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Show E H2 'j , " Jl p ' he materilTfacts in this fi UWi I PO J fflfiL liWll I y of circumstantial evidence V i?ji0Bw& i 'I Sfv I ". 36k I 41 ''!A drawn from an actual re- 1 WuS ! jle --v Fs""! 7 fOj IJh vj U i iames d10 c'r being ' . V ' fsembled early for its week- VM lfZk W W ' J fill f JLJ vv V" I 1 ly session and every mem- uIJJ lil wlll UU ff V if ' 1 3 ber was in his accustomed Om In 'I M All mSvV l MtSJElf place with Judge Grower ' K Hmllll 1 I UwftffW "' ' in the chair. When the NlfrilrVjPulffl ' I jju ll.llffilf ' 1 M ' IttlfflfB her a Plan wbicb had fied in his routine business was fin- P OTW''$ Ni M 7 Yr UmM N "rain to revenge himself upon her ished the chairman rose and said: AM1 ! 1IIM ' f JU 14 ISP father botb " Us Suiting words We now will hear from Judge Jj,(li Jklf and for the death of his own parent, btoakes who we trust has a story rela- A MnVli MX , ' till P ''"lL Cifl Ml rMTVV He had cut off a portion of her hair tive to circumstantial evidence. Judge WJ fe If I lVr while she slel3t and diPPed " in the JO - Wi ' - - fcASjx JVm,.. J ' ilUWx. blood of a lamb- He bad also sprink- Judge Stoakes, a large man of dig- fflTT Wffl JWm .ffl led blood over Pieces ot her dress. mfied Presence, whose silver hair ;i M I If " VI JlflW1 The hatchel was easily procured, alone bespoke his 70 years, rose and a : f y PyJf "A MS- These he had placed in the cave dur- oegan : If 1 B s P'i SmJ ing one of cl' Farrar's numerous ab- "My story is of the troubled days 15 fcif gfl ' Ty; sences from the house and there also in Missouri following upon the civil Wj. ' 52 VTI be bad bimself emitted the moans war, when factional rancor still ran SgsQ gPsSs"" fel which had been heard. He would high and the conqueror and the con- S have carried his hellish plot through quered lived together in outward vjV to the end but tbat tbe colonel's Plea amity but with secret suspicion. I 1 ' .j I for forSiveness at the gallows un- had just hung up my shingle in a c- 3) nerved him. little town in the southern part of jiSp "This confession was made partly the state which had been the hot-bed f zif f&t Z at the place of execution and partly of factional warfare, now captured I 4r '' afterward in the jail. As soon as it xx loeoMOocoQooooQoeeMMa AUTHOR'S NOTE. X The material facts in this v story of circumstantial evidence fi S are drawn from an actual re- V S corded case, only such change ft 0 of names and local color being v X made as to remove them from X Q the classification of legal re- Jj; X ports to that of fiction. All the S V essential points of evidence, jf X however, are retained. Q fHE Calf Skip club had assembled as-sembled early for its weekly week-ly session and every member mem-ber was in his accustomed place with Judge Grower in the chair. When the routine business was finished fin-ished the chairman rose and said: "We now will hear from Judge Stoakes who we trust has a story relative rela-tive to circumstantial evidence. Judge Stoakes." Judge Stoakes, a large man of dignified dig-nified presence, whose silver hair alone bespoke his 70 years, rose and began : "My story is of the troubled days in Missouri following upon the civil war, when factional rancor still ran high and the conqueror and the conquered con-quered lived together in outward amity but with secret suspicion. I had just hung up my shingle in a little town in the southern part of the state which had been the hot-bed of factional warfare, now captured her a plan which had formed in his brain to revenge himself upon her father both for his insulting words and for the death of his own parent. He had cut off a portion of her hair while she slept and dipped it in the blood of a lamb. He had also sprinkled sprink-led blood over pieces of her dress. The hatchet was easily procured. These he had placed in the cave during dur-ing one of Col. Farrar's numerous absences ab-sences from the house and there also he had himself emitted the moans which had been heard. He would have carried his hellish plot through to the end but that the colonel's plea for forgiveness at the gallows unnerved un-nerved him. "This confession was made partly at the place of execution and partly afterward in the jail. As soon as it became clear that Lessure had an important im-portant statement to make the sheriff turned to the colonel to take the insignia in-signia of death from his head. Far rar, unobserved by all who were in tent upon the words of Lessure, had sunk into a sitting posture. The sheriff stepped up to him and raised the black cap. He was dead. "Lessure was immediately placed a extending his haid to Lessure exclaimed: ex-claimed: 'Young man, I have wronged you and I have no wish to leave this earth with the ill will of any man. I ask your forgiveness for standing between you and my poor child and for the death of your father which I believed to be in the line of duty toward to-ward my country.' "Lessure trembled violently but did not reply or raise his eyes. The march to the scaffold continued. A deputy was forced to support the tottering tot-tering form of Farrar while the sheriff adjusted the black cap. Then the sheriff stepped back and all was in readiness for the fatal word when Lessure sprang forward and cried in an agonized voice: "'Stop! I alone am guilty I alone!' "The officers of the law called him forward and demanded an explanation. He declared that Lucile was not dead but that they had run off and been married and his wife was then living in concealment in St. Louis, for fear of the wrath of her father and until he could settle up his affairs and join her. But he had not divulged to under arrest. He blew his brains out in his cell that night with a pistol procured, no one knew how. Lucile went mad on hearing of the tragedy, &nd was confined some time in an asylum. She recovered and ended her days in a convent. "That, gentlemen, is my story." There was a stirring of chairs and a general lighting of pipes which had been allowed to go out in the rapt attention that prevailed while Judge Stoakes was speaking, when Judge Grower arose and said: "I believe I voice the sentiments of the club in extending thanks to Judge Stoakes." LCopyright, 1909, by Joseph B. Bowles.) by Lyon, now held by Price, and repeatedly re-peatedly preyed upon by the roving bands of irregulars of either side. Among the most noted leaders of these latter was Col. Jim Farrar. Among the