, 1840-09-19
A NEW HAMPSHIRE MYSTERY.

Inc reMarkaple history we are ABOUT tC
relate occurred within our own recollection
and near a certain locality in New Hamp.
shire, the exciting event will be recognized
and remembered. About two miles from a
small town in the State we nave mentioned
the road crossed a hill of considerable emf.
hence, behind which a valley Of a mile broad,
called by the people an /" interval" lay ex.
tended. This piece of land from over-tiL
lage was worn out, and belonged to a man
who kept a tavern on the road side. Near
the top of the hill, on the side nearest the
valley, was a deep pond-a strange place, it
is true, for such a thing to exist, but the ma
ture Of the ground made a permanent lodge.
ment of water in the hollow of the hill per
fectly natural. Near this pond there stood a
little rude tenement, in which lived a woman
unknown in the neighborhood, and looked up-
on with great distrust and suspicion. She
had a little girl with her, a child of five years
old, whom she called her daughter, and who
was her only companion in the hut in which
she lived.
A farmer who resided upon the outskirts
of the town, upon opening his door one NOR
ming, discovered this poor little girl, barefoot
ed and ragged crouched beneath the cave of
VIZ h0dcSs oiku oCCilliuSiy sCiy tuuCH teTTIUcQs
When he questioned her, she said she had
come to tell him something dreadful, but she
feared her mother would kill her for doing so.
80, good sir" she said, 81 think it is right
that l should tell you, for it is something We.
~ bad, but my mother will kill me if you tell
her."
The farmer quoted the child's fears, and
then learned from her the horrid relation that
her mother had last night murdered and rob-
bed a traveller who had stopped at her house.
1t had stormed desperately during the night,
and a strange man, she said, had come to the
little lonely hut looking for shelter. He had
gone to sleep, stretched upon the floor before
the fire, and, hearing agroan in the night, she
woke up and saw her mother killing the stran-
ger with a knife. She lay still. in great ter.
TOR, and saw her wretched mother take mo-
ney from the mans pockets and hide il, then
drag the body into a narrow space behind the
chimney and cover it with the brush wood
used for fuel, after which the miserable muir.
deress crept into bed by the child's side.-I
Ihe poor girl could not sleep, and at the first
peep OF morning she saw her mother rise
again, drag the body from behind the chin.
ney to the pond at the back of the house.
tie stones to it, and with a long pole force #
into the thick mud at the bottom.-
Terrified. pale, and almost speeches. with
fear, the little girl fled from her miserable
mothers habitation, and ran a mile and a half
the farmers house to relate these horrid
or course the alarm was instantly given,
and a terrific excitement flew through the
town and among the neighbors for miles
around. An early hour in the morning found
and a large crowd of persons as
sembled at the woman's dwelling. The un.
happy wretch instantly turned pale and ex.
,ibited every sign Of guilt; first refusing the
officers admission, then forcing herself be.
'ween them and the space behind the chin.
iey, as if eager to retard investigation, but
till vociferously asserting her innocence.-.
In officer got behind the chimney and picked
p a large knife, which, together with the