CHAINS OF BONDAGE

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 205, 30 August 1910, Page 8

CHAINS OF BONDAGE

BY EMILY B. HETHERINGTON. { Avtitf of •'Sis CoUcge Ouuaf "WortA- ' Pledge," "A. Sepeniewt Foe."

CffJT OF BOXDAGE. «j-j-_tht≤ TOke aiidTinialterins as she gave ier evidence. Her rerrfm to tiv» -fc% that night from seeing ~~nzc recounted, Tsien: she had iaZiercd her Imdand had gone out. She iold, in a low, dear voice, hervr she iiad eenne upon, the annwHJcemenl in the papers of her unde ? s death, leading ilex to believe thai Ac •was W« heiress; of h«r detenniiatioii to leave the husband iviiii -srhom she hod led a cat-aad-dos Kfe, and then her startling discc»serv'"oi the murder on the eve of her ffigfcfc A deep s3ence prevailed in conrt, 6rokEn occasionaUr by a-stifled sob from same "wansan stirred by the poignant EMry told 6O quietly by the prisoner. Judith trent on to speak abont hef determination to fly. in the road hope of hiding her unhappy past before she sE-epped into this fortune; of her sudden.* terrified convrction that the murderer was hiding behind the curtain in -the room iraiching her, an 3 her flight. Trevena, though it -was agony to him to sit and -watch the tense drama unfold, the issnes of -which meant life or death to the woman he loved, had not been ahie to endure the suspense -of remaining outside. He glanced desperately at the jurymen's faces as Judith left the stand. How had her testimony impressed them? Bat his eyes were Him and blurred; Is could not see. -A nil now Vernham >was on the stand again, feeing cross-examined closely by the counsel for the defence. '""You say you -were a friend of the dead man, and were eager to see his murderer brought to justice?" "I -was," came huskily from •Verniain"s -white lips. "1 put it to you—rras it consistent trith your aDeged deep regard for the dead man ihat you should extort blackmail from his widow as the price of your silence—thai you should kidnap the son of your dead friend to-estort ■further hush money? , Xo answer from the witness. "Answer me£" thundered the counsel. "Remember, a man with your record, 'which I harve 4>efore mc in black and *rhite—the record fumiivhfid by the police —need hartßy be afraid of damaging hi* character more -Chan it is damaged already! Did you, or did extort blackmail?" "Xo. 5 * It -was a very hesitating," stammered "XkTz and it meant """Yes' to the jury. "Dad you not kidnap the boy, Gilbert Haidress, -srajjh <Ehe result that you were nearly lynched in a street off Bloomstiary by honest, indignant -women! An-eirer-me!'* •■ "Yes"—so low that the monosyllable Sr&s basdly audible. ~ls it not a fact that before this case came up for trial, at which you knew you wonM haxe to appear as a -witness., you tried to leave de oonntrv? 3 ""Yes." — ■ - - - . S -"And the-police- stopped youf ■ - ■"_._■". 'looked to be almost in a rwooning condi&on. "1 put it to you—did you not %aye an angry quarrel over money roaiters with she dead manon iiie very morning of iae tragedy? Semember, I have wiinesses; consider well how you answer this. gaestHm." hadsome triffing dispute." "Some triffing disputef"—in scathing tones — angry ottercation, with threats exchanged. Now, svill you tell ihe court ishere you ■wexe on. £he night this murder took place J 35 No colour in the -white, draiwn face of the witness; a breathless, expected hush in court': the sense of something coming, hanging tense in the still air. "I—-I went out for a lopg walk down inta_Surrey_jn._the afternoon, and did not return ;Tnrt2 -jnminigbi/' said- V*inihain, after a pause, his face ghastly. "Can you bring any single witness ta prove tins.? 5 * answer. "You ymrljuly deny; that you were in-the dead ynxn'* flat at any thne whateFer on Ot& oi.j- of the crime?" "Positively! 3 more boldly, i Tie counsel paused. Them how do yro account for -a. bloodstained tjnrmb-print. a photograph of ■which I tore iefoie mc, Mentical in every respect with the lines on your iihmtb, discovered on ihe painted woodwork near the window of the room in the flart, jnst behind the curtain where the prisoner Tras conscious of a_ man lading, 3, he cried sternly, "a. recent print, of blood scarcely dry, that the police found snorfiy after Use murder? How did that print of pour +JcttitH come -to be there, red with blood, if you had not been in theftst?" Bu-t-the maa—was incapable -of answer. An added startled look had swept into feis face at the -first reference io a erambprini; he had a sodden vision of a bar where a mm ted, as if in joke, been coHecSng iinHab-prints —among f.>)pm the. print of ibianbl Ternhain. reeled unsteadily; words failed Tifrn. "Yoa da not answer," went on the stem voice. "Does not the "vision of the dead man rise up before you now, as you —you, of all men—come here to bear false evidence -an innocent woman — & woman you know to be innocent?" There was a sudden crash, the sound of a fall in the breathless court. Vern&am had collapsed and fallen in a faint. An intense excitement prevailed. Now ■ the jndge was asking a- question of the counsel; the photograph of the thumbmark, pnnted in blood, and a thumb-1 print on a sheet of papei, alleged to be chat of the last witness, were handed io himjSien sn inspector of police gave eiridence aboni tie impression on the ■wall behind the curtain; a. new, utterly unexpected turn "had been given to the case. And now the spectators were whispering excitedly that acquittal was certain. JTow the crowd -was pouring out of the court, the case ended, talking in excited tones. "Xot guiiCT - ;' , The jury had been absent only a few minutes in considering their verdict! cr Xot guilty P a man shouted to a friend outside. "One of the witnesses >i-ag seen arrested for the crime, and will be eoEnnirted for trial—a man called .Vernham!" Vernham had already been taken to a cell, arrested on suspicion of the murder of Gilbert Hardress, as Judith came out of the court, a free woman, to find John Trevena wniH-ng for her. He pressed _her aan.Tin silence. ~ There was a prayer of in his heart, bat for the "momeiit^il^iagda^fedL^^KQrd^O

He helped srer into ibe carriage—th; T»*ite-faeed, -waanan, stai trem Wing from the ordeal she had passed through—ami followed her. Then in «he dosed carriage, John Treveia took her in his ;mns,.j.nd heM hei closped tightly to him. ■Tiy darling! At last we have real tie chains of bondage—the bondage oi dread a-rxi the lasses bondage! Free, -Hii-TiL Heaven, to step into the happiness thai avsics as!''lie vrhispeiied passionaicly still ijoMing her tightly as the carriage drove them swiftly away from the giooanj precincts of the prison—-to where hei little boy a-aaited her—out of the shadcsr snashine ieyond! THEESD.

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