Show A STRANGE CASE why wallace harper would not prove his innocence prisoner at tho bar what have you to say why sentence should not be passed upon you A solemn hush pervaded the c curt room as the judge addressed the young man in the prisoners dock as above wallace harper turned his gaze for an instant toward me I 1 had defended the young prisoner to the best of my ability and the outcome was a verdict of guilty from the outset 1 expected this although in my utmost soul I 1 believed the unfortunate man innocent circumstantial evidence however bad encompassed him round so completely it was impossible to override it i I 1 could give the prisoner no look of en Coura gomont I 1 merely looked dumb perhaps stolidly indifferent although I 1 was far from feeling so wallace harper rose slowly to his feet until he towered full six feet of noble stature and gazed fixedly at the judge his face was pale as death and when he opened hia lips and spoke the words sounded hollow and your honor what can I 1 say on an occasion like this I 1 was foredoomed fore doomed from the start our family has always been unfortunate my father was killed in battle gettysburg and my poor mother died of a broken heart my ediest brother fell in one of the battle ain the west tho of at memphis some years ago an agthe last of the race I 1 it am doomed to die on the gal lawsl ho pauson acre ahot flush shooting into cither pale cheek would he formerly for mercy it was note in keeping with hia cool courage during the fridl I 1 cou hnot calp pity ing tinn and foering tharbis tha ibiS would have much better speaking atall I 1 dared not hb taca forborne moments at length he was speaking again and I 1 ve stured once more to toward him toe flush bad disappeared prison r as before 1 I sentence must be your tie with awful calmness 1 I this to say I 1 am an a n 1 lay up nothings nothing 1 against abo member of th hury they thought performing a duty but it there is a future life in that future the truth will be with roe andl shall bo vindicated lie bowed his hoad and ceased to his w had boon impressive to they convincing I 1 bad dfora now trial verdict hai boon rendered and more to say by the neck until dead fridae these wore all tho words that reached my OAF I 1 rose to lacavo the room the was lod pit I 1 glanced into lug face A look or apau rested on avory lineaments linea ments 1 I bent forward and whispered a word ol 01 filpo the fact of my determination mi nation to move all the now trial ho said ardth ing and soon the courtroom court room was empty its justice it was an infamous murder 1 barted farted far ted al sound of my elbow two gentlemen were discussing the prisoner and his sentence f paused lo listen 1 I knew wallace harper wel all of his family bavo died violent deaths he had a good show with dogald dun ham he h ad been with the old gen aleman two years J think the trouble casall on account of aitho girl who they say esquite is quite sick because ot tho death j of lifer father t di think any thing of the clerk yome I 1 dont know it seems on her account that harper put pois ottin the aid manstine man swine it was a foolish as well as a wicked crime I walked on of thomar der had been teci tea too many times ta interest me now jt had appeared on the trial that harper was in love with his old employer only daughter band that Dunham thad quarreled with hia confidential clerk in consequence on the evening when he harper was to depart mr dunham called him into the library and requested him to drink a social glass of with him it seem that harnoi assented loiter donald draham vas dead he had died in agony and with bis latest breath accused his clerk of having pois sned the of ono of the wine cups were found to contain arsenic the other being harmless har tho confidential clerk was andin and in one of bis pockets ot arsenic was found such evidence was overwhelming 1 callaco Wal laco harper sent egv me and I 1 undertook his defender def enser vl boado as good a fight as possible under the circumstances the ante mortem testimony of ronald dunham together with the bho two had quarreled and ahe findings find of the poison 1 in the poc harper 8 esy evidence could not overcome I 1 went m deling a weight on mygind my mind oa A few houra canneto ma view I 1 alonco the jail wallace harper greeted me with a pleasant smile and holdout hia hancl T t am satisfied bat you did all human being could do mr nelson and I 1 for it and to tella you noth ine a new trial I 1 expressed my this it would only postpone the ble said lucle runs in our family I 1 suppose til was ri born tto be ana the laugh that followed made my flesh creeps but