The Black Forge Mills

by William P. Chipman

He had scarcely left the jail when Mr. Carleton and Mr. Bacon were announced. They shook hands with Ray through the iron grating of his cell, and their hearty expression of faith in him brought hope and gladness to his heart. After talking long and earnestly with him concerning the circumstances of his arrest, they, too, bade him be of good cheer, and then departed—Mr. Carleton going to the chief of police to see if he could not secure more comfortable quarters for the boy, while Mr. Bacon, in utter ignorance of what Jacob Woodhull had done, went after the telegraph operator to send messages to the very same lawyer and detective to whom that gentleman's message had already gone. He learned from the operator that these messages had been sent, but believing it would give additional emphasis to the coming of those gentlemen, he had his own messages forwarded also.

Mr. Carleton met with a very cold reception from the chief of police, who plainly told the minister he was meddling with what did not concern him, and that young Branford should stay where he was, even if all Afton should beg for his release. Indignant at his treatment, Mr. Carleton started for home; but before he turned off from the main street, he saw Dr. Gasque driving toward him. He stopped the doctor, and found that he, having been out of the village all night attending a very sick patient, had not even heard of the arrest. Quickly explaining the circumstances under which it had occurred, Mr. Carleton told of his visit to the chief of police, and the manner of his reception. Dr. Gasque expressed his indignation in no gentle terms, and then added: "I have a patient to attend to first, then I will go around to the station house and see what can be done for Ray. I promise you he shall have more comfortable quarters for the night." As Dr. Gasque was president of the town board of officers, and held in his hands the power to even dismiss the chief of police, Mr. Carleton knew the promise was not vainly made.

Meantime, other callers had come and gone at that cell door. This time it was Miss Squire and her father. She had gone home from Sunday-school scarcely knowing how she could persuade her father to accompany her to the jail; for he was at times crusty and irascible, and her mother's sudden illness had put him out of sorts with himself and everybody else. He cared, moreover, little or nothing for religious matters, and no appeal to him from the Christian side would have the slightest weight with him. But she remembered that a striking characteristic of his was to radically oppose whatever others approved. Because others maintained the earth was round, he stoutly persisted it was flat; because others said the national colors were red, white, and blue, he declared all were color blind but himself, for they were red, white, and green. She hoped, therefore, by showing him that the majority of the First Church people believed Ray was guilty, he would strenuously maintain he was innocent; and if he only once assumed this position, no stone would be left unturned by him to secure the boy's acquittal if it could honorably be done.

As though it was a mere matter of news she alluded to Ray's arrest, and the sudden change in the attitude of many who had called themselves his friends. Before she was half done her father brought his fist down upon a small stand near him with a force that overturned it, demolishing a rare vase that stood upon it. "Look here, Ettie," he cried, "that boy is innocent; any fool can see that. Ring the bell for dinner, and tell James to have the carriage at the door the moment we are done, or I'll discharge him. I am going right down to the station house to let the lad know he has one friend in Burton Squire, even if all others forsake him. Did you say that Carleton believed in his innocence, and Bacon, too; well, they are the only sensible men in the whole town. I'll go to hear Carleton preach next Sunday if I have to be carried into the church. And, see here, Ettie; you get ready to go with me; it's a pity if that boy's teacher cannot show him what she thinks of him. You'll find an old heathen like myself knows enough to visit a man when he's in prison, and feed him, and clothe him, too, if it's necessary."

So, soon after Mr. Carleton had left the office of the chief of police, that worthy official saw to his dismay the carriage of the rich and influential Burton Squire roll up to the station-house door. "Can it be possible he has come to see that boy?" he asked of one of his men who stood near him.

"I guess so," the man answered, with a grin; "all Afton is against the youngster, so far as I can hear, and that is enough to make the general take up for him; but my! if he takes a notion to have that boy removed from that cell, won't there be music here?" And the chief thought so a half hour later, when the angry man hobbled into his presence, and demanded that the boy be put in a better room at once, or he would know the reason why. General Squire's haughty and commanding tones aroused the anger of the officer, and he flatly refused his request. So fully was the chief's attention taken up with the tirade of abuse that the general now poured down upon him, that he did not notice that another carriage had driven to the jail door, and that a gentleman getting out of it had come hastily into the room.

"General Squire," the new-comer said, "there is no need of such language as this. Captain Gardiner, release that boy from that cell at once, and send an officer with him up to my house; he will stop there to-night, of course under guard of the officer. To-morrow you will account to our board for your want of courtesy to Mr. Carleton, and to the general. We have felt for some time that a change in our police force was necessary."

The speaker was Dr. Gasque, and it is needless to add that his request was immediately complied with.

Mr. Carleton, on his arrival home, learned that a lady was waiting to see him. He found, on entering the parlor, that it was Betsy Branford, Ray's sister-in-law. First apologizing for her call at that time, she with some fear and trembling gave him a revelation that filled him with astonishment, and led him to say: "This is most important, and absolutely clears the boy, and I think we can manage it, too, without your appearing on the witness stand at all; so have no fear." Then, at the close of the evening service, he had still another caller, a boy who brought with him a large bundle. When he departed he left the bundle behind, and Mr. Carleton hastened in, and said to his wife, who had already retired: "Well, Mary, one of the darkest facts against Ray, that of the missing coat, is all clear. Now let us find a way to clear up the other—his sleeping on his boat while those men were carrying on their robbery almost above his head—and then he is completely exonerated. I am not sure but God has sent this arrest to teach the people of Afton a lesson they will never forget."

At nine o'clock the next morning, Ray was brought before the police court for examination. He could not feel that he was alone, however, for Mr. George Woodhull, and Mr. Jacob Woodhull, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Carleton, Dr. Gasque, General Squire, Deacon Blake, and a half dozen more, were gathered around him as friends and well-wishers. Beside him, too, as counsel, sat the Hon. Benjamin H. Eaton, one of the leading lawyers of the State, and the presence of this gentleman so overawed the little lawyer who acted as prosecuting attorney, and even the police judge himself, that those worthy functionaries could scarcely attend properly to their official duties. Of course, the court room was crowded with interested spectators, but if they had expected the trial to proceed that morning they were disappointed; for as soon as Ray had plead not guilty to the indictment read to him, Mr. Eaton arose, and asked that the case be postponed until Wednesday morning.