El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-23

w neSllaleO q luOllSHl DSAO4S
entering.
At first could only see a lamp burn
ing very low inside dark shade, but
as my eyes grew more used to the
darkness I discovered in a corner the
outlines of thin, emaciated body and
a face which plainly bore the marks OF
approaching death. The air of the room
was filled with a penetrating smell OF
ether. I could hear only the monoton-
GUS sound of the rain beating agalnst
the windows and the bowling OF the
wind in the chimney.
Sir whispered the old woman VINO
had led me in, the man you nave Deen
asking for is here now.
The lying figure suddenly SAT up
and said in a faint voice
Thank you, Nine. faFarI FieaSe
leave US alone now
When the old woman closed the door
the voice went on;
please move a little closer. My eye
sight is nearly gone, my ears pu@ 1r,' M
1t is very hard for me to speak IheFe
is a chair close to my bed Excuse
me for troubling you, but have very
important matter to tell you.
His eyes opened wide, as II ne u -
TO penetrate the mist that yelled MS
sight; he turned his face towards me
and humble 49,.
First of ali, am I talking to Maitre
Gernou, the lawyer
Yes, sir
Then / have a confession to make.
I signed my letter TO you Pernier' out
this is not my real name Ferhaps II
death, which holds me in It's grasp mao
not changed me so much' you mig 55L !
stiH remember nv face. But II does
not matter Many years ago i was a
district public prosecutor. i was one
OF the young men of whom mucn IS eA-
pected and I was determined 10 win i
oft
waiting for. a chance to show my ami
ity when an important case came up IN
nv district It was in small town
The crime was commonplace enOu6 II
and would have created no sensation IN
Paris but there ii was great event
and ] determined TO win my first iau-
rels The trial had brought forth con-
siderable evidence against the accused
but not enough to justify conVlctlon on
cfrcunstantial evidence and the accused
stoutly maintained his Innocence. Inc
attorney for the defense made very
eloquent speech which went straight
to the heart Of the audience A wave OF
doubt almost Of sympathy, swept
through the court room and you know
what this means.
But a public prosecutor is not so
easily moved. brought out facts which
greatly weakened the statements made
bv the defence. I found discrepancies
and flaws in the arguments OF the other
side I pictured to the jurors the hor-
rible details of the revolving crime,
pointed to the whole previous LIE OF
the accused and proved that it was next
to impossible for anybody else to have
committed the crime The attorney for
the defence tried to disprOve my state
ments. but his efforts were in vain i
had impressed the jury so strongly that
they convicted the accused aIter DIS
cussion of less than half an hour.
If felt some emotion when sentence
was rendered, my pride soon silenced
it. The outcome Of the affair was at
the same time a victory for justice and
a triumph for me.
"On the morning of the execution
I once more saw the man. i was pres
ent when he was awakened. saw him
dress and when / noticed how abnOr-
mally calm he was. a terrible feeling Of
anguish came over me. I still remem-
Der the smallest details Of this dreadful
hour. He let his hands and feet be
tied without making a sound. I dared
not look at him. but felt his eyes rest
ing on me with an expression I have
never forgotten. When we reached the
guillOtine, he cried twice: I am limo
cent and the crowd which had been
yelling at him suddenly grew silent At
last he turned to me and said: so
YOU have come to see me die. / hope
you viii enjoy it. He embraced the
priest and his LAWYER calmly placed
himself on the board without the
slightest sign of fear. while I was
trembling all over.
During the next days my mind was
so confused that I hardly knew what
I was doing. The death of this man
was my only thought. Nv colleagues
tried to cheer me up, saying that it
was always like that the first time. I
believed them, but gradually the doubt
of his guilt became stronger in me.
tried to convince myself that he must
have been guilty. but had to admit that
there was no absolute proof. Then
would live over again the last moments
of the convict, his reproachful AYES and
calm features. and hear his voice.
Something compelled me to look
over the case again. I read over
again my notes and the documents
bearing on the case and at first felt
better until I discovered that it was
merely my own arguments that con-
WINGED me and that there were no facts
to justify conviction. I did this so
long and at last came to the conclu-
sion, by weighing the arguments Of
the defence against mine. that the man
must have bnen innocent As if this
were not punishment enough in itself I