The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-11-01

' out am not so DAD as l seem.
1T was on a New Year eve, near twent
years ago, and very late at night, close upo
twelve, when / bad put up my last shutter
and was going to lock the door OF my shoJ
that stranger called He had come fror
the Swaffham end of the road, and ha
never seen him before in my life; he coul
hardly speak At all, he was so awful drum;
-. ii t'ie face, thick in speech, ard tren.
bling all over Ike thief he sid he mus
have more rum | told him that we onl
had some ginger-beer and such like drinks
and besides, that it was too late at that TIM
OF night to sell people anything. lie swor'
| horrible at this said that / and my VIII
r(who was still behind the counter in .la
shop We're both liars; that we had so.s
rum often enough to other folks he knew
very well. He managed to stacger up tilt
| two stone steps and push at tie door lie
Should get into the back parlor, and sleep
/ there al night, he said. | took him by the
/ collar, intending to set him outside the door,
but he was tall and stout-made man, and
! could not-he struggled with me in a duh,
heavy manner had hard matter to thrust
him from the parlOr. ] did so and pushed
him violently, and he fell on the floor full
length, like log. lie never groaned after
he hat, touched the Ioor, but lay Silent and
motionless.
My wife cried, What have you done,
George: You sc killed the man.
Nonsense l said but :=hcn we tried to
raise hlm, and saw the CLASSY look Of bis
eyes, knew it was true. 4 number Of
horrible thoughts would have crowded into
my mind at once, but that, swi:ter than
they, devices for getting the corpse away
and removing suspicion faou. ourselves, had
already flied It. The simple, honest plan
OF telling the truth and calling in the police
at once, ncTer 80 ;auch As suggested Itself
hat ii nc'-lJ0r should step in. as tais
poor murdered man had done. and find him
lying there. If one Of the children e-en
should be awakened by the noise and come
down into tie shop. Il the watcLman
him ef, seeing our door vet open at THAI
time ci night, should call There was not
moment TO lose ! took the dead man by
the head and my wife, all in a tremble
managed to raise Ais legs, and shutting the
door carefully G,..T U5, sc bore cur Crcad-
lgi burden about fifty yards along the Swaf-
ham Road. We tried TO set Il against the
railing which ran along both sides Of what
Is now Mccartney street, but thc inauiiaate
thing slipped down again each time in a
mere heap. 1t is surprising how anxious we
were 10 prop it up, and although every in
slant was precious to us. we spent five mi
nnteS IN dofng so; it seemed inhunan.
however To leave il on the payeInent. In
SOFT Of desperate terror at last. | twiucd the
arms about the bars, and we He'd bac; ia S.
lsncy. Notuiu. was Stirring. We heard
the tread # t.c watchu.sn outside our door.
and h's ''P~>i tw,iyc O'Clock - die away in
the distance but we had pat out the lishts.
and feit Certain lie had observed nothing
uauSgal-Uo'iir- OF oars-oh horror -
dropped in tie road, while We had gone
aOoat our terr.b.e ta~S. One Of the child
reH, Clara, began 70 cry sut Where haze
you been ;aolAer : Size besgd ns- tAeSs.,
II 6-,y he'pel yoar father put up tho
shutters, cb;.l," Sac answered, and the
child was guieted by the ready lie.
We went TO bed Immediately. bu: not to
sleep; our cars were on the stretch for the
moment when the cry should arse, and wc
should know tnc body wss found. oae
o'clock, two, iaT-C, four; the time crcrt o.
with painful. rEalss aud the hours and
q44.t,gS sCoIaya to Ero'8u. their iron r8irc
horribly. And DOW dawn was jr,a-i7g.
aad tE-Tc WIS -.i enough for a chanc. ira
vc.er - see the corpse. We saw !. al r-.-ht
long. Is W. w,re 20 sec ii Tor years, and as
! sc Y no"-. Five. *, it IVES time i5r US
to ct az and open the shop. lest suspicion
should arise that way, and wc CD so.-
There was = turn in the Swaii ham Road be-
yond our house, and II was farther than
that; and yet dared not look il iAa. Cirec-
ton as Gnd!d the shutters.
"NV atch, watch Help, help" Then .
they have found him at last, and the streets
filed with 4 hurrvin- crowd and I run F.
with them, among the first. But my wife,
she is faint with t:rror, and dares not
more, telling the children, who have heard (
the cries, tina; ii IS nothing.
1t leans against tie railing wtere set
ii but its right hand-yes, by Heaven, j; /
points to me, Nobody saw my face, they, J.
were ali 50 horror-s;ruck with tAe dreadful /
thing, or should have been carried off to /
orison at once, without any further proof I
know. As tnoy avrs about % axe it down,
Doctor Scott gour predecessor at the Cn!or,
sr) who as in the crowd, cricki ''Stop
and called attention 10 the position of the
arms. Il do not think-bear witness all Of
any fit or strong convuision
could have thus twisted them"
And bore witness loudly with the rest. |
was, as you have said, sir, upon the jury.
thought it best, safest to be, despite the
thing had to deal with. When all the eYi-
ience, which was chiefly medical, had been
given, was in the minority for ''wilfui
murder against some person or persons IN
known," against the rest, who were FOR
death BY apop.cxy;" and we starved the
others out Oh, sir, the shifts and lies
had to invent, the terrors that racked me by
night and by day-and all begotten by my
cunning, dishonest ways, would have been
punishment for murderer indeed. About
this great reward here, OF two hundred
pounds, there was ceaseless talk :; and the
widest surmises as TO how it would be Cb-
tanned amongst oar neighbors. They came
into our little back parlor, just as usual, and
wounded us with every word. Snow, marx
my words" said one, 'the fellow viii be
discovered in the end and hanged" and
SAY, ay, murder will out, sooner or later
said the rest. Sooner or later!" Good
Heaven, how those words haunted us !, for-
nov indeed We had played a part which, il
discovered would have proved us at once
guilty. My wife took t. her bed and fairly
sickencd from sheer anxiety. She had ie-
YER, and was delrious for weeks; and he
yer dared leave her, or let another watch by
her bedside, for fear of what she might rave
upon. When the end came at last, my poor
wife wanted to sec the clergyman would
not send for MIR. Roland here myself; be Z
was a magistrate. You're not masis-
trate?' demanded poor Charlton, suddenly,
with the damps of terror mingled with those
uf death upon his forehead. | quicted him
as well as | was able, and gged him to set
his mind at ease as to any earthly tribunal.
After little time. and without noticing the
warning contained in my last words, he
continued.
Among the folks in our paror, one man
in particular, a'tailor, by name Deckham.
seemed never Weary of talking of Spigot's
murder. He was .miserably poor, ill-ta-
vored person, who had drilled himself into
our company by means Of sharp tongue.
On6s night told him fatty enough did not