Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1905-11-11

perform my duty with becoming dig
nifty. AS finished the sentence l mo-
tlced the court crier standing CHASTITY
pale and staring at the darkened cor
ner Of the room. Instlnctlvely all Of us
looked that way. Clear and distinct
and as vivid al life we saw the picture
Of Mary imprisoned in a room Of log
cabin that stood In clearing In =
dense swamp. Her arms were out
stretched and her face appealed to us
plteOusly. AS we looked we saw the
figure of man enter the room, and in
stantly her attitude and countenance
changed to one of defiance. 1t was the
face of Bill Kendall. Then the picture
faded slowly into darkness and pro-
found hush fell upon us. The clock
licked loudly, but in that silence we
took no note OF time. The silence was
finally broken by choking sob, then
his long pent up feelings found utter
ance and Tom cried out pathetlcally:
Mary a prisoner in the hands Of that
villain and l sentenced to be hanged.
My God! what have we done to bring
this upon usY
"The sheriff let Tom gently to a seat
and directed the crler to light the
lamps"
But what did you do about the SEN
tence, judge did you suspend SEN
tence?" inquired Douglass eagerly.
~ am coming to that directly. No.
did not suspend sentence then, but
did something else that was not laid
down in the code of jurisprudence.
SeN eral Of us had recognized the cabin
to be the old refugee camp over in an
adjoining county. A few years before
we had been over there deer hunting,
and Bill Kendall was with us at the
time. Tire unusual scene we ma just
witnessed, and Toms pathetic cry,
must have impressed us all very much
the same, for we acted in accord in
that which followed.
~ enjoined all to secrecy, to which
they readily consented, and then is
sued a bench warrant for the arrest
of Kendall with instructions that it be
served only on condition that he was
found holding Mary prisoner. then
asked the sheriff If he was willing to
go and serve it in view of the fact that
the only proof of guilt was visionary,
to which he replied that he was not
only willing but eager to 90. The
States Attorney, Toms lawyer, and
the two constables on duty volunteered
to go with him. Tom Downing was
taken back to Jail to await develop
ments. There were no spectators in
the court room, except the officials that
| have mentioned, and the party got
away quietly that night. Before the
town was hardly aware of their alb
sence they were back-three days later
with Mary alive and Bill Kendall pris-
oner. You may imagine the surprise
and excitement of the townspeople.
They had found Mary a prisoner in
the refugee cabin just as we had seen
her that night in the shadow picture.
Bill had carried her off with the inten-
ton of coercing her into a marriage
with him. Tom was set at liberty,
and the next week he and Mary came
to me to be married. At the next term
Of court l sentenced Bill Kendall to ten
years at hard labor in the States pri-
son. 1t is needless to say that per-
formed that duty with good grace, and
gave him the full extent of the law.
"The unusual events of this case
made lasting impression on my mind,
and, as have said, were instrumental
in my leaving the bench to practice
criminal law. You have no doubt no
ticed, gentlemen, that l always take
the case for the defendant but never
take the case unless 1 feel that my,
client is innocent, and that is the Sc
cret of my success as a criminal law
yer."-Farm and Ranch.