* written on other parts of the paper, as if by some one trying

a pen.

The letter was indisputably from the now well known haud of Madame Von Preussach. It was exhibited to her, and appeared to produce a strong impression on her mind; but she persisted in her silence.

In this state the proceedings were transmitted to the Supreme Court, whose judgement was to determine whether there appeared sufficient grounds for bringing the accused im*mediately to trial, or whether any points required farther investigation before that decisive step was resorted to.

The result of their deliberations evinced the caution, impartiality, and love of justice of that tribunal. Pregnant as the grounds of suspicion appeared to be, they did not think it expedient to resort to the institution of criminal proceedings until some points which appeared to require, or to be susceptible of, further elucidation, should be cleared up. First, the authorities were directed to inquire more minutely into the previous character and temperament of the deceased Baron Von Preussach; second, to investigate how far the statement made by the complainer Ferdinand was well founded, that the accused, in consequence of his pecuniary embarrassments, had an interest in bringing about her husband's death; thirdly, to ascertain what sentiments or manner of treatment she had habitually manifested towards her husband; and fourthly, to take immediate possession of the whole papers belonging to her within her father's residence. Lastly, all further interference with the judicial procedure on the part of the private complainer, which had already been carried too far, was directed to be repressed.

The directions of the tribunal, in regard to the papers, were carried into effect in such a manner as to leave the colonel ignorant of the object of the search, or the accusation which impending over the head of his daughter. He was led to understand they were required by her with reference to her civil interests, as having right to a widow's annuity from the estate. Still, a vague feeling of anxiety and fear, arising from the prolonged absence of his wife and daughter, coupled with this judicial inspection of the papers of the latter, began to haunt his mind. He wrote with the most pressing earnestness to his wife, that if she wished to see him alive, she must no longer delay her return. The unfortunate mother, distracted between her duty to her husband and her daughter, knew not at first how to decide. At last conjugal affection prevailed, and she resolved, for some time at least, to leave her daughter.

By the kindness, or it might be the policy of the judge, a parting interview between the mother and daughter, at the lodgings of the former, was permitted. It appeared to have been an agitating one, if the account of a witness could be trusted, who had accidentally overheard the conversation from the adjoining apartment. The dialogue was carried on in French; but the witness, a private school master, not altogether unknown to the police, being perfectly acquainted with the language, lost not a word. According to his account, the elder lady had exclaimed to the younger"Unhappy girl, you are no stranger to Hermann's death!" To which the latter, with loud sobs, replied"Mother! God knows what has happened. I cannot -speak; I may die in misery, but I will be silent."

On reaching her home, a severe conflict awaited her; how to account to her husband for the continued absence of her daughter. Nothing better occurred to her than to confirm him in the belief, that the cause of her detention was simply the necessity of her personal presence in the civil proceedings relative to her allowance as Hermann's widow.

The commissioner who had been employed in the delicate task of taking possession of the papers and private effects of the accused, had now returned to Hainburg, bringing with him the contents of her repositories; in the inspection of which he had found a useful assistant in her former waiting woman-that Agatha Roger of whom we have already heard in the narrative of the clergyman's daughter. Agatha had, in the mean time, risen in the world. Shortly after her return to Blumenrode, she had married the former teacher in the Siegfeld family, now rector of a school in a little town not far from the capital.

The box which contained the letters contained also some of the jewels and trinkets of Albertine. In one corner lay a sealed packet; it was opened, and its contents were a gold watch, with key and seal, and a wedding-ring.

"Ah!" exclaimed the rector's wife on seeing them, "this is Baron Hermann's watch which he always wore, and this

his marriage ring. The watch was a wedding present from his wife. No doubt he has sent them back to her after the separation.

No letters were found which threw any light on the immediate subject of investigation. It appeared, however, from some of her correspondence with third parties, that proposals of marriage had more than once been made to her after the separation-a fact which had escaped even the searching investigation of Ferdinand von Preussach.

