CHAPTER XXVIII.
Mrs. Winslow demonstrates her Legal Ability.—The "Breach of Promise Trial."—A grand Rally of the Spiritualistic Friends of the Adventuress.—The Jury disagree.—Mrs. Winslow convicted at St. Louis of Common Barratry.—An honest Judge's Rebuke.—A new Trial.—The Spiritualistic Swindler overthrown.—Remorse and Wretchedness.
MRS. WINSLOW'S stay in New York was rather an interruption to Miss Evalena Gray's business, as those two champions of the theory that earth and heaven are connected by a spiritual hyphen only adjustable, or to be made serviceable, by the brainless imbeciles or the remorseless sharks of society, to the exclusion of people of purity and worth, indulged in several lapses from sobriety, and in spiritual love-feasts of such remarkable length and enthusiasm that W. Sterling Bischoff, Mlle. Leveraux, and the mournful accommodation husband, "Daddy," became quite alarmed for the result, were obliged to discontinue the marvellous seances at No. Nineteen West Twenty-first Street—on account of the "alarming illness of the fascinating little medium," as the manager was careful to see that the truthful newspapers announced—and at the close of a term of spirituous rapture of remarkable intensity and duration, the three who were vitally interested in Miss Gray's recovery from her peculiarly alarming illness, managed to part the loving couple, induce the languid Evalena to return to her fascinations and fools, and sent Mrs. Winslow to Rochester and her roguery.
Although her trip to New York had been one of prolonged dissipation, Mrs. Winslow had evidently gained courage from it from the assurance of Miss Gray's friendship, and through that ingenious little woman's recitals of daring and conquest now applied herself with new vigor and dash to her infamous work.
During her absence in New York, Superintendent Bangs and a legal gentleman from Rochester had proceeded to the West and were rapidly gathering in the harvest of evidence I had reaped, and which subsequently became so serviceable.
Mrs. Winslow, seeing she had been outwitted, began diligently arranging matters for the coming trial, and having lost the main point of dependence which she had hoped to make in our inability to use the evidence which she was sure Lyon's counsel could get by a liberal expenditure of money, which she also knew must be at hand, she began the tactics of delay, and secured a change of venue from Rochester to Batavia, on the ground of prejudice; and, without the assistance of counsel, boldly manœuvred her case nearly as carefully and judiciously as the most proficient of criminal lawyers.
Ascertaining that Lyon's counsel had secured damaging evidence against her in those sections of country where she had previously been the spiritualistic harlot that she was, she rapidly followed Mr. Bangs and his companion, and through her wonderful personal magnetism, physical force, consummate bravado, and skilful manipulations, succeeded in securing numberless affidavits—not that she was a pure woman, but that as far as the affiant knew, she was not a bad woman.
Some, who had given Lyon's counsel depositions comprehensive enough to have crushed her in court, were compelled by her to depose under oath that their previous depositions given Mr. Bangs were made under a misapprehension of facts. Others were induced to swear that they were mistaken in her identity, which would naturally have the effect of breaking the chain of evidence connecting her with her numberless different aliases, and therefore with her numberless offences against the laws and society; so that unless our work had been, in this respect, anything but faultless, Mr. Lyon would have certainly suffered defeat.
As the date of trial at Batavia neared, however, although the woman had showed great skill in her management of her own case, and had got things into as good shape for herself as nearly any lawyer in the country could have done, she suddenly changed her decision regarding conducting the case personally, and engaged the services of a Rochester lawyer of good repute, who certainly would not have pleaded her cause had he at first been aware of her character in the slightest degree.
At last the case came to trial at Batavia, Judge Williams presiding, and was considered of sufficient importance to command the quite general attention of newspapers, and a large number of reporters were in attendance, while the little city had never before attracted such a crowd of curious people, brought there and kept there by the great interest which the trial had awakened.