Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1909-12-02

material evidence to give. but, with Q
s~hrewdnesS equal to his. she made Q
very good plea for the prisoner. She
began with a clrcumstantial account Of
her W marriage to Sir Peter. In
which the opposition Of her family was
painted In lurid hues. In vain was she
again and again checked; she managed
to tell her tale against the vigorous OBJ.
jections Of the prosecutors, and the
somewhat feeble and %perfunctory re-
Dukes from the bench. The Jury. how.
ever, were plainly 30 interested In It,
that no serious attempt was made to
stop her-not that It would have
availed anything, for Lady Hawkshaw
was not used to stopping for any one,
mo doubt my family could have
bounded Sir Peter for marrying me-"
she announced In the beginning. but
my family. your honors, is an honor.
able one, and would not condescend
to nasty tricks like" Here she fixed
her great black eyes on Sir Thomas
Vernon, who smiled blandly snd took
SNUFF.
And &C Eoy q nan expecting opposi.
ton in a girl he Is willing to marry,
I ask your honors, does q man exist
who a believe. until 1t Is proved
to him beyond cavil. that there Is n
woman alive who would not jump for
Joy to marry him."
This produced so much laughter that
the bailifs had to enforce order in the
hall.
Lady Hawkshaw then, with great
ingenuity. referred to Sir Thomas Yer.
non, who. in those days. 40 years ago.
was not called Wicked Sir Thomas
but plain Lying Tom Vermont"
This produced a regular uproar,
during which Lady Hawkshaw, with
great complacency. famed herself.
After g warning from the presiding
justice to keep to the matter In hand,
she curtsied deeply to him, and i'm
m~ediately resumed her account OF Sir
Thomas Vernon, in which she told Of a
certain occasion, in the time of the
American war, when. as the royal
family was passing to chapel at Wind.
sor. Kisses were heard. the king having
declined to receive him at the leyee
on account Of his VIGOROUSLY bad char
acter. And Sir Thomas, being thrust
out. was taken by some OF the inhabi'
tants OF Windsor and ducked in n
neighboring h~orse-pond. At this point.
the judge himself c~ourteously but firm.
ly interrupted Lady Hawkshaw, and in
formed her that she could not be per.
mitted to go on in that strain.
II shall observe your lordship's cau
tion." she replied. politely, and straight.
way launched into o description Of Sir
Thomas appearance when he emerged
from the horse.pond, which brought q
smile to every face in court-includine
even the judge's-except the victim
himself, who bit his lip and scowled in
fury.
The judges afterward said that Lady
manageable witness any and all o1
them had ever encountered: for. In
spite OF them, she gave a circum
staatiai account OF every misdeed Sill
Thomas Vernon had ever been guilty
Of In his life, as far as she knew.
The crown lawyers. very wisely, de
clined to cross-examine this witness
When she stepped down out OF the wit
ness.box and took Sir Peters arm, she
passed close to the presiding justice
who happened to have his snuff.bo,
open in his hand. My lady deliberately
stopped and took a pinch out OF the
jtige's box. remarking, suavely:
your lordship shows excellent taste
in preferring the SPANISH"
l thought his lordship would droI
out of his chair.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)