The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-10-19
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hea1 Iy her testimony. And referring
even It'd yourself Coroner fnre yru
within the lasi twenty-five YEAR. =
fact, since d short time after the bhah
sof her son, called her anything elsn -
Crazy Laura Has anyone else fl 60
town called her any other names Maa.
! appeal to your
What you say may be true. II may
not ! don't know. \ only am sure ec
q t~hing--that a person Is sane =
the eyes of the law until adjudse1
otherwise. Therefore, her eyidenne -
this time Is perfectly legal and prsp-
err 81
1T won't be Ms 500 as / can bring
an action before n <lnnacy court 1ad
cause her examinations by u hoard ssf
~alienists.
THAT'S something Tor the future. r
thaf case things might be different.
But I can only follow the law, wssa
the members Of the jury instructed. nc
course, to accept the evidence COR
what they, deem it lis worth. You WI
proceed, Mrs. Rodaine. What did yan
zee that caused you to come To this
conclusion r
Cant you even stick to the rules
and ethics OF testimony It was tha
final plea Of the defeated Farrell. The
coroner eyed him slowly. %s
"Mr. Farrell came his answer, Il
must confess to d deviation from reg
diar court procedure In this inquiry.
It is customary In an inquest Of this
character; certain departures from the
usual rules must be made that The
truth and the whole truth be learned.
Proceed, Mrs. Rodaine, what was It
you saw?" 3I. s
Transfxed, Mortified, Fairel,iid
watched the mumbling, munching
mouth. the staring eyes and straying
white hair, the bony, crooked hands
as they weaved before her. From
those toothless jaws a story was about
to come, true or untrue, a story that
would stain the name of his father
with murder. And that story now was
at its beginning. .%
II saw them together that afterno0Ga
early" the old woman was saying. Il
came up the road just behind them,
and they were fussing. Both OF 'en
acted like they were mad at each 9th
er, but Fairchild seemed to be the
maddest. J
II didn't pay much attention to
them because I just thought they We're
fighting about some little thing and
that it wouldn't amount to much. I
went on up the gulch-I was gathering
flowers. After awhile the earth shock
and l heard a big explosion, from away
down underneath me--Iike thunder
when it's far away. Then, pretty
soon, I saw Fairchild come rushing
out of the mine, and his hands were
all bloody. He ran to the creek and
washed them, looking around to see
IL anybody was watching him-but he
didn't notice me. Then, when he'd
washed the blood from his hands, he.
got up on the road and went down into.
town. Later ON, 7 thought I saw all
three of 'em leave town, Fairchiid.
Sissie and a fellow named Harkins. So
I never paid any more attention to It
until today That's all / know"
She stepped down then and went
back to her seat with Squint Rodaine'
and the son, fdgeting there again.
craning her neck al before, while
Fairchild. son of q man just accused
Of murder, watched her with eyes fas-
cinated from horror The coroner
looked at a slip of paper In his hand,
civilian Barton" he called. A NH
ner came forward, to 60 through the
usual formalities, and then he asked
the question: 49,.
"Did you see Thornton Fairchild ea
the night he left Ohadf2"
Eyes, a lot Of us saw him. He drove
out Of town with Harry Harkins, and
q fellow who We all thought was Sis
sie Larsen" n 80 1.E
'aThat's all. Gentlsmsn of he jury"
he turned his back On the crowded
room and faced the small worried ap-
pearing group on the row Of kitcheu
chairs. you have heard the evidence.
You win find q RESIN at the right IN
which to conduct ysur deliberations"
Shutting forms faded through III
door at the right. Then followed long
moments Of waiting a which Rooert
Fairchild's eyes went In, the hsos. u
which he strove TO avoid the gase =