The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1914-07-17

1 nave tdhtH tnt law ullO lily otil -
were not convicted of murder in this
unitarian court of mine. but of an
other sin. For fifteen months you
have been living under the shadow OF
a crime you did not commit. | was
reserving complete punishment for
you in the shape of an ignoble mar
riage, which was to have served two
bitter ends. Well, | had the truth
from you. l believe you to be ALSO
lutely innocent of the charge | held
over you. for which | condemned you
without a hearing. Then, why should
| not employ my own mean of max
ing restitution? J"
You have condescended to believe
in me. That is all | ask"
True, hat is all you ask. But Is
it altogether the fair way out Of tt?
To illustrate: our criminal laws are
less kind to the innocent than to the
: TgiltY. Our law courts find a man
Itlt and he is len to prison. Later
tr, ,IO IS found 10 be innocent-abso-
lutely innocent. What does the state
do in the premises? 1t issues a formal
pardon-a mockery, pure and simple
and the man is set free. 1t all
to a curt, belated apology for an error
on the part of justice. No substantial
rcc0mpense is offered. He is merely
pardoned for something he didn't do.
The state, which has wronged him,
co~udescends to pardon him! Think Of
1t. 1t is the same as II a man knocked
another down and then said, before he
removed his foot from the victims
neck: L pardon you freely My fa-
| Their was opposed to the system we
have-that all countries have-of par
doning men who have been unjustly
condemned. The innocent victim is
%pardOned in the same manner as the
guilty n who comes IN for clemency.
| accept my fathers contention that
an innocent man should not be shamed
and Inundated by a pardon. The
court which tried him should reopen
the case and honorably acQuit him Of
the crime. Then the state should pay
to this innocent man, dollar for dol
lar, all that he might have earned dur
AH6 A+S VI Al Pi iSOihithtt WI oh
additional amount for the suffering he
has endured. Not long ago in IN ad-
joining state a man, who had served
seventeen years of a life sentence for
murder, was found to be wholly inno-
cent. Whet happened? A pardon was
handed to him and he walked out Of
prison, broken in spirit, health and
rprcA IIic avail f1rao I'D how
wiped out in the futile effort to prove
his innocence. He gave up seventeen
years Of his life and then was par
doned for the sacrifice. He should
have been paid for every day spent in
prison. That was the very least they
could have done"
81 see now what you mean" unused
Hetty. 81 have never thought of II
in that way before"
We'll, it comes to this in our case
Hetty: have tried you all over again
in my W little court and l have &C
quilted you OF the charge l had against
you. l do not offer you a silly pardon
You must allow me to have my wal
in this matter, to choose my owl
means of compensating you for"
You saved my life," protested Het
ty, shaking her head o~bstinately.
MY dear, / appreciate the fact thai
you are English" said Sara, with 9
weary smile, but won't you please see
the point?"
Then Hetty smiled too, and the way
was easier after that for Sara. She
gained her Q~uixotic point, and Hetty
went away from Southlook feeling tina
no oma in all'the world was so be
wildering as Sara Wrandall.
When she sailed for England, two
days later, the newspapers announced
that the beautiful and attractive Miss
Castleton was returning to her nativ,
land IN account of.the death of Lore
Murgatroyd, and would spend the yea
on the continent, where probably sh,
would be joined later on by Mrs. Wran
dali, whose period OF mourning ant
distress had been softened by the con
slant and loyal friendship of this ex
quisite Englishwoman."
Four hundred miles out at sea sh,
was overtaken by wireless messages
from three PERSONS.
. Brandon Booths message said: a."
am sailing tomorrow on a faster shil
than yours. Ypu will find me waitin,
for you on the landing stage" He
, heart gave a leap to dizzy heights, and
, try as she would, she could not crust
1t back to the depths In which 1t ha,
, dwelt for days.
| The second bit of pale green pape
contained a cry from a most ~unexpect
ed source: Gable your London ad
' dress. 8. refuses to give 1t to me.
think / understand the situation. W,
want to make amends for what 70,
have had to put up with during tn
year. She has shown her true natur,
( at last" 1t was signed Leslie"
: From Sara came these cryptic
4 words: For each year of famine Their,
will come seven fears of plenty"
:. All the way ACROSS the Atlantic sh,
t,- t. - -t-t~