The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-05
THE BOWED HEAD OF ELLA FULTON.

the locking of the front door behind
 the perpetrator, the flight of the gray
 horse and cutter through the binding
 storm, the blowing off of the driver S l hat, the identification of the same by
 means of the flour mark left on its
 brim by the mechanics wife, the pres
 ence of portion of one of the two | abstracted bottles in the stable where 1 the horse was put up and the ap- l pearance of Arthur with the other l bottle at the door of the inn in Cuth-
 bert road just as the clock was strik-
 ing half past II.
 This latter fact might have been l regarded as proving an alibi, owing | to the length of road between the 1 Cumberland house and the place just
 mentioned, if there had not been a
 short cut to town open to him by means of a door in the wall separat- | ing the Cumberland and Fulton
 grounds-a door which was found un- locked and with the key in it by
 Zadok Brown, the coachman, when he | came home about next morning. All this stood. Not an item of this l testimony could be shaken. Most of l it was true. some of it false. but what was false so unassailable by any or l dinary means that, as I have already l said, the clouds seemed settling heav- l fly over Arthur Cumberland when, at | the end of the sixth day, the proceed | ings closed.
 was early in my seat. My first | glance around the courtroom was un-
 productive. I saw only the usual ] public, such as had confronted us 1 the whole week, with curious and i increasing interest. But as I search ed further I discerned in an in | conspicuous corner the bowed head,
 yelled almost beyond recognition, of l Ella Fulton. It was her first appear
 ance in court With her were her father and her cold and dominating
 mother, and beholding her thus accom-
 panied fancied I understood an agi-
 tation manifested by MT. Moffat. But
 another glance at Mrs. Fulton assured | me that I was mistaken in this haSty
 surmise. No such serious purpose as | feared lay back of their presence here
 today. Curiosity alone explained it.
 and as realized what this meant and how little understanding it betokened
 of the fierce struggle then going on in l the timid breast of their distracted child a sickening sense of my own re- l sponsibility drove Carmefs beauty | and Carnel's claims temporarily from my mind and, following the direction | of Elias thoughts, if not her glances, I sought in the face of the prisoner recognition of her presence. if not of I the promise this presence brought him. His eye had just fallen on her. I | was assured of this by the sudden softening of his expression-the first l real softening I had ever seen in it. It was but a momentary fash, but it was unmistakable in it's character, as was his speedy return to his former stolid- tty.
 | The opening testimony of the day, | while not vital, was favorable to the prosecution in that it showed Arthur's l conduct since the murder to have been inconsistent with perfect innocence.
 Many facts were brought forward in grim array against the prisoner, with
 but little opposition from his counsel and small betrayal of feeling on the part of Arthur himself. His stolid face had remained stolid even when the l ring which had fallen out of his sis | ter's casket was shown to the jury and | the connection made between its pres ence there and the intrusion of his | hand into the same.
 Then came the great event of the | day, in anticipation of which the court room had been packed and every heart within it awakened by slow degrees to a state of great nervous expectancy. The prosecution rested, and the junior counsel for the defense opened his case to the jury.
 If I had hoped for any startling dis closure, calculated to establish his clients alleged alibi or otherwise to free the same from the definite charge of murder, I had reason to be greatly disappointed by this maiden effort of a young and inexperienced lawyer. If not exactly weak there was an unex-
 pected vagueneSs in it's statements
 which seemed quite out of keeping with the emphatic declaration which he made of the prisoners innocence.
 Even Arthur was sensible of the bad effect made by this preliminary ad
 dress. More than once during its de-
 livery, and notably at it's conclusion, he turned to Mfr Moffat with bitter remark, which was not without effect on that gentleman'S cheek and at once called forth g retort stinging enough to cause Arthur to sink back into his place with the first sign of restlessness had observed in him.
 "Moffat is sly. Moffat has something up his sleeve. l will wait till he sees fit to show it." was my thought. Then, as l caught a wild and pleading look from Ella, l added in positive asser- tion to myself, And so must she.''
 Answering her unspoken appeal with an admonitory shake of the head, l carelessly let my fingers rest upon my mouth until I saw that she understood me and was prepared to follow my lead for little while longer.
 My satisfaction at this was curtailed by the calling of Arthur Cumberland to the stand to witness in his own de- fense. I had dreaded this contingency. I saw that for some reason both his counsel and associate counsel were not without their own misgivings as to