Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-09-24
SOUVENIR.

BY cHAuNcEY wARowELL

clubman, an athlete and In college
pulled stroke oar on the university
crew. He keeps his athletic trophies
and souvenirs of all kinds In his bach
elor apartments at the Westmoreland.
One day 1 was moving about inspect.
ing them when 1 came across a large
and deliberately made spoon.
where did you win that?" 1 asked.
He smiled.
Souvenir of some affair Of the
hearth"
NO" he said. "In that spoon is a
story Of
-Don't tell the end first II you're
going to give me the story, begin at
the beginning"
He filed and lit a pipe and acceded
to my request.
"When 1 was beginning to practice
law / did what most young lawyers
do. ! spent my spare time In court,
for the sake of experience. One day
a young Frenchwoman-Lucille Dew.
eroux, a governess-was up for trial
for appropriating her employers jew
els and other articles. Having 40 oun
sci, l was assigned to the task of de-
Tending her. | conferred with her. lis
~2ening to her story, ~endeavoring to
make up my mind as to her guilt or
Innocence. Suddenly she said:
"'You cannot do my case justice un.
less you are convinced Of my innocence,
and In that you do not believe. am
in a terrible situation. My father was
one of the noblesse of France, his ia
Their dying In the Place de Revolution
IN Paris In the reign of terror. Sup
pose l am convicted. How can /. with
the blood that flows in my veins, en-.
dure to go behind bars? And In
France? What would those l have left
there suffer on learning that ! am a
convict? The circumstances are strong
~ against me. To prove my limo
cence is impossible. Ny attorney must
understand this and. believing in 1t,
throw himself feelingly into the case
to induce the jury to believe as he
does despite circumstantial evidence
'sThere was lots Of practical sense
and knowledge of such matters In this
which l was surprised to find In q
young and pretty woman. | told her
to give me her version of the affair,
which she did in so straightforward a
story that she succeeded In convincing
me that she was the victim of a con-
spiracy Matched between he cool and
the maid in the house where Mile.
Deveroux taught the children French.
/ admitted that l believed In her limo.
cence and would do my best for her.
/ could not but sympathize with her
on. account Of her unfortunate sttua-
ton, while l was drawn to her by her
beauty and natural ability.
ITO save her it was necessary to Inn
pugn the value of the testimony of
the maid and the cook. / could not
break the testimony itself-they told
too straight a ~story-but Mile. Dever-
oux sent the coachman to me, who
was willing to tell things that cast q
stain on the maid and left the cook
no reputation at all. Armed with this
testimony, l made a pretty good Offset
against the value Of their evidence.
Indeed, l succeeded in putting them
In a hole. l felt sorry for the maid.
she seemed SO terribly cut up about
what the coachman said about her,
but, you see, my sympathies. both indi
vidual and professional, were with my
client.
"The case was the first wherein |
came out with any especial eclat. II
made a vigorous attack On the two
conspirators, as l called them, for at
tempting to incriminate a beautiful
and modest scion of the old noblesse
OF France, who sat weeping in the
prisoners box. l turned the sympathy
from the real culprits to my client.
MY summing up was a surprise to my
friends, who said they had not sus.
pected what there was in me. When
/ got through the jury without leaving
their seats brought in a verdict of
not guilty. Then the congratulations
were divided between the prisoner and
me. / said to them all:
aft had not been convinced OF
Mile. Deveroux's innocence l could not
have done it,
= "From that day / resolved to con-
fnue in the branch OF the law 1or
which l had shown such adaptability.
"I have never been so nearly in love
before or since. l suppose 1t was that
my whole being had been enlisted In
saving from disgrace a very attractive
woman. Had Mile. Deveroux remain
ed in America long enough for my pas
sion to bloom / dare say l should have
yielded. But as loon as the trial was
over she began to make arrangements
to return to France. How she was TO
raise the money to do so l did no
know, for she had nothing to offer me
for a fee. l should have declined to
take any fee, but ! did not have the
opportunity. Indeed, l would have
liked to offer her the means with
which to return to her native land. but
felt a sensltiveness about Offering her
money. The French, you know, are so
oIA..k a vyOFaon fOl-