Amid an impressive silence, and without a question from the prosecution, he was allowed to leave the stand, and Mr. Carleton took his place. His testimony was brief, and simply corroborated Ray's, so far as it related to his coming to the parsonage on Friday night with the old ragged coat on, and his leaving the parsonage just before midnight. Then a young lad named Will Adams, and as mischievous a scamp as there was in town, was sworn, and with a rather sheepish look on his face, he gave in his testimony:
"You see, last Friday night about half-past eight, I was down on the wharf behind a pile of lumber smoking. I was ashamed to be seen with my cigar, and that's the reason I went off down there. While I was smoking away, Ray Branford there came down to the dock, and taking off his coat, laid it on a pile of lumber while he stowed some bags of grain into his boat. I don't know what possessed me,—just the fun of the thing, I guess,—but when he got down into his boat to cover the grain with a piece of canvas, I just reached up and took his coat, and then ran noiselessly up into the lane way back of Shephard's store. I just enjoyed Ray's poking round in the darkness after that coat, for whenever it lightened I could catch a glimpse of him, and when he went off in that old ragged one up to Mr. Carleton's, I laughed right out aloud.
"I intended to put the coat back on the lumber, or into the boat, but it began to sprinkle some then, and I was afraid it would get wet, so I went up to Shephard's store to wait until Ray came back, and then I was going to give it to him. Mr. Shephard will remember I was there with that coat under my arm, for he spoke to me himself just before he closed up. Well, when the store was closed Ray hadn't come, and 'twas raining so hard, I buttoned the coat under my jacket and scud for home. I hung the coat up in my clothes press, thinking I'd give it to Ray the next time he came up to town. I forgot all about it until Sunday morning at the breakfast table, when I heard father saying Ray's coat had been found, and he was in the lockup for stealing. I thought first I'd tell them I had Ray's coat up stairs, but when he and ma were so sure Ray was guilty, and called him such hard names, I rather enjoyed the situation, and said nothing. Up at church and Sunday-school I heard all the people talking the same way, and thinking I'd produce a sensation in the court Monday morning I kept what I knew to myself. But when Mr. Carleton on Sunday evening told the people his morning sermon had no reference to Ray, for he then didn't even know he was arrested, and that he had been down to the jail to see him that afternoon, I concluded to tell him what I knew. So I went home after the service, got the coat, and took it up to the parsonage and gave it to Mr. Carleton. Here it is now." And taking a bundle from Mr. Carleton's hands, he opened it, and held up a coat before the eyes of all. "You see, here is Ray's name, just as he said, and here is his handkerchief in the pocket with his name on it. There, Ray," he continued, throwing the coat into its owner's arms, "had I known what trouble I was going to make you, I'd never have taken it at all." And without waiting to see whether the lawyers desired to question him or not, he marched down from the witness stand, and sat down upon the nearest bench with the air of one who knew he had created the greatest sensation of the trial.
Mr. Shephard was recalled to the stand, and readily admitted that he had seen the Adams boy in his store Friday night with a coat under his arm. "My mistake," he said, in a manner that indicated his great sorrow, "has been that I did not stop to think there might be two coats of the same material. I am really sorry I caused the prisoner's arrest; this will be a lesson to me always." And when dismissed from the witness box, he went around to Ray's seat, and shook hands with him, saying in a tone audible to half the audience at least, "My lad, forgive my hasty judgment."
"We have one other witness, your honor," said Mr. Eaton, and called William S. Simmons. A man from the extreme back part of the hall worked his way down to the witness stand. He was wet, and covered with mud, and had the appearance of one who had come far and fast. He being sworn, stated:
"My name is William S. Simmons. I am by profession a detective, and am connected with the city force in P——. I was called here Monday morning to investigate this robbery by the defense. An unusual circumstance, I assure you. But Mr. Shephard afforded me every opportunity to examine his premises, and I soon became satisfied that the theory of my worthy friend, the chief of your police here, could not be sustained. The piece of cloth found on the edge of the opening had been to my mind attached there when the burglar crawled out of, and not in through that hole. Then, too, but one track went from the rear of the building down to the wharf, and that returned again, as if the robber had gone down to the pile of lumber simply to hide the coat he had discovered to be torn, and the tools with it. Possibly he may have intended to sink them off the dock, but was interrupted or alarmed in some way, and so hastily placed them under the lumber, intending to remove them later. No goods were carried away by boat, but they were put through the hole in the partition into the empty store. Then the front door of that store was opened, and the goods were carried away by wagon, while the door was fastened to its place, and the tracks made at the rear of the store for a blind. It is no wonder that this lad slept on all night without knowing of the robbery, for only one of the burglars came anywhere near him, and he only for a brief moment."
"How do you know your theory is any more correct than Captain Gardiner's?" asked the little attorney, with a sneer, in the cross-examination.
"Well," replied the detective, quietly, "my main reason for believing I am correct, is that for two days I have been following the real burglars, and about nine o'clock to-day I bagged them, and the stolen goods, over beyond Holly Mountain. By hard riding I got them into the lockup fifteen minutes ago, and then came over here."
"We rest the case here, your honor," said Mr. Eaton.
The two lawyers on the prosecution consulted briefly with each other, and then the little attorney announced: "In the light of the facts presented by the defense, we submit the case without argument."