“One night he was returning from a patient when robbers fell upon him in the forest, but when they recognized him, they took off their hats respectfully and offered him something to eat.  When he answered that he was not hungry, they gave him a warm wrap and accompanied him as far as the town, happy that fate had given them the chance in some small way to show their gratitude to the benevolent man.  Well, to be sure, my grandmother told me that even the horses and the cows and the dogs knew him and expressed their joy when they met him.

“And this man who seemed by his sanctity to have guarded himself from every evil, to whom even brigands and frenzied men wished nothing but good, was one fine morning found murdered.  Covered with blood, with his skull broken, he was lying in a ravine, and his pale face wore an expression of amazement.  Yes, not horror but amazement was the emotion that had been fixed upon his face when he saw the murderer before him.  You can imagine the grief that overwhelmed the inhabitants of the town and the surrounding districts.  All were in despair, unable to believe their eyes, wondering who could have killed the man.  The judges who conducted the inquiry and examined the doctor’s body said:  ’Here we have all the signs of a murder, but as there is not a man in the world capable of murdering our doctor, obviously it was not a case of murder, and the combination of evidence is due to simple chance.  We must suppose that in the darkness he fell into the ravine of himself and was mortally injured.’

“The whole town agreed with this opinion.  The doctor was buried, and nothing more was said about a violent death.  The existence of a man who could have the baseness and wickedness to kill the doctor seemed incredible.  There is a limit even to wickedness, isn’t there?

“All at once, would you believe it, chance led them to discovering the murderer.  A vagrant who had been many times convicted, notorious for his vicious life, was seen selling for drink a snuff-box and watch that had belonged to the doctor.  When he was questioned he was confused, and answered with an obvious lie.  A search was made, and in his bed was found a shirt with stains of blood on the sleeves, and a doctor’s lancet set in gold.  What more evidence was wanted?  They put the criminal in prison.  The inhabitants were indignant, and at the same time said: 

“’It’s incredible!  It can’t be so!  Take care that a mistake is not made; it does happen, you know, that evidence tells a false tale.’

“At his trial the murderer obstinately denied his guilt.  Everything was against him, and to be convinced of his guilt was as easy as to believe that this earth is black; but the judges seem to have gone mad:  they weighed every proof ten times, looked distrustfully at the witnesses, flushed crimson and sipped water....  The trial began early in the morning and was only finished in the evening.

“‘Accused!’ the chief judge said, addressing the murderer, ’the court has found you guilty of murdering Dr. So-and-so, and has sentenced you to....’