you arp innocenta innocent 1 baidal sudden doubt coming unbidden to my brain 1 I am innocent 1 hope you will never daubl that mr nelson A little later I 1 left him promising not to urge a new trial I 1 was satisfied 1 new trial could not bo obtained aadil bad only entertained the thought to delay matters as long as possible alt was two months to th ath of november much might be done in that time if there had been any foundation on which to stand As it was I 1 tried to dismiss the prisoner frota my mind and other business I 1 could not do this however and the days and weaks passed until one before tha day set forthe for the execution ov the condemned on this day I 1 visited wallace fahad lost seo that inward suffering ibe came fully convinced that rested and L ged hain to raa coa clean breast of it 11 it could do no good he declared awill die without speaking andt then I 1 left him As I 1 passed from the jail another vis itar waa announced a availed woman T LK was doubtless the mans sweethearts sweetheart 1 como lo visit him tor the last time she to aphea at the trial i alii 1 bad mover soen her to since night batore jhb day set or ine vindication ot the law 1 passed miser ably I 1 soon to be launched into eternity in the gray ot ohp morning ot ift 3 a availed to my door I 1 anan boll in person and I 1 admitted the visitor to my office room being seated alio throw aside her vail revealing a young face palo and thin and almost beautiful before she spoke I 1 know that sho waa the daughter of tho late donald dunham Is it too lato to save wallace har per she asked in a tremulous voice certainly toolate I 1 answered of course if therea was now evidence of a positive nature going to show that some other person committed the crime tor which ha is to suffer ive no doubt ro might save the young man bat 1 I have that evidence you have why in heavens name jd you not speak sooner then I 1 cried n a stern voice 1 I dared not she said slowly 1 I I 1 must speak now the world know ac truth wallace harper Is innocent it was I 1 who did the decd her whole framo shook like an aspen and I 1 could seo that she was wrought up to an awful pitch of excitement I 1 could scarcely believe her words how over it must be that she was driven road on account of her lovers peril I 1 requested her to speak however and she did so in rapid low tones it was 1 who did tho deed I 1 hated to speak sooner I 1 loved my father and I 1 did not like to believe him capa ble of doing an ovil deed ho didt however ho invited Wall aceto take wine with him that last evening I 1 saw him pour the wine and I 1 saw him drop a powder into ono of the goblets then tie called wallace and requested him to quaff with him 1 I did not know what was but an awful fear oppressed me with a quick movement when father back vi s turned I 1 exchanged gobet aal fatiori drained tho one intended for l what followed 1 corf know I 1 was when I 1 learned that s deadly poison had been administered 1 I could not speak my father a murderer it was horri bles I 1 realized thatty hand had substituted the poison for his lips tacit he had intended for another in the tho moment Wallace picked tip the folded paper containing the poison that lay near by and dropped it into hia pocket as bo at the trial in his dying my fach er cursed the name of harper and accused him of murdering him 1 I fainted I 1 think and I 1 have been near fro death since that 1 haab tried to bring myself to speak more than once but bavo been unequal to the aask 1 am now anxious to havo the truth known can you save wallace he is an innocent man r there waa no timo tobe lost I 1 sprang up at once I 1 a magis with miss dunham and her affidavit was sent over the wires to the governor wo i moosoon too soon A reprieve was granted and the facts at once investigated vesti gated miss adhered to her story and wallace harper corroborated it jio saw her tho glasses but had refused to speak lost he should criminate too girl he loveda that was his secret A thorough had and the story told by the girl accepted wallace harpol wont forth a free man and ho hasinto ha sinco won an honorable place in the business world 1 fyre years afterward for the first time since his narrow escape from the gallows yes 1 I am married ho said whom I 1 brought up old times no miss dunham is not my wife do yon know mr nelson I 1 have always believed that 76 poisoned her father I 1 think her mad love unsettled aier mind at any rate aho is now an inmate of an asylum and hopelessly insane it was a strange case I 1 always believed harper innocent As to mils Dun tiam I 1 hold grave doubts J TU in frank leslie s popular monthly |