The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 278: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE CHILD OF WATERLOO. 275 angry pasciots of a jealous man were aroused at the object of his fondest attachment being taken from him bya fopof a French officer, who then sneaked away without having the courage to give Sternholde that satisfaction to which he was entitied. Disappointed in all his expectations of happiness in this world, Sternholde did follow the French army, and pos- sibly he may have fought against all Frenchmen, for it is no uncommon thing for a man to take a dislike to a whole nation, because some one individual belonging to it may have in- flictted upon him some serious injury. Gentlemen of the jury, my client admits that he did arrive at the Morton Arms on the day named.in the indictment. He admits that he came to that neighborhood, to try and possess himself of Mabel Rouselli, in order to better his fortunes by making ‘terms with her friends for her restoration. Years had elapsed, and the revengeful feeling that he had at all times cherished was all gone. He was poor, and was not scrupulous as to the means of gaining a livelihood. Well, gentlemen, he did rec- ognize the young traveler at the inn as a messenger of the Rou- selli family. He did, from the care which he saw that young traveler bestowed upon the saddje of his horse. suspect that it contained documents of importance, and he did, he has to me admitted, seek to possess himself of it. He failed, gentle- men of the jury, in doing so; and then after that failure he left the inn, and at that point his connection with the whole of the circumstances that followed really ceased. He made the only attempt he chose to make, or considered it safe to make, toobtain possession of the documents, which he fully believed were in the possession of the young traveler at the Morton Arms. And so, gentlemen of the jury, the unhappy individual who now stands before you, accused of so very seri- ous a crime, was actually making his way from the scene of that crime’s commission, and would have escaped all the conse- quences of his present situation, but for an unfortunate accident over which he had no possible control. That accident, gentlemen of the jury, was the meeting with an old and valuable acquaint- ance, valued more on account of many scenes which they had passed together, than for any real merits which he, as an individ- ual, might possess. To this man he stated frankly the circum- stances in which he was placed, how he was anxious to obtain possession of the papers which he knew to be in the possession of the young traveler, how he had failed to obtain possession of» them by fair means, and how disliking the adoption of foul ones, he was wandering away from the spot the same beggar he came to it. This, gentlemen of the jury, is the real state of the case, yand such, as I can pledge my professional reputation to you, is ‘the truth. This old acquaintance, however, whom the prisoner -at the bar met, at once exclaimed against the folly of leaving ‘such an enterprise unaccomplished. He told the prisoner at the bar that he' could procure the papers for him—that he would do so without the commission of any violence, and that if he retraced his steps, and waited for him in the village churchyard, he would most assuredly bring to him the docu: comicbooks. com