The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-23

prisoner disappeared. and credit the value
of the farms to his legal earnings. But
this time the prisoner had not run away,
and preparations for the trial had pro-
ceeded as If it were nothing but case Of
carrying concealed weapons or assault with
intent 10 kill. All the county had been
talking for weeks of nothing else than var
ious suggested cards which Fletcher had
up his sleeve this time
Mr.. Fletcher. Toms my namesake and
my favorite nephew; he's going to get all
1 have when I die" had been Uncle Tom
my Rutherford's words that day in the
/ dingy law office. Il don't want him TO skip
/ out, for 1 want him to live the old place
after a while when he settles down.
want you to clear him at a trial I've got
plenty to pay you, / guess, and leave plenty
for Tom. and I stand good for what
/ you charge. There1l be no kickin' if you
/ get him off, but you're TO get him off with
out fail Anything you say I'll do. and
/ everybody knows my words as good as
the bank, 1 guess"
The astute lawyer of many parts had
/ smiled confidently, but said that it would
| be about the hardest job he had ever
tackled. II could be done, he thought but
it would take not only money but influence.
and it might be necessary 10 promise ali
sorts of things for Uncle Tommy TO do.
"Anything-anything at all" Uncle Tom
my had replied; anything you say I'll
stand to and back up. 1 think a thousand
ought to be plenty. but If you must have
| fifteen hundred I'll give it if you get Tom
clear. If you don't I'll feel sore at payin'
you so much"
AS matter of fact ii was pretty hard
task that came to Lawyer Fletcher. Tom
| had always been much in evidence in the
| neighborhoOd and the surrounding towns.
! He had been fined innumerable times in
the courts of Squire Watson aud Squire
! Ross besides having been indicted twice
for disturbing the, congregation at Raccoon
| Church. When he killed Sam Bronson he
got a strong influence down on him. The
| Bronsons were intermarried with the Rob-
crises, and Bill Roberts had been county
| treasurer so long that he knew some tricks
| himself when ii came to court business.
| He determined that Tom Rutherford
should be convicted. and, besides crossing
| the palm of the states attorney to put
| more energy into the work of that officer
| and Incidentally to prevent the defense
from buying him off. the shrewd and prac-
| teal man had retained TO assist in the
prosecution a bright young lawyer whose
fortune was made if he once beat Fletcher
in the Circuit Court.
! Then the girls family was against Ruth
erford, too. The girl whose smiles and
frowns had caused the i'll feeling between
! Rutherford and Bronson, resulting in the
fight which terminated fatally suddenly
found herself in a different kind of prom
inence from that which she desired. Her
folks felt that the fight over the girl was
to be considered as something of an i'm
pertinence. and the killing of Bronson was
little less than impudence to themselves
Lawyer Fletcher had been worried about
the case, but when he beheld Bergman
nominated at the county convention that
day he saw his way out
AS the county had been talking of the
case ever since the murder the regular
venire was soon exhausted. and the sheriff
was duly directed to summon special tales
men. That official went out with piece
of paper and a handful of blanks, and in
half an hour returned with list of names
gathered he the in town, in
the courthouse square and the side
walks. Not that he took people ndiscrim-
| inately he met them. The man who
had scratched the sheriff's name off his
ticket the last election lost opportu-
nifty of hearing the trial from a box seat
and receiving dollar and ten cents a day
during its continuance. The man in the
other party who had held a conference
with the sheriff at IL o'clock one night dur
ing the last campaign had his name placed
near the top of the list and was duly grate-
full. Two places at the very top, however,
were left blank for some time. and one of
them was finally filled with the name of
George Peyton. When the list was COM
plete except for the other blank the officer
wandered around into stores and black
smiths shops and up to the vacant lot
where teams were hitched, apparently so
preOccupied that he saw nobody. Noel
Shacklett was genuinely surprised when he
was tapped on the arm and had read TO
him a summons to appear forthwith to
serve as juror in the case wherein the
State of Illinois was plaintiff and Thomas
w. Rutherford was defendant.
Shacklett went at once to the courtroom,
but before ne reached the top of the stairs
he heard his name loudly called three
times from upper window. He hurried
in and advanced inside the bar, looking
around expectantly.
Fletcher was absorbed in some writing
at one of the tables and did not glance up.
Uncle Tommy Rutherford looked at Noel
keenly as he came down the aisle, and won
dered how he felt toward Tom. The state S
attorney impressively and suavely mo-
toned him 10 the kitchen chair which
served as a witness box, and the little
clerk with a white shirt and no collar
raised his own right hand as signal that
an oath to be administered. Shacklett
swore to answer truthfully any questions
asked him, and sat down.
In reply to interrogatories of the states
attorney he said that he had heard of the
killing. but had not talked about it much,
for he did not like to NEEDLE in the bust
ness of others; besides, he felt that the
truth would not come out until the trial.
He had formed no opinion as TO the guilt
or innocence of the defendant, and was not
opposed TO capital punishment. Lawyer
Fletcher put him through a long and de-
tailed examination, and nobody noticed
that, while Shacklett was asked about his
whole past life, relationships and religion,
nothing was said about his acquaintance
with the Rutherford family. nor his opinion
Of them. Both sides accepted him, and in
the middle of the forenoon the jury was
completed, Shacklett sitting between
George Peyton and a man from the far
| thermOst corner of the county i'm the front