SWEET CECILIA SLIPS.

NZ Truth, Issue 181, 5 December 1908, Page 7

SWEET CECILIA SLIPS.

Cuts No Ice Before Judge and

Jury.

If there were many interesting young damsels like Cecelia Bu tetter roaming around "a^ largeV :pobr,. unprotected male persons would;? have to • tier liem^elvea;; up m their own back-yard, or else ! enter a monastery, if .they' didn't desire.; to run the risk ol being shot m on. one of the most serious charges, m the calendar. Not even Joseph, of scornful memory, would be sate , against such predatory; -\ perfidious petticoats.' 'James Wood haft a narrow escape, and he has been feeling very sorry ever sine* he met sweet Cecilia; „ ,pecjlia f of 18 summers; is a merely Mary Ann, or what old-fashioned doves call a slavey, and she wears the can and apron— and other sundries^-at the abode, c>f J Mr and Mrs Wills, who live within amile .ol.Duntroon tdwftf James, d6ubtiesa/fee}ing; m v an amorous mood, went to 1 call- oh Cecilia. He had never met her" pe|p(giß bwt he had ■ heard' ol her from a matj^,ivpal.'eol)ber, ,pr some such bloke. ■ On. seeing; the^ sinful Cecilia,: he pitched a . jjarn to the effect that his wife was going, to.be ill— as a matter of cold truth, he-is single— and- he begged the girl to go and be his faithful little slavey. Cecilia said No,in a firm, tempt-me-nbt sort of voice, 'but the untruthful' -Jaines went v; on exerting all his witchful wiles, , v 6« I

AND BIDDING HIGHER AND HIGHER, until he was 'offemg \ thirty ); week lor |he ifascinat&g ]Gecilia'B 4s£mcj#llßgt all- tn " Va&i the damsel dream of lea'vTOg her deatf.-'iMssusl Theu the wily >V,ood tried another lajr; : ;H© begged her to go down to the taiJiw.ay ., sta-. ftion that night and meet his '•■•sister and see if they could fix up things. Still Cecilia .said nay, but she murmured, .-Oh, so archly and innbceritly, "I have to : go: to the township at about seven to- get Mr Wills' paper." So they parted,, but by a wonderful coinaittenee, "when 'Cecilia tripped daintily out of the gate that night to. collect .the evening sausage-^wrappe*,-there was Wood lounging on Hhe grass some yards away. ' Before detailing the picturesque;?, incidents that ..followed it should rbe;isftateu— to clear' the air, as it were— that there is no doubt that James and. Cecilia that night ieasted on the luscious fr,ait that is supposed tdf'bg prohibited; aiiatfcwas admitted oh alivMdes. The only- point at issue was whether the blushful frjuit was plucked witt.'.Cecilia's consent ipr.whejhfcc she s^rugglc'C desperately, lilqe a. \ good, immaculate' "-maiden, to protect, rae, sac-' red virginal 'orchard from the" ruthless ravisher. She swore that she did, 'and consequently James Wood was put m the dock- m Dunedin Supreme Court, -char ged with committing rape on her. ■ Lawyer Hanlon appeared- for' 'the defence, \but there wasn't really much need for his devastating cross^exaininatloii aid corruscating eloquence. After Crown Wosecutor Fraser had' opened the it was seen that, given a jury jcomppsed of anybody but" natural-bora idiots,,, it was a cake-walk ! f6r Wood? '"' There Were altogether too' many, holes and;, .tatters and rents, m Cecilia's little . tale to convince anybody but a. blind, deaf and dumb-man; To go on with the music, ;; however^ '..tjhis is what Cecilia said m the wixness-Jboi : "After I came out he got up Tfromr/tße grass and followed me. He overtook ma and again asked me to go to.his^piacfrjtio work. I declined and lie then asked m« to go for a walk ; and promised Ime two pair of cloves. I again declined?, thea ie got hold of me ;.. put one arm: aro.un.d ray waist and the other round my ' f ne"ok ' . afed carried -me across the road to -the " Willows." Then she threatened -tfcr :»-tbU'. »i him. He. put his hand over her moata te prevent her. from, screaming, i !'■«■! '{ *\ AND THE DEED WAS DONE. '< Next, two youths sauntered ,. o» ? the 'scene of the devastation of virtue, and one ol those youths was her nephew 1 , to % ,whom she casually scried t put; Vis: .\thatl you, Willie?'"' The intruders wereiiextrthreatened with stoush by Jimmy Woods, I»ut, thinking discretion the better, game, tie strollled off, leaving Cecilia with her protectors, and with them she strolled to DuntropD, where to the villagevconstablo