northern sympathizers he was classed with Quartrell and the Youn-gers, Youn-gers, but when the struggle was over he settled down quietly in the little town of Chester, and his tall form, his flowing moustaches, his campaign hat and long coat became him as the costume did many another warrior of the lost cause. "Col. Farrar's household consisted of but one daughter, 17 years of age, and of that rare type of beauty which so often crops out in an adventurous and warlike stock. Her name was Lucile and she soon set the heart of every young man in a flame. I myself my-self fell at the first glance, and as I look back down the long stretch of years I can see the black hair, the rosy lips and the flashing eyes of Lucile Lu-cile Farrar as I watched her in silent adoration in the meeting house, upon the street or flying along on her pony which seemed as full of life and spirits as its fair rider. "It was silent adoration upon the part of us all, for never a glance did the fair Lucile have for any of us. But when Melvin Lessure came to Chester it was different. Something in her woman's heart must have drawn her toward him, for all the indifference in-difference and all the scorn were gone and they gave themselves up willingly to a love that quickly ran the gamut from passing interest to passionate pas-sionate devotion. "The very mention of a suitor for his daughter's hand was sufficient to send Col. Farrar into a rage terrible to witness. He noted the growing intimacy of Lucile and Lessure with jealous anger. But he could not watch her always, and many a time when he was away looking after the interests of his extensive plantation near the town we less fortunate youths saw Lessure starting on long walks with the fair Lucile. "Melvin Lessure inherited all the firey impulsiveness of a long line of French ancestry and was not the youth to brook long this uncertain entente of his lovemaking. He had a big plantation several miles from Chester and had moved into town for the social advantages that looked large to us then. He was amply able to support matrimony in a style equal to the best in the community. He was handsome, studious and courtly in his manners and seemed to be eligible from any point of view. The local Madame Grundy could find no reason why Melvin Lessure and Lucile Farrar were not a perfectly matched couple. "But the rock on which their happiness happi-ness seemed destined to break was that of factional rancor. Col. Farrar was of the south unreconstructed and .mreconstructable. Gaspard Lessure, Melvin's father, had cast his lot with 'he north and had died at his own ioorway defending his property igainst the enemies of his adopted ilag. "Melvin Lessure was no match for Col. Jim in brawn or bluster, but he hesitated not to go to him with his suit, and the storm he provoked I give you as it was later reconstructed through the searchings of the law. "'Never, by the Almighty, never!' roared the colonel. 'Before I would see my daughter married to one of the accursed assassins of my country I would slay her with my own hands. Get out of my sight and never dare to raise your eyes to a daughter of the Farrars.' "Melvin Lessure stood with white face, clenched hands and gritted teeth while Lucile threw herself at her father's feet and weepingly begged and implored him to mitigate the harsh sentence. But he cast her rudely from him with a curse, and, turning to Lessure with murder in his eyes, said: " 'You dog! You want my daughter daugh-ter you! Why, I shot your father down in cold blood because he differed with me politically. Do you think I'll do less for you for trying to rob me of my daughter?' " 'So it was you who killed my father,' returned Lessure in a voice beneath the quiet of which lay the tense fixedness of a stern, unbending resolve. 'Then, Col. Farrar, I tell you that I will have your daughter and I will avenge my father. Are you mine till death, Lucile?' " T am yours till death,' said the . girl as she went over and placed her arm proudly about his neck. "Very little was seen of Lessure in town after that and it was whispered whis-pered that he was staying out on his farm and keeping out of the irate colonel's way. "About two weeks after his unsuccessful unsuc-cessful interview with Farrar, which was noised abroad as such things are in a small town, Lucile Farrar disappeared, and the tongues began to wag in earnest. When for a week she had not turned up the towns people, peo-ple, who had little love for Farrar at best, were ready to believe anything. His threat against his daughter was known and the bolder ones did not hesitate to whisper that he had put it into execution. These hints took form by degrees and at last a witness came forward who told of passing the colonel's house, situated on the edge of town, late at night, and of hearing low moans and pleadings. "At last suspicion took such fierce root that the sheriff headed an investigating in-vestigating party. Col. Jim was away and they had free run of the premises.. prem-ises.. "The search led to a cave in the side of the hill, once used as a cellar but long since abandoned. There they found torn pieces of a dress, a bloody hatchet and some tangled locks of black hair drenched with blood. The dress and the hair were easily identified as belonging to Lucile Farrar, Far-rar, the hatchet as the property of the colonel. "When charged with the crime his knees tottered and he nearly fainted. He made no direct denial but moaned and cried like a child. During the trial that followed he seemed stunned and oblivious to what was going on. 'I will admit that the courts of to-day would be loath to accept so inadequate a corpus delicti, but our blood was hot ' in those times and it seems to me we hanged more than we do now. . Service was had on Lessure Les-sure and he testified to the facts of the quarrel and the threat. Upon this evidence and the prisoner's failure to deny they found their verdict of guilty and fixed upon the death penalty. "As the day of execution approached approach-ed Col. Farrar continued in a state of almost total insensibility. But when the sheriff came to read the death warrant he roused and raising his hand to heaven, said: " 'Before my maker 1 swear that 1 am guiltless of my child's death.' "They led him to the scaffold and on the way he passed Melvin Lessure who was watching the scene like a bird fascinated by a snake. Col. Farrar Far-rar requested the sheriff to stop, and i |