Davenant is on trial for his life. He or his
friends suborn testimony to prove an alibi on the night of the murder,
and not content with that, they hire a burglar to enter the court-house
and steal the knife which proves his connection with the deed--that it
may not appear in evidence against him.'
"The evidence closed. I had not uttered a word. I had sworn in my heart
that I would not stir a finger in the matter--but now, stung beyond
endurance, I rose and addressed the jury in impassioned words. 'Their
verdict,' I told them, 'was of little importance if I was to lose the
respect of my fellow-citizens. I had made no effort to shape their
decision, but now on the brink, it might be of a felon's grave, I would
utter my dying words. I would confine myself to protesting before God,
and on my honor, that I had long since forgiven George Conway the
wrongs done me--that the scene on the day of his murder was the result
of momentary irritability, caused by business annoyances, and not
malice--that I had forgotten it in an hour--returned directly to my own
house--and only heard of the murder on the day after its commission. As
to the knife--I had been suspected if not charged with having had the
weapon stolen. Well! my answer to that was to declare that, to the best
of my knowledge and belief, _the murder was committed with my own
knife!_ More than that.
Pages:
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392