On the other hand, the numerous testimonies, both private and public, to the character and conduct of Albertine, were highly favorable. She was described as uniting pride and dignity with benevolence and condescension; great natural accomplishments to much artificial cultivation; the most undeviating affection and duty to her parents, with the most careful attention to the education of her daughter. One drawback only seemed to be universally admitted: this was her excessive passion for dress and costly amusements, particularly music, as to which the secret report of the police of the capital, otherwise favorable, was to this effect: "Truth requires it to be stated, that the Baroness von Preussach has not observed due order in the management of her affairs; that demands have occasionally been made against her for large sums long due; and that she has even been threatened with legal measures for their recovery."

Among the numerous bills for dress and articles of fashion which were found scattered through her drawers, were several bearing the name of Wilhelmine Tieffe, which had given rise to so many inquiries; and the rector's wife explained that this was the name of a fashionable miliner in the capital, with whom Albertine had dealt extensively.

The deposition of the rector's wife, which was among the most important which had yet come under the notice of the authorities, was in substance, though somewhat more longwinded, to this effect:

"I knew the Baroness von Preussach from her childhood; I had been taken as an orphan into the house, and had been suffered, when a child, to play with her and her brothers.She received a good, but at the same time showy education: her mother's view, from the first, had been to fit her for the Court, at which she made her debut when only sixteen years old.

"She was the admiration of all, and deserved to be so, for she was beautiful as an angel. Just about this time, Baron Hermann von Preussach, who had served along with the young Siegfelds, arrived at the capital. A handsome man, a beautiful rider, and graceful dancer-he soon became an adorer of my young lady; who, on the other hand, was from the first attracted by his exquisite voice, a peculiarly fine tenor, and his taste for music. Music, indeed, soon formed the secret tie which united them. The baron, next successor to the entailed estates, was no bad match, particularly as the lady could not boast of much fortune. The marriage soon took place, and the baron quitted the military service, somewhat to the annoyance of his father-in-law, for a country life.

"The bride was not then seventeen, the baron about sixand-twenty. During the summer they lived at a residence on the Preussach estates, which his parents had vacated for their accommodation. She proposed to me to accompany them; she was accustomed to my society and counsel in the secrets of the toilet; and I accompanied her.

"The union in its commencement was a happy one. The old Baron Preussach and his wife were delighted with their daughter-in-law: the daughters, two old maids who had once been beauties, appeared to be so. Baron Ferdinand, the younger brother, was then at the university.

fort.

"The only misfortune was, that the young baroness, the spoiled child of the court and the capital-though she was pleased with a country life, viewing it on its poetical sidehad not the slightest turn for those domestic arrangements, or the least idea of the discomfort and misery which a want of economy is sure to bring in its train. Their income, properly managed, would have been amply sufficient for their com As it was, involved in an incessant round of visiting At first the old baand expensive pleasures, it soon failed. reness assisted them: she had a considerable private fortune of her own, and Hermann was her favorite child. This, as may be imagined, annoyed the others, particularly Baron Ferdinand, who looked better after money matters. He and his sisters had only their mother's fortune to look to when the estate opened to Hermann; and it was certainly annoying to see that fund diminished by the very person who was otherwise so favoured by fortune.

This was the first source of

no person of the name of Madame Seehausen had ever inhabited their house.

Thus closed the supplementary investigation; and in this shape the case returned to the Court of Appeal for its final direction.

The decision was not long delayed. It directed that criminal proceedings should be forthwith instituted against the accused; and that the trial should take place at the next assizes at Hainburg. An advocate was appointed to assist the prisoner in case of need. This, however, proved unnecessary. An old and experienced counsel, a friend of the Seigfeld family, and in considerable practice before the Court of Cassation, announced himself as authorized with her permission to act for the defence. He received access to the vast mass of documents which had now accumulated, and conferred with his client on the subject. It will appear, however, in the sequel, that she had not been more communicative to her counsel than to her accusers.

