St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1911-01-28


messenger. Believing himself to be
| the possessor of the only information
| that would lead to this important
! event, he was of course somewhat
| puzzled at what had taken place, but
| he convinced me that he was quite
anxious to render any assistance in
his power to recover the rest of the
money. At my request he went in to
| talk with the man and his wife.
assured him that they would be re-
leased and not further molested II
they would give UP the stolen money.
l went farther than this and said that
If he could promise me that the
money would be returned within the
next twenty-four hours would at once
release the two prisoners. After in.
terviewing them, he came outside and
| requested me to let the man and his
wife go home. He said everything
would be well at IL o'clock on the fol
lowing day, and his request was COM
piled with The good father was
greatly concerned about what was to
become of O'Rafferty.
"This," said he, lis the first great
sin of this young mans life. On ac-
count of the sickness of his wife he
has been greatly pressed forg money.
In moment of weakness he yielded to
temptation" The father did not say
1t, but inferred that with him a full
confession and restitution meant re-
pentance, forgiveness and a pardon
from God. In this particular case,
however, law made by man stood in
the way. How was it to be overcome?
I realized that affairs were very
much mixed at this time, and that
| there were many otherwise honest
people who might find a ready excuse
for a thief from the United States
government. While condition of this
kind could not be plead as bar to
O'Rafferty's punishment, it might be
offered in palliation of the crime; he
might have remained an honest man
had not the opportunity been thrust
upon him. had made promises to
the good father and might have
imagined the confession of the culprit
solemn dissolution of his sin; hence
my deep sympathy and determination
to procure his release.
The balance of the money was all
returned by the priest as promised,
but the difficult point in the case was
yet to be accomplished. How was
O'Rafferty to be let out? l might have
unlocked his cell door and allowed
him to walk out, but he would not be
free, as he would be liable to be ar
rested by other officers. He had now
openly told the simple story of the
robbery and there was nothing further
to detect.
He said he had no thought OF steal.
Ing the sack when the paymastei
stepped out of the cab, but when left
alone the idea flashed through his
brain to drive to his home with it,
where he made an attempt to bury II
in the litter pile. Abandoning this
plan, he drove to his brother-in-la 8
house. On arriving there he found his
sister washing clothes in the yard. He
told her in hurried manner that he
had brought big lot of money and
that he would leave It with her to
take care Of He put the portemon-
naie in a box under the shed in the
yard and covered it with hay. There
were two of the husbands brothers
sleeping in the house at the time;
they were bakers by trade, working
nights and sleeping in the day time.
When they got up in the afternoon
the sack containing the money was
pointed out to them. They cut it
open and divided it's contents, as near
as they could guess, into three equal
parts. Leaving one-third for the sis.
ter. they hid the other two-thirds for
themselves. Poor O'Rafferty, who real.
" did not know very much about tbs
contents of the sack, was left out IN
the cold.
The city of New Orleans was under
martial law at this time, and offend
ers were being handled severely in
the provost court. The Judge was
puritanical in principle and clothed
with almost unlimited power. He was
considered quite unapproachable, yet
I determined to visit him at his house
on behalf of O'Rafferty. l found him
a much more generous man than l
had thought him to be. He listened
attentively when I told him the story
of the robbery and the part the priest
had taken in recovering the money.
put up the best plea I could for the
prisoner and his sick wife. was Ger,
tain that the Judge was interested and
his heart softened, He said he would
take the case, under advisement, but
said nothing to indicate what his de-
cision might be.
A trial in a provost court at New
Orleans in that day was a rather
brief affair. 1t consisted mostly of an
accusation and sentence. When
O'Rafferty was arraigned, he pleaded
guilty to the charge of stealing the
500. 900, In few brief moments the
Judge made an order for his conftne-
ment at Fort Jackson for period OF
wears. / felt quite sore on account OF
this decision, but was little sur
prised when he called me up and
thrust the order for the prisoners
commitment in my hand. / saw that
was charged with his delivery to the
commanding officer of the fort, fea-
ture of the program that was certain
ly not in my line, and I Jumped at the
conclusion that the responsibility for
his release was resting upon my shout
ders.
Two days afterwards l returned the
order of commitment with a report OF
the prisoners escape Endorsed upon
its back. The Judge smiled his seem