
would be going a little bit too strong.
Tufts Of grass peeping out here and
there will suffice as proof that the
dead girls blood is not poisoning the
soil in its plea for vengeance.
I left Batavia that evening at 8
O'clock and rode over TO the Baptist
cemetery, some seven miles away. I
confess that I undertook the mission
with more or less misgiving. Nothing
happened to disturb me in my enter
prise, however, and although / am no
professional artist, I venture to say
that a landscape gardener would be
hard put to it to turn out a better piece
Of work than I accomplished that night
when, aided only by the light of the
stars, l planted on the grave Of Mamie
Turner the patches Of green sod I had
brought along for that purpose. At
O'clock led my horse out of the deep
shadow Of the woods below the Gene
terry, where 1 had tetheTed him, and
started back to Batavia with the re-
port that all was well. Kahn had not
gone to bed, but was in my rooms
waiting for me when I returned. /,
myself, felt pretty squally over our
venture, but he fairly beamed with
confidence. We've saved the girl,
never YOU fear he said.
Takes Jury to the Grave.
1.-TWO days later he made mis- ad-
dress to the jury. He was an eloquent
speaker and before he had talked ff-
teen minutes the whole crowd of audi
tors packing the courtroom had been
raised to a high pitch of expectation.
He talked on until a climax in the
course Of dramatic sequence had been
reached, then, after O. slight pause, he
continued:
. I have not seen this grave, whose
lack Of VeTdure is the point on which
the fate of this poor girl hangs. But
l should like TO see it. I should like
the jury to see it. This being a case
parallel to Mahomet's experience with
the mountain, [ would suggest that
justice demands we take the jury to
the graver
This proposition naturally met with
violent opposition from the pTOSeCUt-
ing attorney and his satellites. but the
judge upheld Kain in his Strenuous
plea for fair play, as he terme4l it, and
the court adjourned in q body and as
many people as could secure vehicles
or horses, and all who were strong and
meet CT IOOI, SET out TOT the BdDLlSL
cemetery. I, too, Joined the thrOng.
When we reached the fatal spot I
trembled like a leaf lest the secret Of
my handiwork be discovered, but 1 had
done my work so cleVerly that even
our opponents had no suspicion of
false play They were completely
floored when they found that the main
props Of their case were swept away,
but they unquestiOningly accepted the
tender grass blades as evidence Of good
faith on the part of nature, and prac-
tically gave up the fight.
The next day the judge charged
the jury in solemn, hish-sOunding
phrases, but even as he talked he must
have known that the verdict would
be Not guilty Afterward, each juror,
fearing to be tainted with sUpersti-
tious Drejudices, declared that he was
not Influenced one way or the other
by the condition Of Mamie Turner's
grave. but everybody who knew the
circumstances, be he wise or ignorant,
accepted this assertion with q liberal
allowance of salt. Whether Belle Tur-
ner was guilty or not guilty, I am
confident that that bit Of jugglery on
the part Of Kain and myself was the
only argument that saved her from i'm
prisonment or death.
60
BIOTTED OUT. -