The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1856-05-10
gsls,1y sttsa q ~ master ssa,t vhs ? he

guIlaarfl,y7 attas lis master, whom he
>sas ii lie habit III king about whenever
he would Gene to theapasture or the farm yard
where the horse was. sgaie! "A
Some several months after the prisoner had
been committed to Jail under Indictment, Will
liam Merriwethcr, .accompaine1 ~ Q number
of gentlemen, witnesses tbl tase, came up
from their. homes in Mi G1 . attend the
trial. .ale1is9mk ,9n.lh4 .nh
William M-prr;wether| M horse
of tho DECEASED broth yhit this
been recovered i'll de fam vi
ney lay along the Hassando }re
spot where the bod been ABOUT
two hundred yar3 the ty re cneu
the scene, Of the y horI upon which
William Merriy imoa ted began to-
exhibit symptop and his intractable
conduct much rider and the gen
''' There vas { causs Of alarm, and
the several 'ot fofdthAl party betrayed
none, 1Hissa Increased ash party
approached spot j; and, Hi>.n thss
reached a 7 in. road opposite to The
p;tch tb1 he bee almost u%nnanai
The/ 'eqparh wtchecked-p
ulu " OAICup .tSbS ~~SS 1897
duct orse wit .vfuuud astonlshnep'
His red-hls ~nostrils distende1f n
his gla,. into the wood where his ole
ms r chad met his horrible fate-hc st| Il for
aa.loment snorting and neighit lblime
picture of the widest excitement. ~
Ono Of the party suggested to Mr. 'erri-
wether to. give. him the rein that, meallN lie,
had been tightly drawn. This was done
instantly the noble animal rushed into
wood, and down to the identified tree uA
which the body had been found, and con-
menced paving at its root. After a moment
he trotted out further into the wood, and, after
making a semi-circle in his course. returned to-
the same spot, and there stood neighing, trem-l
bling and paving until he was forced away
Similar exhibitions were made by the horse n
number Of times afterwards in passing rae
spot.
At this startling development in the test
mony, q thrill Of feeling ran through the court
room like an electric shock. ,,,H! 4.
Thus far the proof had traced out the history
Of this mysterious murder with certainty too
fearful to be doubted. and had pointed to the
pallid youth who sat in the prisoners dock
the guilty agent thereof. ,m.-
Justice, tempered even with an unstrained
mercy, seemed impatient for the sacrifice, when
the strong arm Of the law i%nterposed, in its
might and majesty, to shield him. The Venue
unproven, or even in doubt, would have left to
the tribunal Of justice no other alternative than
to bid him 60 out again a free wanderer updN
the earth, with the blood and guilt thick upol,
J him. But the Cod who /" marketh the spar
row when he falls" in his inscrutable provi-
dencc, had yet in reserve an eloquent witness
against him, whose faithful heart was steel to
the wiles of the corrupter, and whose testimony
fell upon the aston inry as
"Co
: ' f'." As
No blood ha, j,
and no appearane If
the killing had | the
\ horse, whose rapid, must
have been occasion, DEATH
: struggle, would havs g of the
g tree in the wood. The Seine pictured be
: fore the minds of the jury, as typed by the
, glorious art Of Daguerre-thc dccoy into the
! wood-the robbers demand for gold or blood
: the death-struggle at the tree-and the instincts
> were destined to vindicate, as if by a miracle,
: the u%nerring certainty of retributive justice
l and thus the venue was proven--thus the doom
OF the prisoner was sealed, and thus DO
!. A pebble in the streamlet I
! Hath turned the course of many a river;
e A dew-drop on the baby plant
S Hath warped the giant oak forever.
5 The verdict of the jury was, that the pris-
] oner was guilty, and sentence Of death was
pronounced against him, which was after.
t wards commmuted to Imprisonment for life in
+ the State Penitcntiary.
In that gloomy catacomb of human hearts
:, and hopes, where time is as eternity, and by
e a sense of liberty lost, William Peterson now
$ expiates his dreadful crime.