Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-10-18

Erichsen was inundated with letters.
Most were from religious. strangers
who took his guilt for granted ana III
dictated several only ways to that mer-
cv in another world which was neither !
to be expected nor desired in this. But
the one that had given him the great
est ANNOYANCE was thought to nave
come from q near relative, for 1T was
very long, and he had torn 1t In many
n,eces and then retorted in three lines
and given it to the surgeon TO post.
Claire knew who the relative was.
She had gone the length of calling at
Avenue Lodge on her flight through
town to the continent, and her CHIEF
lament was not that murder had been
committed, presumably by Tom, put
that her name had been disgraced' ner
trust abused. her money spent in RIOT
and her life rendered unendurable IN
her native land. The lady was Toms
stepmother.
There was another letter which ne
seemed to expect every day and YET
not to expect and it never came, Dut
they thought he must be In love.
Claire considered it unlikely. How
could q lover have done such thing!
And had he ever written to any girl!
Daintree said he would inquire.
No friends had been to see him. no
relations: but a noble lord. the same
who had incumbered the bench at the
Narylebone Office, brought q party or
friends and received payment in kind
for his insolent questions. The prison.
err was reported to have asked MIN II
there were no hospitals where his lord
shin could see the legs and arms cut
off and listen to the screams; to have
recommended bodily fortunes as likely
TO provide better sport than a poor duii
devil like himself. and suggested the
nearest slaughter house If all else
failed. His lordship had raised his
cane and been cuttingly invited to lay
# on. as he might not have such a
chance every day; whereupon the par
ty retreated, highly amused, all but
their leader, who was said to nave
marched straight across the street 10
book q window for the execution.
When Claire heard this story, she
showed her feelings in a rather peril
GUS manner. "Well done!" she cried,
end clapped her hands. 80 they have
not taken all the spirit out OF him yet.
Let us be thankful. Mr.. Daintree," she
added in an instant, that it is at least
man Of spirit whose cause you have
espoused. Next to an innocent man.
a spirited man has the best claim ON
ones sympathy. 1t would be dreadful
If he were neither the one nor the
otherw
"But you know that believe him to
be BOTH"
81 have heard you say so. Yet you
never go near him yourself"
Daintree admitted his repugnance to
personal contact with the prisoner. Il
certainly prefer to draw the line at
that" said he, especially as 1t could
do no good. No, it was bad enough
seeing him at Marylebone. would
give something to forget his face"
"And why?" cried Claire. Because
In your heart, like all the rest of the
world, you know him to be guilty!
You may be sensitive, but you wouldn't
be as sensitive as all that If you hon.
estly believed in his innocence. You
do not. Yet you go on spending your
money. throwing 1t away to crafty a
passing impulse Of minet It's mad
ness, Mr.. Daintree. 1t is indeed"
The tears stood In her eyes as she
spoke, but he had turned away as if
unable to deny his latent unbelief. 9TH
erwise her face might have betrayed
her even then. She felt that 1t must
do so In the end 1t was but another
question of time. Such interviews left
her spirit PROSTATE, her heart worn out
with beating, and yet she sought them
herself The craving for news or Tom
only deepened with the sense of his
guilt. When Daintree was absent, the
girl counted the hours till his return.
When he returned, If she was not there
to meet him it was in order that he
might think her less eager to hear than
he to tell. And once when he not onl!
thought so, but told her what III
thought in his TOUGHEST manner, it wa'
a great moment for the actress, wh'
was ceasng to feel ashamed of he
part. what with custom and the dir
necessity of It.
For now more than ever did Clair
trust to the genius of the great magl
elan retained for the defense. Tha
vague power was the one hope left 10
her to cling to- and cling she did Wit
all the might of aching heart and tor
t.,red mind Claire's notions of tria
were exceedingly simple, although ne
father had stood his within the year
On the other hand, her belief in tn
efficacy of counsel was unbounded, DC
cause Mr.. Harding had been defende'
nv q former officer Of the crown, ant
the charge had fallen to the grouno
and everybody vowed 1t was the Nh
defense, combined with innocence-a
least everybody whose opinion Ciaif
was in the way Of hearing. Mr.. Sci
peant Culllford had not been soilclto
general but Claire was told that In
criminal case his rival did not exis
One night she heard that Culliford ma
accepted the brief, the next tnat d
had probably earned his fee alread'
though Bassett would admit nothing .
the kind, but complained instead OF 81
own treatment at the barrlsters hand'
The fact was that Tom ought
have made a statement before Ia
magistrate. Then the defense woul
boyo had something to work upon