PART III....THE TRIAL.

press upon her some advice to which she was disinclined. She shook her head mournfully but decidedly.

"The advocate turned to the court-" My client declines to adduce any evidence. She will abide the result as it stands." The public prosecutor rose to address the jury. Instead of following him through his long, and in some respects impressive, commentary on the evidence, we shall state briefly the conclusions to which his speech was directed.

"He held it to be clear," he said, "that Baron Hermann Von Preussach had been assassinated, and by means of a sharp instrument, apparently a knife. That there had been others on the spot at the time who were the authors of the deed, seemed plain from all the evidence.

"The time of the assassination, though not fixed to an hour, was plainly brought within the compass of the 24th August, the day on the morning of which the deceased had been last seen alive. The place was evidently the ruin on the Raubstein, from whence the body had been conveyed to St. Anne's chapel below."

He proceeded to detail the combination of circumstances which had led to the suspicion, and the subsequent conviction that the accused was connected with the murder.

The office of President of the Assizes had been undertaken by one of the oldest Judges of the Court of Appeal, and that of public prosecutor was filled by one of the most distinguished members of the public ministry of the province, a man of established reputation, the Procurator-General Schomberg.

The opening of the sittings took place on the 1st of July 1813. At eight in the morning the galleries were opened to the public, and, in a quarter of an hour, they were filled to overflowing. Among the spectators were many ladies.

About nine the President directed the accused to be introduced. All eyes were directed toward the door by which she

was to enter.

Albertine appeared, conducted by her counsel, and took her seat in the place appointed for her.

Beautiful indeed she seemed, this accused, though the rose had vanished from her cheek, and had been replaced by a marble paleness; for still the noble expressive features, the look of high bearing and dignity, were there. Her dress was as simple as it was becoming: a black silk robe, a hat and veil of the same color, and her only ornament a slender gold chain which sustained her watch. The favorable impression which her appearance made upon the public could not be mistaken.

Near her sat the private complainer, Ferdinand Von Preussach, the subject also of great observation, though obviously of a less favorable kind. His well-formed features betrayed a painful restlessness, which, in the course of the proceedings, sometimes amounted almost to distortion. The witnesses in general sat silent, and with downcast eyes; many of the ladies dissolved in tears.

The President, a man of imposing exterior, addressed the accused. She rose and answered the usual questions as to name, rank, and residence, in a low tone, scarcely audible to the Court. The jury were then empannelled and sworn; the act of accusation, which was long and detailed, and which charged the accused with being an accomplice in the murder of her husband, was read; her counsel denied the charge, and the examination of the witnesses commenced.

We need not pursue these examinations in detail. Suffice it to say, that about forty witnesses were examined; and that, though some important points were elicited on cross-examination, their depositions before the court were, in substance, the same with those which they had given on their preliminary examination. The points on which they differed will be sufficiently indicated by the observations made by the counsel for the defence.

At the conclusion of the evidence, which had occupied the greater part of two days, and in the course of which several warm debates had taken place on contested questions of evidence, the President addressed the prisoner.

"Had she any evidence to adduce? If so, the necessary delay would be granted to her."

A short and earnest conversation took place in an under tone between the lady and her counsel. The latter seemed to

"That a woman had been concerned in the deed was proved by many circumstances, some of real, some of parole evidence. The stripes of a silk dress found round the body and among the bushes-the Danish leather glove-the evidence of the witnesses who had seen a lady ascending the path to the Raubstein on the forenoon of the 24th Augustthat of the bath-keeper and others who had seen her again at Schlingin, wounded, agitated, in company with a stranger who had used expressions, the import of which could not be mistaken as pointing to some recent tragedy-clearly connected a female with the assassination of the 24th August.

