Litchfield enquirer., 1856-08-07

guilt. But to the narrative the point where we
 left it, the robbery at Trenton, After the remain der of the money had been safely concealed about i the person of Mrs. w. the alarm was given
 and the extent of the robbery was shown by the rent and rfed portmanteau, the house was searched, individuals apprehended upon suspic. ion, rewards were offered, ard every measure which the fertile mind of Mrs. W. could invent, to give plausibility to :he statement, was car. ried into effect. As we~may suppose, all was
 intellectual for the recovery of the money The missing funds were missing still After the re- turn of Mr. and Mrs. W. to Watertown, in great apparent dejection, at the loss of such an amount of money their plain unvarnshed tale, '' agreeing perfectly wien told by either, their we'll affected sorrow and above all the character previously sustained hy Mir. w. for honesty and integrity, left to the minds of most no room for doubts of the truth of their statement The bondsmen of Mr. W. though ruined in property, deemed it policy to affect to believe the whole at least, till some discovery might be made to justify suspicion. About this time an invalid officer of the army at Sacketts IIarborsnot be- ing able to perform his duty, came to Watertown for medical aid, and took lodgings in the fami- ly of Mir. w. In few days after his arrival he died. His remains were inferred in decent manner, and as the place of his nativity was not known, and no friend was there to honor his memory with tear he was soon forgotten. The exceedingly swollen and unnatural state of his body excited remark but it was attributed to diseuse. A few days after this dccease, Mrs. w. went to alnerchant in an adjacent village, and requested him to receive as loan SG0O.- Sie sad it was present to her children, from |. friend, and she dd not wish Mr. w. to know anything of the matter This circumstance is mentioned here ill consequence of the indirect bearing it has on the sequel of our tale. But to return. Judge K. was a near ncghbor of Mr. w. aud very familiar nian in his habits !; he often visited his house at the most uncXpect- ed hours ; and though he discovered nothing there that would have excited the suspicon of u less preceptvc mind, he saw many things that forced upon him the convict .on that the lost mon ey must be in their possession. Though both would converse with perfect ease on the subject of their misfortune, and lament with apparent sincerity their loss, still q guilty conscience would bctray itself, ill some way not percept!blc to the multitude Convicted as he was he de4 tcrmncd to attempt to gain further knowledge of the matter. Accordingly he left his cham Der, unknown to his wife (who by reason of i'll health occupit Il another bed in the same room, and for fourteen nights in succession, lay upon the piazza of Mir. W's house. directly under the window of their sleeping apartment
 He could perceive them talking in d low tone at all tines of the night, but so ild,stinctly that he could make out nothing of any conse- que.cc. However, by some means or other, he came to the conclusion that they were about to leave the country aud he immediately deter mined upon desperate ,ilort to ascertain the cor
 rectncs, 0: his suspicious Accordingly he im- parted to Mr. F. his associate bondsmen, a full account of all he had been witness to, and his strong belief that they had, or kncw something of the money. They immediately concerted a plan to test tine truth of their suspicious as prccauSionary measurc, a physician of emi- ncnce was consulted, us to how long d person might be ke,t under water and be rcsuscita ted
 As 1t might bc that they were about to remove, no delay in executing the scheme was consider cd safe. Tue same morning, therefore, Judge K. sent to Mr. W. wishing him to come to lis house sometime in the day, and make q !iual settlement. About eleven o'clock Mir. W. ar rived at the house of the Judge, and under pre- tence ot talking the matter ever free from in- tcrruption, he proposed a walk They, in com pany with Mir. F. lett the house, and proceeded across the lots toward piece of woods. Thty walked on till they were nearly half Il mile from any house and had come to tue side Of a muddy brook entirely hidden from view by surrounding hills and woods. Wholly unS,.sric-
 ous of what awaited him, what must have been Mir. W's as,onislmeut when Judge k. stepped before him, and with countenance aud in Il tone of voice not to be misunderstood, told him the intent for which they had brought him there, and charged him with the cmbezzlemcnt of $53 900 of public money, their reasons for thinking so, and telling him if he did not dis close where it was they would drown him on tue spot. Cnawed by these threats, the hardened man, with an ill affected look ot innocence tx- claimed know nothing of the mattcr.''-
 No sooner was this said, than with a prompt. ness characteristic of the man, Judge K. throw ing ofr his coat, seized Mr. w. and plunged him into the water. Mir. F. held watch and counted the seconds, that they might not drown the man. After as much time had elapsed as could with safety to the unhappy man, he was raised from the water. 1t was sometime before he could speak--but when he did, it was only 1 to protest his innocence but in manner and
 tone ct voice, that bore witness to the certain ty' of his guilt. All efforts to make him con- fess proving vain, he was again plunged by the powerful arm of Jndgc k in the water. This time 1t did not fare as well with him. He was kept under water so long that when taken out
 he appeared liiecss corpse. It was a long l crtions, to restore him sufficient to speak l. I Al.