Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1912-01-11
The House of the
Whispering
Pines

bottles found on the kitchen table. the
leaving of my keys at the Cumberland
house and the fact, we'll known. that
the two bottles of wine left in the wine
vault and tabulated by the steward as
so left in the list found in my apart
ments were of an exclusive brand H.
likely t be found anywhere else in
town. I could add nothing more, and,
having spoken the exact truth con-
corning them from the very first. I ran
no chance of c%ontradicting myself.
even under the close fire Of the oppos-
ing counsel:
But there was a matter I dreaded to
see him approach and which. l was
equally sure with an insight unshared.
I believe. by any one else in the whole
courtroom. was equally dreaded by the
prisoner.
This was the presence in the club
house chimney of the half burned let
ter I had long ago been compelled in
my WI defense to acknowledge hav-
ing written to the victims young sis
LOls SoL4AO SuuADClAduOs 40 ! "a
District Attorney Fox about to enter
upon this topic l gathered myself to-
gether to meet the onslaught, for in
this matter l could not be strictly
truthful, since the least slip N my
part might awaken the whole world to
the fact that it could only have come
there through the agency of Carmel
herself.
What Mr.. Moffatt thought Of it
what he hoped to prove in the prison
er's behalf by raking this subject over
it was left for me to discover later.
The prisoner was an innocent man in
his eyes. I was not. and, while the
time had not come for him to make
this openly apparent. he was not above
showing even now that the case con-
tanned a factor which weakened the
prosecution-a factor totally disasSo-
ciated with the only accepted theory
that the crime was simply the result
Of personal cupidity and drunken spite.
And in this he was right. 1t did
weaken it-weakened it to the point
of collapse. if the counsel for the de-
Tense had fully acted up to his oppor-
tunity. But something withheld him.
just at the moment when I feared the
truth must come out he hesitated and
veered gradually away from this sub
} ject. In his nervous pacings to and
fro before the witness stand his eye
had rested for a moment or Arthur's.
and with this result: The situation
was saved, but at a great loss to the
defendant. -
l began to cherish softened feelings
toward Arthur Cumberland from this
moment. Was it then or later that
he began in his turn to cherish new
and less hostile feelings toward my
self? He had hated me and vowed
my death if l escaped the fate he could
now dimly see opening out before him
self. yet I could see that he was glad
to see me slip from my tormentor's
hands with my story unimpeached and
that he drew his breath more deeply
and with much more evidence of free
dom now that my testimony had been
thoroughly sifted and nothing had
come to light duplicating Carmel. 1
even thought l caught a kindly CLEAN
in his eye as it met mine at this crit
ical j%uncture. and by its light l under
stood my man and what he hoped from
me. He wished me, at any risk to him
self, to unite with him in saving Car
mel's good name. That l should &C.
cede to this. that l should respect his
generous wishes and let him go to
unmerited destruction for even so i'm
perative an obligation as we both lay
under. was a question for the, morrow.
Several short examinations followed
mine. all telling in their nature. all cal
culated to fix in the minds of the jury
the following facts:
First.-That Arthur. swayed by Gu
pidity and moved to rage by the scene
at the dinner table. had by some un-
known means of a more or less violent
character prevailed upon Adelaide to
accompany him to the Whispering
Pines In the small cutter to which. in
the absence Of every servant about
the place. he himself had harnessed
the gray mare
Secondhand in preparation for this
visit to a spot remote from observa-
ton and closed against all visitors
they, still for some unknown reason.
had carried between them a candle
stick and candle, a flask of cordial,
three glasses and a small bottle
marked Poison" also some papers,
letters or scraps of correspondence.
among them the compromising line l
had written to Carmel.
Third.-That while in this building.
at an hour not yet settled, a second
alteration had risen between them
or some attempt been made by the
brother which had alarmed Adelaide
and sent her flying to the telephone
in great agitation with an appeal to
the police for help. This telephone
was in a front room. and the jury was
led to judge that she had gained &C.
cess to it while her companion ran
sacked the wine vault and brought the
six bottles of spirit up from the cellar.
Fourth.-That her cutlery had alarm
ed the prisoner in his turn. causing