Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-04-15

NoHidu, gentle anu SOous ont DIouSnt
with her from Georgia a slave-womar,
who was her nurse and then her maid.
That Mrs. Soule died when Richard was
ten years old. She left Delilah, the slave,
to Richard; and when tie slaves were
emancipated, she refused to leave him,
and has always loved him with the most
utter devotion, and grieved much when
Richard went cruising"
"This is the general outline of our
past; is it clear to youa"
Perfectly" said Stanley.
"I will try and give you the details of
all the misery that followed, SO that you
may understand our position and be able
to know how best to defend Gerald in
this dreadful crisis"
"You will need more able counsel than
I i'm Mrs. Soule, l fear"
81 think Gerald can be trusted to the
man who conducted the defense in the
case of State VS.. Wilson,, " said Aileen
smiling a little.
81 will do my best, but must beg you
to allow me to call in other counsel if 1
think it best"
"That is strictly at your discretion.
There will be money-everything; we will
lavish gold on the very pavement to clear
Gerald"
Stanley did not show that he suffered.
"'I should despise her if she were not
willing to suffer for her husband - he
thought; "but of course she loves him;
| have been a fool to think she might love
me-this crisis has shown her that she
still loves him best of all, y he was think
ing, while she pursued her narrative.
con the day before our wedding, Ger
aid went to hunt for birds, about twen-
ty miles from town, with a friend of his;
they were devoted to field sports; Gerald
was never so happy as when tramping
about with his gun and dogs. He return
ed about seven in the evening; he gave
me a few birds for my Wedding breakfast,
he said-Oh, my poor Geraldl'' She hid
her face in her hands for a moment.
"I can't stand it if she cries" Stan
ley was saying to himself. She did not
cry.
"He did not stay long, but went home,
saying he was tired and would go to bed,
The next day we were married and went
away on a tour; in two weeks we return
ed home; Gerald was arrested and tried
Immediately for forging his grandfather 8
name to a check for five thousand dollars.
Oh, I can never, never forget the horror
of that time! The circumstances are
branded upon my memory"
."How was it proved?" asked Stanley.
"There we're two principal witnesses;
the old janitor of the bank buildings
Gerald's grandfather was the chief bank
er of the place-who had known Gerald
from a boy, testified to having seen Ger
aid seated at his grandfather desk In
his private room, writing, at eleven
O'Clock that night. He wore the clothes in
which he had been hunting, a suit OF dark
blue corduroy; on the velvet cushion OF
the chair, which was shown at the trial,
there we're a few little burrs-his clothes
we're covered with them when he came
home from hunting; and there we're also
two or three little feathers from the
birds"
"The burrs are good; but the feathers
are clumsy, said Stanley. "Where was
Richard Soule all this time9''
"He said at the trial, when on the wit
ness stand, that he was cruising off the
coast of Texas. He had only returned
two days before we did"
"Was he the other witnessP'
"No; it was Joe Bates, the mar thai
, Gerard killed yesterday"
"What did he swear to?"
"Ho swore that Gerald owed him {
gambling debt of seven thousand dollars
! the check in payment was stopped at thu
hank he was to have received the tothei
Y two thousand when Gerald got contro
. of my fortune"
"What was sworn to in rebuttal, d.
= you %rememberY'
"Not much; only to Gerald's goo'
character-and no one could be foun'
= save Richard and this Bates, who kneV
T Of his gambling, but Gerald was away
Q great deal; often upon long trips in SUI
yeying railroad lines and such work. Hi
Z grandfather did not care much abou
a what he called reasonable vices, but al
d WAYS declared, if one Of his grandson
gambled in any way, in cards, races, Q
stocks, he would cast him off forever; s
d he was a bitter prosecutor of Gerald. !
h killed him, however; he only lived abou
six months after that. He left all hi
! money to Richard and me. ! did nc
y want it. but I thought Gerald ought
l have it. / left before he died. He wrot
Gerald a letter forgiving him; at m
earnest prayer, Gerald answered, muc
against the grain, forgiving his Crane
70 father. Then we ame here, mother an
q II
"Where is this Richard nowg'
"a 1--WE do not know; Of course we thinl
are positive, that he forged the check an
q wore Gerald's clothes, but our lawyer a
~ sured us that it was not SO; he had all h
crew to say he was off the coast Of Te'
as"
"That was easy. | think your lawyt