Year: 1871




since.


AS the matter then stood, these circum-


stances were considered as being unfortu-
nate circumstances for Mr.. Dubourg-
nothing more. He had his 'alibi'' to ap-
peal to, aud his character to appeal to ;
and nobody doubted the result.
The lady appeared as witness.
Confronted with Mr. Dubourg on the
question of time, and forced to answer,
she absolutely contradicted him. on the
testimony of the clock on her own mantel-
piece. In substance, her evidence was
simply this. She had looked at her clock
when Mr.. Dubourg entered the room,
thinking it rather late hour for visitor
to call on her. The clock CIRCULATED by
the maker only the day before) pointed to
twenty-five. minutes to nine. Practical
experiment showed that the time required
to walk the distance, at a rapid pace, from
the stile to the lady's house, was just five
minutes. Here. then, was the statement
of the farm bailif (himself respectable
witness) corroborated by another witness
of excellent position and character. The
clock, On being examined next, was found
to be light. The evidence of the clock
maker proved that he kept the key, and
that there had been no necessity to set the
clock and wind it up again, since he had
performed both those acts on the day pre-
ceding Mr.. Dubourg's visit. The accu-
racy of the clock thus vouched for, the
conclusion on the evidence was irresistible.
MIR. Dubourg stood convicted Of having
been 10 the field at the time when the
murder was committed; of having, by his
own admission, had quarrel with the
murdered man not long before, terminal
ing in an assault and threat on his side;
and. lastly, of having attempted to set up
an alibi by false statement of the ques-
tion of time. There was no alternative
but to commit him to take his trial at the
Assizes, charged with the murder of the
builder in Pardon's Piece.


The trial occupied two days.


No new facts of importance were dis
covered in the interval The evidence
followed the course which it had taken at
the preliminary cxaminations--with this
difference only, that it was more carefully
sifted. MIR. Dubourg had the double ad-
vantage of securing the services of the
leading barrister in the circuit, and of
moving the irrepressible symrathies of the
jury. shocked at his position, and eager
for proof of his innocence. BY the end
of the first day the evidence had told a.
gainst him with such irresistible force that
his own counsel despaired of the result.
When the prisoner took his place in the
dock on the second day there was but one
conviction in the minds of the people in
court; everybody said, The clock will
hang him."


1t was nearly two 10 the afternoon, and
the proceedings were on the point of being
adjourned for half an hour, when the at
torney for the prisoner was seen to hand a
paper to the counsel for the defense.


The counsel rose, showing signs of agi-
tation which reused the curiosity of the
audience. He demanded the immediate
hearing of a new witness, whose evidence
in the prisoners favor he declared to be
too important to be delayed for single
moment. After short coloquy between
the judge and the barristers on either side,
the Court decided to continue the sitting.


The witness, appearing in the box,
proved to be young woman in delicate
health. On the evening when the prison.
er had paid his visit to the lady she was
in that lady's service as housemaid The
day after she had been permitted (by pre-
vious arrangement with her mistress) to
take weeks holiday, and to 60 on visit
to her parents. in the west of Cornwall
While there she had fallen ill, and had
not been strong enough since to return to
her employment. Having given this pre-
liminary account of herself, the household
then narrated the following extraordinary
particulars in relation to her mistress
clock


On the morning of the day when Mr..
Dubourg had called at the house she had
been cleaning the mantelpiece. She had
rubbed the part of it which was under the
clock with her dustcr, had accidentally
struck the pendulum, and hsd stopped it.
Having once before done this, she had
been severely reproved. Fearing that a
repetition of the offense, only the day after
the clock had been regulated by the max
er, might lead perhaps to the withdrawal
of her leave of absence, she had determin-
ed to put matters right again, if possible,
by herself


After poking under the clock in the
dark, and failing to set the pendulum 60
ing again properly in that way. she next
attempted to lift the clock. and give it a
shake. 1t was set in marble case, with
a bronze figure on the top, and it was SO
heavy that she was obliged to hunt for
which she could use as lever
The thing proved to be not easy to find on
the spur of the moment. Having at last
laid her hand on what she wanted, she
contrived so to lift the clock few inches
and drop it again on the mantelpiece as to
set it going once more.


The next necessity was, of course, to
move the hands on. Here again she was
met by an obstacle. There was difficult
ty in opening the glass case which pro-
tected the dial. After uselessly search
ing for some instrument to help her. she