Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-04-03

his place outside the fields Of useful
ness and honest labor, outside the cir
Gle of trust, outside the pale Of fait
and hope, in the world-in the flesh
but beyond the power of the Provi
dence Of God. Rev. John Kane, ar
q detective-you are clergyman;
is my business to bring crime to jus
!tice-yours to temper justice wit
hope and point the path to mercy. VIII
are you so much harder on this maj
than ann"
Perhaps I am not, for"
"I beg your pardon then," said Prior
Perhaps 1 did speak hastily"
MY pardon is granted. You un
doubtedly spoke justly. I was trying
to put myself in your place, to speak a
l fancied you must think, to look upol
the matter from the standpoint Of al
average humanity-an unregeneratet
humanity, if you please"
"Ah! l see. And l beg your pardon
again"
There is nothing to pardon. But le
me go back to where I was when yol
interrupted me- Gilbert has gomez"
yes"
You do not know where?'
mo"
"And yet you are his enemy"
mo. l am not l am his friend
Read that. 1t is a copy of a paper
gave him-not personally, but by mai
between the time of the verdict ant
my going to Boston"
The clergyman opened the paper
and read the lines it contained, while
the look of amazement deepened ant
deepened on his face.
1 think we are entitled to read the
lines also, and l transcribe them here:
Boomville. Me, Nov. "a. 1870.
"To Whom 1t May Concern: l take
pleasure in saying that am well ac'
quainted with Mr.. Gilbert Sem, the
bearer Of this document, and that / be.
lieve him to be energetic, able ant
honest. l have seen him in danger
seen him in difficulty, and l know hin
to be alert and self-reliant. 1 believe
he would be loyal to every trust, silent
discreet and self-sacrificing beyont
the needs of ordinary honor.
Il take the greater pleasure In max
ing these statements because OF the re-
lations which have recently existed be-
tween us, and which might make my
present attitude toward him, and my
present opinion Of him, misunderstood
Very truly and sincerely,
~. B. Prier."
That is astounding" said Mr.. Kane
as he handed back the paper.
Il think So" said Mr.. Prier.
unprecedented"
Il suppose So"
mo one else in all Boomville would
have given him such a paper"
II fear that is true
And If he finds work anywhere, he
will obtain it on the strength of thai
document"
Il hope he will"
but, Mr.. Prier, Gilbert Sem is gull
ty."
mo, Gilbert Sem is innocent.
think he knows something about the
horrible fate of Mrs. Craig, something
which he has never told, possibly
something which he may never tell
but"
But you arrested him and brought
him to trial for the crime"
Certainly. But only to try anc
frighten him into telling the truth.
did not expect him to say he killed
Constance Craig; l did expect him tc
tell who did. Perhaps he doesn't
know; for his own sake, l hope he
does not; for my own sake, 1 hope so
too; for while I am sure that he knows
much more than he has told, l don,
know how much it isl cannot guess
how much it is. And am sure Others
know more than they have told, and
feel certain that there is no one in al
the world from whom it will be more
difficult to get information regarding
lDdl llOlIlule eNcllI lliuil lipiii NiiDSi
Senn."
II presume not" said the clergyman
Others will volunteer information
others will aid me in every way ir
their power"
Il should think So" said the clergy
man, earnestly, raising his mild eyes
to look squarely and calmly into the
stormy ones of the detective.
And so 1 didn't expect the evidence
to prove Sem guilty" continued Prier;
and"
And were astonished when it did,
But it didn't! Have you never
heard that time-honored statement
that chain is no stronger than the
weakest link in it? Have you evel
examined into the strange character.
istics of circumstantial evidence?"
Gilbert Sem was guilty, l have M
doubt of that" reiterated the clergy
man.
But the evidence of Aldrich cleared
him."
True: but what is easier than fol
man to forget some little circum'
stance which would leave the evidence
against Sem unshaken. Ten years i:
long time"
1T is. But l believe Aldrich spoke
the truth"
Il believe he meant too. But did yOt
never know a man to help another
out Of an awful scrape because he wa:
himself Il wicked sinner, and full of re-
morse?"
Prier almost gasped Those were al
most the very words of the anOnymou:
letter he had received. He had come
to John Kane, and had used his art:
freely to make the reverend gentle
man unsuspicious of his elrand; the
talk regarding the murder and the tria
had come about gradually and natur'
ally; he had appeared to make Mr.
Kane his confidant I'M regard to hi!
business in BoOmville; he had talked
freely. and with the greatest apparen
frankness; was it possible that all his
efforts had been thrown away? Was i