The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-02-10
gone.
CHAPTER XIX,

into an entirely new phase. and once
more was deemed Of sufficient public
interest to warrant column after col.
umn of spicy comment in the news.
papers. The town awoke one morn.
Ing to learn that the long-sought.for
witness, the mysterious woman on
whose testimony everything hinged
had not only been found but proved
to be the prisoners own wife. who
had been so active in his defense
This announcement was stupefying
enough to overshadow all other news
OF the day, and satisfied the most
jaded palate for sensationalism.
The first question asked on all sides
was: Why had not the wife come for.
ward before? The reason, as glibly
explained by an evening journal of
somewhat yellow proclivities, was log.
ical enough. The telling of her mid
night visit to single mans rooms
involved shameful admission which
any woman might well hesitate to
make unless forced to 1t as a last
extremity. Confronted. however, with
the alternative Of either seeing her
husband suffer for a crime of which
he was innocent or making public &C.
knowledgment Of her own frailty, she
nad CHOSEN the latter course. Nat
urally, IT meant divorce from the bank.
er's son, and undoubtedly this was the
solution most wished for by the family.
The whole unsavory affair conveyed a
good lesson to reckless young men of
wealth to avoid entangling them.
selves In undesirable matrimonial ad.
ventures. But 1t was no less certain.
went on this journalistic mentor. that
this wife, unfaithful as she had proved
herself to be, had really rendered her
husband a signal service in her pres.
ent scrape. The letter she had pro-
duced, written to her by Underwood
the day before his death, in which he
stated his determination to kill him.
self, was, Of course, complete vindi.
cation for the man awaiting trial. His
liberation now depended only on how
quickly the ponderous machinery of
the law could take cognizance OF this
new and most important evidence.
The new turn Of affairs was nat
ural)y most distasteful to the police.
II there was one thing more than
another which angered Capt. Clinton it
was to take the trouble to build up a
case only to have 1t suddenly demol-
lshed. He scoffed at the Suicide let.
ter" safely committed to Judge Brew.
ster's custody, and openly branded 1t
as forgery concocted by an immoral
woman for the purpose of defeating
the ends of justice. He kept Annie
prisoner and defied the counsel for
he defense to do their worst. Judge
'rewster, who loved the fray, accept.
ed the challenge. He acted promptly.
lie secured Annie's ~elease on habeas
corpus proceedings and. his civil SUIT
against the city having already begun
IN the courts, he suddenly called Capt.
Clinton to the stand and gave him
q grilling which more than atoned for
any which the police tyrant had pre-
viously made his victims suffer- In
the limelight Of sensational trial, in
which public servants were charged
with abusing positions of trust, ne
showed Capt. Clinton up as a bully and
q CRATER, bribe-taker, working hand
and glove with dishonest politicians,
not hesitating even to divide loot with
th1QVaS TN 10
for wealth. He proved him to be a
consummate liar, man who would
stop at nothing to gain his own ends.
What jury would take the word of
such man as this? Yet this was the
man who still insisted that Howard
Jeffries was guilty of the shooting
OF Robert Underwood!
But public opinion was too intelli-
gent to be hoodwinked for any length
OF time by a brutal and ignorant po-
liceman. There was clamor for the
prisoners release. The evidence was
such that further delay was inexcus-
able. The district attorney, thus
urged, took an active interest in the
case, and after going over the new evi-
dence with Judge Brewster, went be-
fore the court and made formal ap.
plication for the dismissal of the COM
plaint. A few days later Howard JEFF
fries left the Tombs amid the cheers
of crowd assembled outside. At his
side walked his wife, now smiling
through tears of joy.
1t was a glad homecoming to the
little fiat in Harlem. To Howard, aft
er spending so long time In the
narrow prison quarters, 1t seemed like
paradise. and Annie walked on air, so
delighted was she to have him with
her again. Yet there were still anxi-
eties to cloud their happiness. The
close confinement, with its attendant
worry, had seriously undermined How.
ards health. He was pale and atten.
uated, and so weak that he had sew
eral fainting spells. Much alarmed.
mt n.