Excerpt from Sarah Walters'' true 1915 biography of her ordeals with her husband and her exciting adventures working on a Mississippi steamboat.
I wanted to call my husband to have him testify to the truth. I thought he would do so, but he would not be called; my lawyer had taken a dislike to him, which was returned in good measure by the doctor. The judge, however, after hearing the testimony, expressed a desire to see the cause of all the trouble. The crier called my husband’s name, but he was seen hurrying away.
That brazen harlot had tried hard to make me out a liar. She was reprimanded by the judge for her contemptible attitude; the drink was telling strong on her. The jury saw certain things too. After being out a few minutes, a not guilty verdict was returned in my favor on her counter charge against me, and she was ordered to pay the costs.
I never thought that woman, who had made such a show of having more money than brains, would be embarrassed by a court, but such was the case. I do not know how they arrived at the verdict, but I do know from the lies she told that she would have won if it were not the sweet faces of my little children.
My attorney told me to go home, leave the children there, and return for my witness fees, which I sorely needed. I had neither coal nor food in the house, and the rent was coming due again. We were renting from Black & Gloniger. They were very exacting, demanding rent in advance, especially with a widow woman like my mother.
And then that woman attacked me again! I was returning through the big door of the courtroom at about two o’clock in the afternoon when I encountered my husband coming out with his face as white as snow. He seemed like another man. He stopped, as if he would speak, then he hurried out of sight. My knees knocked together but I never turned back. I was going into the sheriff’s office to collect my fees and go right home when I encountered that woman, whom I thought had settled up and gone on her way. She was terribly intoxicated, having gone out with the deputy sheriff for dinner and got the both of them drunk. My husband’s errand was to help her stow the deputy behind a desk to sleep upon their return from their debauch. She was prancing up and down the corridor outside the door when she saw me coming in. I did not see her, so I was unprepared for her second assault on me...
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