The Cecil Whig., 1853-05-14
For The Cecil Wig.
COURT HOUSE POINT;
HIS Mystery Of the Past.
HIS NEy&scl
BY A BOHEMIAN.
(COatiaued.)
CHAPTER v.
CHAPTER V.
go take away that wreath of flowers,
Nor bind it on my brow;
For what was bright in former hours,

NOR blna II on my DfOW;
For what wa: bright in former hours,
Is dark and cheeress now"
The Labadie tract, as intimated be-
fore, was Of considerable extent, bound
ed on the south by Bohemia river and
embracing several thousand acres.
About midway of this tract, near the
liver, stood their Great House, and at
some short distance back, on the mar
gin of "A small stream, was the establish
ment which they denolninated the Great
House Mill. TO this place Mr.. Old,
field and his party proceeded. On ar
rivIng they found " eISh very busilv
engaged in making some repairs to the
building, which the miller had employ
ed him to do while waiting for his grist.
Mr.. Odieid at once informed him that
he had a warrant Tor his arrest, and
asked him If he knew what it was for;
on expressing his entire ignorance he
was informed Of the MURDER and reques-
ted to accompany them immediately,
to which he readily assented.
There had been considerable uneasi-
ness manifested by some of the party as
to the road they should take to the
Point, and they suggested to Mr.. Old
field the proprietv Of taking the most
direct route, which would have been by
the, then called, Reedy Island road.
Mr.. o. was aware that this suggestion
arose more from desire to avoid seeing
an interview between the daughter and
fatner, under the affecting circumstan-
ces, than anything else, and he had
part y consented to the plan, but when
he saw Welsh he became so preposscscd
in his favor from the manner in which
he conducted himself, that he determin-
rd to indulge him as far as he could
consistently with his safety; and with
this view took the Labadie Dad which
ran from the mill down the middle of
the possessions, crossing Long Creek a
short distance above Welsh's house and
connecting with the Ferry and other
roads The whole party wore a sad
and gloomy appearance as they wended
their way along the road, but when
they came to Long Creek they were
much surprised that Welsh made no
mention Of home and feeling greatly re-
leved from this fact they FASTENED to
the place of their 4 stination.
Having taken this round about route
it was late in tn afternoon when they
arrived at the Tavern where the inquest
was holden. The jury and spectators
4 had had some time to reflect over the
facts presented to them, and settled
convlcion had taken hold of their
minds to the exclusion of the former
mysteries which had so much excited
them, that John WeISh however inno-
cent he might hitherto have been, was
now a guilty man. And they were
much startled when they saw " elsh IN
his usual frank ana manly manner, walk
into their midst; all eyes were upon him
and he exhibited no signs of either fear
or embarrassment. Under these cir.
cunstances, the Lord Proprietor seemed
to be at loss; at length, rising to his
feet, he said "John Welsh this is sad
affair; can you relieve US of the painful
anxiety we feel on your account! will
you give us a full statement of your do.
ings on last evening Z" Welsh replied
that he had been engaged to repair a
stable on the place, and had worked on
it until about two hours by sun, when
being in want of timber he went to the
woods cut and hewed lt,-that it had
kept him later than he Usually worked
and it was dark when he returned from
the woods-that after eating his supper
it came TO his mind that his daughter
was nearly out of flour and other nee.
essa ries, and that as late as it was, ht
proceeded home for the purpose of sup
plying her; this was all that occurred, ht
said as far as he knew.
The Lord Proprietor with much emo
ton then said John Welsh do you no
own a hatchet the face and poll of whlcI
are hroken!"
eyes sir" was his promptreply.
"Ihen how comes It, that that hat ch
ct should lnti:ct the very wounds which
have caused the death of the person
whose body now lies before you!-hov
came your over coat saturated with
blood !-how came the watch and 9TH
er valuables of the deceased in your coat
pocket l-aud how came these bloody
evidences OF guilt in a private apartment
of your house -
At the conclusion Of this sentence, a
long and agonising scream burst upon
their ears; and the daughter of Welsh
swooned away and fell heavily against
the wainscotin. Of the room.
1t appears that when the party lett
the house OF Welsh, Otar the Indian,
who was present, although unacquainted
with the matter, thought their proceed
'ings unusual and made up his .aiAd to