Joseph and His Friend: A Story of PennsylvaniaTaylor, Bayard
General
Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania
Taylor, Bayard
Pennsylvania -- Fiction
Next morning there was an even greater crowd in the court-room. All
Joseph's friends were there, with the exception of Lucy Henderson, who,
by Mr. Pinkerton's advice, remained at the hotel. Philip had not
arrived, but had sent a message saying that all was well, and he would
come in the morning train.
Mr. Spenham, the evening before, had ascertained the nature of Mr.
Linthicum's evidence. The apothecary, however, was only able to inform
him of Philip's desire to discover the travelling agent, without knowing
his purpose. In the name recorded as that of the purchaser of the poison
Mr. Spenham saw a weapon which would enable him to repay Lucy for his
discomfiture, and to indicate, if not prove, a complicity of crime, in
which Philip Held also, he suspected, might be concerned.
The court opened at nine o'clock, and Philip could not be on hand before
ten. Mr. Pinkerton endeavored to procure the examination of Dennis, and
another subordinate witness, before the apothecary; but he only
succeeded in gaining fifteen minutes' time by the discussion. Mr. Ziba
Linthicum was then called and sworn. He carried a volume under his arm.
As Philip possessed the label, Mr. Linthicum could only testify to the
fact that a veiled lady had purchased so many grains of arsenic of him
on a certain day; that he kept a record of all sales of dangerous drugs;
and that the lady's name was recorded in the book which he had brought
with him. He then read the entry:—
"_Miss Henderson. Arsenic._"
Although Mr. Pinkerton had whispered to Joseph, "Do not be startled when
he reads the name!" it was all the latter could do to suppress an
exclamation. There was a murmur and movement through the whole court.
"We have now both the motive and the co-agent of the crime," said Mr.
Spenham, rising triumphantly. "After the evidence which was elicited
yesterday, it will not be difficult to connect the two. If the case
deepens in enormity as it advances, we may be shocked, but we have no
reason to be surprised. The growth of free-love sentiments, among those
who tear themselves loose from the guidance of religious influences,
naturally leads to crime; and the extent to which this evil has been
secretly developed is not suspected by the public. Testimony can be
adduced to show that the accused, Joseph Asten, has openly expressed his
infidelity; that he repelled with threats and defiance a worthy minister
of the Gospel, whom his own pious murdered wife had commissioned to lead
him into the true path. The very expression which the woman Lucy
Henderson testified to his having used in the garden,—'I am sick of
masks,'—what does it mean? What but unrestrained freedom of the
passions,—the very foundation upon which the free-lovers build up their
pernicious theories? The accused cannot complain if the law lifts the
mask from his countenance, and shows his nature in all its hideous
deformity. But another mask, also, must be raised: I demand the arrest
of the woman Lucy Henderson!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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