she unfolded her sensational .tale.-Cross-examined, Cecilia indignantly denied that she was a consenting party to the act of naughtiness: And she laughed a scornful aaugh— like the skipper of the schooner Hesperus— when Hanlon asked it it was not a fact that Wood gave 'her. five shilling's. .;. . ■ .; •'This is no laughing matter," thundered Hanlon, ''did he not give you five lings?" ■■•■•■• ■• ■ ■*•.:.■-■■■•-•■;... .'-. ..••-'■■- •'•;.••■ "No, he never," snapped Cecilia. She admitted she had askted Mrs. Wills; what she ought to do if she was "offered .£IOO to* squash the case}" No. one ever offered her £100' or any money at all to settle the case; She- had heard, that .-Wood's people fived m Timaru and were well* off. v ' Lawyer Hanlon : I see } you thought you might be able ■. to make sometbmgoutr of this case, eh? . - '• Cecilia denied the insinuation. ;j . -The evidence of the constable: at Dun^ trobtt didn't help Cecilia a little, bit.; He, said: it was; .with ■■: the greatest;, reluctance that she. laid -the complaint-against ■ Wopd< : Moreover, although; the. ofience had only just ; been ' Committed— she ;. wasn't ■at all excited or flustered, and her clothes were not dirty, : torn or disarranged; ; as one would, naturally expept if she had just previously been struggling, with a man to preserve, that: maidenly ..virtue and hon-, or supposed m most quarters to be dearer than life itself to an innocent girl. : The doctor who examined Cecilia three "days after the occurrence said he found no' signs .of violence, or marks of injury, such as he would have .expected ia the case of a girl who had been forcibly raped."''.":' ■■'.'■■■':■■ i»,v'- '■ ■'■'" ■' ■"■•.■.•■ .-i But the- most damning evidence against? ptosecutriX' was ; given by *ne two young shaversj Patrick,: •■'Crreaney "and; Willie Warner; : .aged . VI , . the- pair: who • had comeon the^ 'sad seene 1 related. : TJiey ■'■ ; were ; lounging along m.'the vicinity -of the spot where • the sinful act occurred, , and al-: ; thbughvthey were' within ' ear-shottor ten, mitilutes.- -■••':• -"!v ■ : ./ : ' -. -■ . ' ; ;THEY HEARD. NARY £ SCRMAM, i not so much as a murmur, m, fact. They ] came on jbhe amorous ■•pair without, being noticed, and as "Willie/ the' nephe^ of Cecilia, said : "' 'She , ; wasri!t struggling.." , When she happened Jo^e him, she called . iou€ 'Is Wat ypu, Wilfie. V" ' .„,•.;>, ': -, Cross-examined, Little WUlm. ; said,,.that his aunt', didn't seem excited— "only , a. bit o|ut of- breath.''.' Her dress 'wasn't knocked about • she looked .much.! the same as she then did m court. J ,' ,', ' " X ■ ,'TKis left a soft snap for Hanlon, and m his; address he- summed; rthe affair up terse-, ly; .."Tfiis girl ibeyqnd all 'doubt, was/ a consenting " party , T . and, if l.those two boys hkd"' not' happened on: the scene .. and; dlsturbed therar, 'nothing wpuld; hay© .been heard 'of th6'"niatter." 'r . ; '..'...'! His Honor's suninring. up, tbpugh jadlci^sly. dispassiphate, didn't help -Cecilia worth a cent. '■'- ." . '; • The jury, were away a; quarter of an houb and then returned with a verdict of "Not-gWit^.;'' - ; ;; c ':.; ;:;^ ;j: 1; r> : ; ■ •' '■ ' '.'-;