"But was it not equally certain that this female was the Baroness Von Preussach? The evidence proved unquestionably that after their separation, and unknown apparently to her parents, a secret correspondence continued between the spouses, he writing from K, and she from Blumenrode. It was proved by the letters themselves that a secret and decisive interview had been resolved on: that interview had taken place on the 24th August. The baroness had joined her husband in the house of Madame Veitel; her dress on that occasion corresponded, as far as could be seen, with that worn by the stranger at Schlingin. From Madame Veitel's the parties had continued their walk to the lonely and unfrequented thickets of the Raubstein, which had proved the scene of the lamentable catastrophe.

Every thing confirmed this view. The baroness returns to her party in Hilgenberg late in the evening, pale and agitated, with white gloves substituted for the pair of Danish gloves, of which one had been left behind in her flight. She feigns a story of the distresses of a Madame Seehausen, who never existed; conceals the wound in her hand by the constant use of gloves; shortens her stay at Blumenrode by nearly two months; writes anxiously, again and again, to know whether any thing is discovered as to the murder; is overpowered by the sight of the brother of her murdered husband, and by the intelligence that an innocent person had been arrested on suspicion of the crime of which she herself had been guilty: last of all, the watch and marriage-ring of her husband, which the witnesses from K― spoke to his wearing, are found in her possession.

66

Taking these circumstances together, are we not compelled to echo the exclamation which escaped from her motherUnhappy girl, you are no stranger to Hermann's death!'

"That another person was also concerned along with her; that that person was the woodman who had been seen in her company at Schlingin, was not improbable; but that did not the less leave the charge of a guilty participation in her husband's murder proved against her.

"But the motive, it might be asked, the motive for the crime? That motive he was not bound to explain; but he thought it might be naturally explained. He gave no weight to the insinuation that the deed had been the result of a deliberate plan, arising from the embarrassment caused by pecuniary extravagance: he admitted that the balance of the evidence in favor of character, appeared inconsistent with the notion of a murder perpetrated from interested motives, and concerted long before.

"But her passionate temper was as distinctly proved as the better parts of her character. The passions of her husband were as impetuous as her own. His object in the interview plainly was, to obtain in any way her consent to a reconciliation and renewal of their intercourse; by fair means, if possible; if these failed, probably by force. That he had threatened violent measures on some former occasion was evident; for her letter had alluded to warnings received from a third party, which, confident in her own strength of mind, she had despised. Might not the violence thus threat ened have been attempted to be carried into execution at this decisive interview of the 24th of August, when the stimulus of intoxication appeared to have been added to the natural violence of his character, and the excitement of passion? If on that occasion he attempted forcibly to remove her from the spot, was it improbable that she too, of passions as violent as his own, might be hurried into crime-might snatch the knife which lay beside, and plunge it into the heart of her husband? "And what answer does the accused make to all the charges against her? What proofs does she oppose to the ra? What witnesses does she call? What is her defence? Obstinate silence-a silence inexplicable upon the supposition of innocence, perfectly natural upon the supposition of guilt; particularly in one not so depraved as to resort to artifice and falsehood in order to shield her from the consequences of the crime into which she has been hurried."

The auditory had listened with deep anxiety to the long address of the public prosecutor. Opinions were much divided at its conclusion. The female part of the spectators inclined to the theory that the baroness was not guilty of the, murder of her husband, though not ignorant of the circumstances of the murder; the male part of the auditory were disposed, in the main, to concur in the conclusions of the public prosecutor. The conduct of the baroness in Hilgenberg-the mysterious visit to Madame Veitel's-the expressions which she appeared to have uttered-above all, her silence in answer to all accusations-spoke too decidedly against her to admit the supposition of innocence.

The advocate for the accused rose to address the court, amidst the deep silence of expectation and anxiety. We pass over the introduction of his pleading, and come at once to the subject-matter:

"It was strange," he said, "that the public prosecutor had assumed, without argument, the very basis of the whole accusation that the dead man of St. Anne's chapel was Hermann von Preussach, the husband of the accused.

