Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-20
Y

1 will not say did not question the pro-
priety of my visit to the Shaw farm, but L
certainly never doubted 1t. l had every
reason to believe that the majority of the
jurors were more or less familiar with the
house and its surroundings. Indeed, all
the talesmen had admitted in my presence
that they had seen the place, and l was
the only candidate who had not even heard
of it. To my mind it seemed not only
proper but necessary that l should qualify
myself to understand the coming testimony
by personally inspecting the scene. espec-
tally since Mr.. Barstows objection had de-
prived me of an official opportunity. The
fact that l had already been sworn as a
Juror made no difference in my opinion, for
there could be nothing in the mere exte-
rior of the place to influence me one way or
the other, and I felt entirely justified in
equiping myself with the information which
my associates already possessed.
did not reason this out at the time, but
know 1 fete 1t instinctively, and, despite
the outcome. and the fact that ignorance of
the law Is no excuse, still maintain was
do. "
It was dark by the time I reached the
house. but I recognized 1t at once by the
three stately poplars. 1t was an unpreten-
ttous building, standing we'll within Its
own grounds. which we're separated from
the highway by q tall box hedge. This and
the big poplars INSTRUCTED, the view from
the road and. although l leaned far out OF
the buggy, ! could see nothing Of the We
randa of which Gilbert had spoken. /
therefore stopped the horse few rods far
Their down the road. and. standing up, look
ed back, but the little could see convinced
me that the veranda and the windows in
question must be at the rear. Disappo4nt-
ed with the poor view / had obtained,
driving on again when 1 noticed the
wagon shed of which Miss Frayne had
spoken, and l at once determined to leave
the horse there and walk back for another
look at the house. With this idea drove
into the shed. tied my horse, and. climbing
the fence on the other side of the road,
approached the house behind a fringe of
trees which screened II from the farm
buildings. When I emerged 1 found my
self quite close to the veranda. which ex-
tended across part of the building. with
three windows of the second story opening
upon Its roof. Two of them undoubtedly
opened Into Mr.. Shaws private study, and
the other into Miss Emory's room, but
which was which had no means OF know
ing. 1t was evident at glance that no
one could reach the roof from the
veranda roof without the assistance
of a rope or ladder for the upper
windows had neither coping nor
shutters. and the caves of the roof pro-
jected SO far that any one scaling the wall
would find himself cooped up under the
caves The veranda roof likewise projected
far beyond the supporting columns, and
the most Skllllul descent WOuiQ require T.
drop OF at least five feet into the flower
beds below. All this merely corroborated
what Gilbert had told the jury. and I was
about to return to the road when noticed
that one end Of the veranda was not Wis
fble from where / stood. therefore moved
out of the shadow OF the trees and stepped
toward the house. / soon discovered that
the part of the roof which had been hidden
from my view presented very much the
same appearance as the front, except that
I could now see wing or annex of the
house with a door leading into what might
be the kitchen There was a window be-
tween this door and the veranda and 1t
occurred to me that an active person might
possibly make use of the shutters in de-
scending from the veranda roof. To In
yestigate this more closely / moved for
ward. and in doing so stepped on a piece
of glass. which broke under my foot. ana
Mt the same instant startled exclama-
ton sounded almost in my ear.
Instinctively I flattened myself against
the wall Of the house, and a. did - IL