“Not guilty!” was the decided response.
“Let the first witness be called, George Swasey, colored.”
The person familiarly known as “Swasey’s nigger” took the stand. When brought forward, he glanced around as if fearful of something, and then asked:
“Is Massa William Nettletum where he can hear dis chile tell de truff?”
“You have nothing to fear from any person, if you do speak the truth, and all the truth,” replied Major D.
“Well den, de fact am dis. I went to see my gal. When I cum back, I met de rebs. I hid behind a log. I see’d some one stick a knife in massa cap’n, and I heard him say:
“‘Oh! Nettletum, you kill me!’”
All questions were answered in the same spirit, and it became evident that the negro believed Nettleton the real murderer.
The next witness brought upon the stand was Alibamo Hinton. She swore that Nettleton’s tent was next to the one she occupied—that he was in attendance upon her and Miss Hayward, by permission of Captain Hayward, and that Nettleton had not been out of her presence that night. In the first part of the evening, Nettleton had remained near her door; in the latter part, he had missed his captain, and had prostrated himself on a rug near the tent entrance. She had seen him there all night, as she had not slept at all.
Miss Hayward was too much overcome to appear as a witness, and was excused.