"What, after all, was the proof of the corpus delicti, that Hermann was dead or assassinated by any hand whatever? To the civil court the proof of his death had appeared insufficient. They had refused their attestation to that effect when solicited by the private complainer. Would the criminal tribunal be satisfied with less evidence, in a matter of life and death, than the civil court required in a question of property? "True, a man had been found dead in the neighborhood of the chapel. Circumstances seemed to prove that this person was a Herr von Breisach, once resident in K—, and who had slept at the forest inn on the night before the 24th of August. But what proof existed that this man, described as a low adventurer, shunning society, and leading an obscure and discreditable life, was the gay, handsome, and noble Baron Hermann von Preussach? No one who had seen the body before interment knew the baron, or could speak to his identity with Breisach. The landlord, no doubt, recognised in the dead man his guest of the night before; but of who the guest was he knew nothing. To what, then, did the evidence connecting the dead adventurer with the baron come? Simply to this:-The dead man wore a seal-ring bearing the arms of Preussach, and said to have belonged to Hermann.

"Was it Hermann's? Even this was not proved; for the only evidence on the subject was the suspicious testimony of Ferdinand von Preussach, the interested party, who would succeed to the estates by the proof of Hermann's death, and whose zeal in the present case had already drawn down upon him the well-deserved rebuke of the authorities.

"But grant that the ring was Hermann's, did it follow that Hermann was the wearer? In how many ways might another person become the possessor of a ring which had belonged to him? It might have been dropped, it might have been sold, gifted, stolen, and found on the finger of the finder, the purchaser, the friend, or the thief; any one of these cases would equally account for what had happened.

"How many instances had occurred in the annals of courts of justice of persons who had long disappeared, who had been

1

The prosecutor, in order to connect the accused with this letter, assumes the theory of a secret correspondence carried on between the spouses after their separation; and then he adduces the letter itself as proof of that correspondence. There is no evidence that that letter was written by the accused. The real evidence it affords is the other way.

"But the scrap found in the music-book at Blumenrode. That I admit to be in the handwriting of the accused; but it would be difficult to discover any resemblance between that fragment and the handwriting of the French letter. The one is written in German characters, the other in French. There can be no argument from one to another. They do not ap pear in fact to resemble each other.

"But the meaning put upon this scrap by the public prosecutor is a forced one. He says the words 'A. knows me,' re fer to Hermann. He arrives at this conclusion by translating the name Hermann into French, Armand. But why a French name in the midst of a German letter? Then to whom is the letter addressed? To some third party who had given a warning to the writer. Who was this? On the theory of the public prosecutor, he should have explained who was thus the confidant of the secret correspondence; for might not that third party, thus cognizant of the secret relations that existed between the husband and wife, be, on his own theory, the real author of the crime, if crime were committed?

"For his own part, he did not think the fragment was a real letter at all. He believed it to be part of an imaginary epistle, probably a portion of a novel which she might have copied.

"But then there was a chain of circumstances relied on to connect the Baroness Von Preussach with the commission of the crime. A woman had been seen on the 24th of August, on the path to the Raubstein; in Schlingin on the after part of the same day, wounded in the hand, agitated, trembling, accompanied by a woodman: her dress, it was said, corresponded with Madame Von Preussach's, who had been mys teriously absent from her party in Hilgenberg during the whole day; had had an interview in the forenoon with a gentleman at the house of Madame Veitel, and had afterward been seen accompanying him in the direction of the Raubstein. This person, then, it was assumed, was the baroness, and the baroness had been present at the scene of the murder.

"That a woman might have been seen on the mountain path that day, and that the scene described by the bath-keeper's wife as to the binding of the wound might have taken place, he did not question. But though the woman had at first pretended to identify the lady with Madame Von Preussach, she had plainly owned, in her evidence on the trial, that she could not. Her house was dark; the scene, according to her own account, was over in a few minutes; scarce a word was spoken: how, then, at the distance of a twelvemonth, could she pretend to recognize the person whose wound had been bound up? Her husband, who had bound up the wound, was dead; from him her testimony could receive no corroboration.

