The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1844-08-02
VOL. V.--NO. Z.

that the pond might be drained dry. and
by this process the body must inevitably
come 10 light. This plan. after some
further search, lin which the pole men
toned by the child was found, stained
with blood and with some remnants of
apparel attached to it.) was adopted by
the authorities, and sluce was dug TO
let the water off down the hill side. The
operation occupied some time, and when
at length vent was opened, the impetus
Gus rush of the water swept away nearly
the whole bank of the pond upon the hill
side, letting OF the food at one bound,
followed by mass of pitch black mud,
dead frogs, fresh water turtles, cat fish,
paddocks, cells, water snakes, and all the
strange tenants of the pond. Still the
body did not appear, and after thorough
examination Of the black bottom Of the
pond, vague suspicious Of some other
kind of roguery began to be entertained
by the crowd The child was again ex-
amined, the pond was again scraped, the
interval over which the dark sediment
and filth of the pond now lay foot deep;
was carefully inspected in all directions,
and still the dreadful mystery was unex-
planned.
The evidence of the child, the finding
of the knife, the pole, the money, the
woman's strong appearance of guilt, all
prnvpI tl,ot ban,tlacc md hNrriI hpp N
bulchery had been perpetrated. and the
(ruitless search after the body seemed but
to add new terror to the excitement.
Who was the unfortunate stranger! evil
IDENTIFY some traveller from distance, for
nobody in the neighborhood was missed.
Why could the body not be found Ten
thousand conjectures flew around, each
of which only added to the perplexing
mystery. A strange uncertainty forced
itself upon the minds of the people. By
all appearances it seemed certain that the
murdered man had never been thrown
into the pond at all, yet that the bloody
deed had been perpetra,ed was, from the
evidence, conclusively established.
Thus the affair continued enveloped in
darkness, and all hope was abandoned of
discovering the body. The woman could
not be convicted upon the evidence of the
child, and that evidence itself could not
be subs,anla,ed without the finding Of
the body. So, while every person was
satisfied of her guilt, it was clear nothing
but her own confession would ever bring
the murderess within the power of the
law. She, with unninching obstinacy,
continued 10 deny all knowledge of the
murder, aud at length she was actually
released from confinement, no possibility
appearing of ever being able to secure her
| conviction.
A few months passed on, and the 'in.
ierval' upon which the pond had been
empGed, and which before had been al
most worthless, now grew 10 be rich
and ilourishing piece of land, and people
would remark that the draining OF the big
pond had at last proved good thing for
the Yankee tavern keeper who owned the
ground below.
Now for the development Of this mys-
terious tragedy. A quarrel occurred be-
tween the heroine of the story and the
! inkeeper of the interval In her exas-
peration she came forward and threw a
blaze Of light upon this blood-chllling
mystery, which at once opened all eyes
wide with establishment. A scheme was
laid open, the intricate and cunninglv de-
vised wheels of which could never have
been set in motion but by genuine bred
and born and thoroughly educated son OF
Yankee land The tavern Keeper wan
ted his land improved; he wanted the
pond turned on to it, and soon hit upon a
plan to have the job done free of expense.
He laid awake three nights, matured his
plan, contracted with the poor woman for
fifty dollars to put it in operation, and
she, with the assistance of a consummaie-
" artrul child, carried it out. She killed
pig, smeared knife and pole, taught
her child the story to tell, and acted out
the game in a manner worthy of the best
living representative of Lady Macbeth.
The tavern keeper had furnished the thir-
ty dollars of the murdered mans money,
but when his object was gained, he reiu-
sed to pay the promised fifty, not caring
pin whether the woman would expose
his trick or not, This led to the grand
development, and thus our thrilling mar
raive Of a New Hampshire Mystery
gentle reader, turns out to be neither more
nor less than superexcellcnt and sur
passinglv executed Yankee trick
Jonathan OMtlone.-A writer in Fra
ser states that there is village in Bohe-
min iLn nnnn Of uhich 10 onl.. a,rnnann.