Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-01-21

pose could get experts to testify that
her handwriting had In 1t the charac-
teristics Of the forged signature.
could at least save my client The
same evening acted on this thought.
and. though had difficulty In finding
even one expert who had not been
called In the cnse. he had as good re-
pute for skill In bis profession as any
Of the others To my surprise. he told
mo there was no doubt that Miss
Wentworth was the guilty party.
That settled my course for the fu.
ture. The next day when the court
opened I produced the second confes'
sion and the affidavit Of the expert In
chirography that in his opinion the
confessors had forged the signature t.
the will In question
There was u great deal Of confusion
In what followed In court. The legal
aspect OF the cnse had entirely chang
ed. Two different persons had con-
fessed to have written signature that
could only have been written by one
After consultation with their client the
plaintiffs lawyers took the ground that
the second will was Invalid because
there was u confession on the part OF
the beneficiary under II that he had
forged 1t. Therefore. the property 30
ting to Anna Blake under the former
will. she had no interest In further
criminal prosecution. They asked for
un adjournment OF the court and pro-
posed to me that II my client would
sIrn away all claim to his uncle's prop,
erty they would drop the prosecution
against him md so far as they were
concerned would not prosecute Miss
Wentworth.
I declined the proposition on the
ground that 1t was impossible to prove
either Of the lovers guilty. But they
feeling confident that the chancery
court would give their client the prop.
erty under the earlier will. dropped the
matter. nnd Jefferson went forth free
man.
Ny OWL solution OF the problem In
volvrd In the two confessions was
that Jefferson. being disappointed In
inhrriiing The property. signiied that
the marriage could not take place.
This threw In the way of Miss Went
worth II temptation that she could not
resist She runcuctrd later will, but
Ier lover III order To save her from the
Consequences Of her crime when criIni'
uul prorrad.ngs We're commenced con
.t-sspd himself guilty. Nevertheless J
was no, certain rs 10 this or anything
concerning the parties az the affair In
which they were concerned. That I'll
ther one ui the other or both were
guilty ! did not doubt. but this opinion
wus rather biSrd Oh the evidence than
on the bearing or appearance Of either
o' them could not throw or IN I'm
preston thut Jefferson was tine Eel
tow and Miss Wentworth was lovely
girl. And had not each attempted to
relieve the other OF the burden by q
confession:
The matter Of the Inheritance was
still In the chancery court when one
day ] received Il letter from man In
Australia. | had that day received I'm
invitation to the wedding OF Arnold
Jefferson and Dora Wentworth. put
the letter In my pocket and said moth
ing about II till | attended the wed.
ding. which took place In G little
church with no attendants except my
self. Indeed. It had not been expected
that even | would accept. When the
clergyman who performed the cere-
mony came to the words with all my
worldly goods thee endow" and the
groom had repeated them I called a
halt and produced the letter l had re-
ceIved from Australia. It read AZ fol
lows:
Have seen In an American newspaper
reference to the case against Arnold JEFF
ferson. was an intimate friend OF the
late William Jefferson and was one OF the
witnesses to will he made few weeks
before his death return to America
soon on business and will call upon you
not long after you receive this.
sILAs ORMSBY.
Never shall forget the lock that
passed between the bride and groom.
Each had believed the other guilty OF
rhe forgery. but each had forgiven the
other on account of the sacrifice In.
voIved In the act. A few rapidly spo
ken words passed between them. there
was a quick embrace, and the cere-
mony proceeded. But they were both
too much affected to make rhe re-
sponses intelligently.
The same day I stopped all pro-
reedings In the chancery court rs to
the Jefferson will pending the arrival
Of the Australian. In due time the
confessed forger inherited the prop
erty. enjoying II with his confessed
eorger wife.
n before handling this case ! had
Iunlms of conscience In defending
"riminal who had every reason to be-
,Ieve to be guilty I certainly never hnd
afterward. Our system OF jurispru.
dence Is b@sed ON hundreds Of years
experience and should be followed un'
fiinchingly.