"Was the dress of the Baroness Von Preussach proved to correspond with that of the person who had been wounded? Assuredly not. The bathkeeper's wife was the only witness

who had any distinct recollection as to the one, and she thought the gown was of green silk. The Countess Von Koss and her daughters, who spoke to the dress worn by the baroness in Hilgenberg, were clear that it was not of green silk, though the private complainer had done all in his power to assist their memory. Both, to be sure, seemed to have worn a bonnet and parasol-of a light color: the wonder would have been if in summer it had been otherwise.

"But a stripe of silk is found wrapped round the body, and another fragment is found sticking upon a bush. It is assumed that these belonged to and had been worn by the female who was wounded. I am willing to take it so; it is a proof that that person was not the baroness. One of the leading witnesses for the prosecution (the rector's wife) states that these formed part of a shawl so coarse and vulgar, both in color and texture, that no cook would have worn it. Does that suit with the idea of the Baroness Von Preussach, who lavishes fortunes on dress, patronises Madame Tieffe, and never sleeps but with gloves on?

"And this brings me to the glove. A right hand glove is found near the Raubstein; it bears the stamp of Madame Tieffe. A left hand glove, bearing the same stamp, is found in the possession of the clergyman's daughter, which she appears to have received from the waiting-woman of the baronThese must be a pair; therefore the baroness was upon the mountain: the baroness dropped the right hand glove, which bears the spots of blood.

ess.

"But why must the gloves be a pair? Because they resemble each other in size, in material, in workmanship?Why, how many thousand pairs, exactly of the same kind, must be annually put into circulation from such an establishment as Madame Tieffe's-the same pattern, the same materials, according to the reigning fashion! Who can pretend, out of a hundred pairs, to say this right hand glove belongs to that left hand one? What, then, is the result? Simply this at the utmost: that some customer of Madame Tieffe dropped one of her gloves in the Raubstein, and that the accused is a customer of Madame Tieffe.

"But when was this glove dropped? Why on the 24th of August? Why not long before? Why not after? Before the glove was found, a crowd had collected about the Raubstein, including many females: they were busily exploring in all directions: how easily might any one of them have dropped the glove in question?

"What importance can be attached to the story told by the countess and her daughters, that the baroness went out with Danish gloves in the morning, and returned in the evening with white? If, as she says, she paid a visit to a friend, and her feelings were agitated-particularly as she only left her toward dusk-was it very unlikely that she might make an involuntary exchange of gloves, and then only discover her mistake when she was too far off to return and correct the error ?

"But according to the hypothesis of the public prosecutor, she returned wounded: those white gloves concealed a wound in the hand. Who ever saw this wound, which, if as described by the bathkeeper's wife, must have been of some size? I doubt whether by any process a hand so bandaged could be forced into a glove, even of large size. But the family of Langsitz saw nothing of the kind. They laugh at the supposition. The family of Baron Kettler, to whose house she returned the next day, never heard of it. The house-surgeon never was applied to to dress it; he speaks, indeed, of an attack of nervousness and low spirits, but of no wound in the hand. If she wore her glove when he felt her pulse, he states also that this was her constant practice.

"Such a wound as is described must have left a trace. But on this point the evidence is in favor of the accused. One surgeon, indeed, speaks doubtfully of some invisible, and, as he admits, almost impalpable line running across the hand which, with all deference, appears simply to have been a natThe other two candidly admit that they see no traces of any wound whatever.

ural one.

"So far, every thing is against the supposition on which the whole case of the prosecutor rests-that the wounded person and the Baroness Von Preussach are the same.

"But, farther, the charge against the baroness involves the supposition that the murder took place during the forenoon of the 24th of August. On that day only she was in Hilgenberg. On the 25th she returned to Blumenrode.

the medical man, derived from the appearances of incipient corruption. The body was found early on the 26th of August; 'a considerable time,' he thinks, must have elapsed before such an effect would have been produced by the influence of the sun and air: the deceased had been seen alive in the morning of the 24th; therefore he thinks the assassination must have taken place early in the course of that day. "A considerable time!' How indefinite! how unsatisfactory! As if the symptoms of putrefaction might not depend upon a thousand circumstances which baffle all conjecture as to time! A shower of rain, an hour or two of hotter sunshine, the dampness or dryness of the atmosphere, the previous habit of body of the deceased, might either accelerate or retard the approaches of decay. How can any one, who never Once saw the deceased before, pretend to say that if the death took place on the 25th, all these symptoms which were actually found would not equally have developed themselves?

"Nay, the probability is, that it was at least in the course of the night following the 24th that the murder was committed. Had the body, according to the notion of the public prosecutor, been placed in the chapel in the forenoon of the 24th, it is next to impossible that it should not in the course of that day have been observed. That Saturday was the birthday of the Princess-a day when the road to the chapel must have been frequented by the villagers in the neighborhood. The probability is that the deed had not then been committed; for the public prosecutor himself assumes, that the murder and the conveyance of the body to the chapel took place at the same time. But if the deed only took place on the night of the 24th, the whole fabric of presumptions, so ingeniously built on the mysterious absence of the baroness from Hilgenberg on that day, falls to the ground.

"And, after all, what was there in her conduct during that day to lead to the presumption of guilt! The view of the prosecutor, it must be recollected, is, that she came to Hilgenberg on that day, in consequence of previous concert, to keep the appointment alluded to in the letter of the 21st July, and the fragment found in the music-book.

"But do the circumstances suit with that supposition? It was mere accident that the family of Baron Kettler did not accompany her to Hilgenberg on that day; in which case, how was she to have extricated herself from their company By a pretended invitation from a friend who never existed? They who were her intimate friends, who knew with whom she had associated, could not have been deceived by such a fable. The idea of a concerted scheme of this kind is farther contradicted by her conduct. She receives a letter from Madame Seehausen-reads it-puts it into the hands of the countess-is prevailed on by her to accept the invitation. Is there any evidence that she did not visit Madame Seehausen ? It is said no such person was ever known to reside in Hilgen berg. That may be; it is not said that she resided in Hil genberg. She was a foreigner; she may have been passing through the watering place where her friend was; she may have stopped but for a single day at Madame Veitel's.

"I do not dispute that, on the day in question, my client did visit the house of Madame Veitel. I say she went there to visit the friend who had requested her presence. The public prosecutor says she went there to meet her husband, with whom she afterwards walked through the garden, and in the direction of the mountains. The servant who carried the message speaks, indeed, of a young man whom she saw in Madame Veitel's; and this, it seems, according to the prosecutor's theory, was Hermann. She does not say she saw the parties meet; for Madame Veitel met and dismissed her at the door.

"But it is plain, from her description of the gentleman she saw, that it was not Hermann. The dead man was found dressed in long loose nankeen pantaloons above his boots; this was the dress also in which he was last seen by the landlord early on the morning of the 24th. The young man in Madame Veitel's house wore tight buckskin pantaloons, with boots drawn over them.' How is this reconcilable? If Hermann was murdered in the course of the forenoon of the 24th, when did he change his dress so as to appear differently attired in Hilgenberg? When and where did he again change his dress between leaving Madame Veitel's and his murder? The idea that this person was Hermann, a position essential to the theory of the public prosecutor, is totally untenable.

"That any lady and gentleman had been seen leaving Madame Veitel's in the direction of the mountains, rested on no evidence. The maid had not seen them; she spoke only of some report to that effect which she thought came from her