Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-08-15

II, anu lcdl lnese pIlntcu "oTus
TWO HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD.
9Th above will be gi,cn to any person not
actually concerned in the crime, who shall give
such information as shall lead to the discovery
Of the III rdercr or murdcrers otJoln Splgnt, in
the SwafIan road Ilenborough, on the night OF
December the thirty-iirst, eighteen hundred aud
thirty five
"N hy, YOU, Carlton, were one of the jury
men, if remember right, whu were upon the
inquest in that matter :" said
" was. doctor, and-arc you sure there's no
body under the bed, or in the cupboird or be-
hind the chimney aboard ?-and his murderer al
So"
food heavens :" exclaimed. "Why, what
hypocrilical ruilian you must have been -
" Doctor, good do tor, have mercy upon me :;
don't tel, don't tell and don't think 50 hardly
OF me un il YOU have heard me out | am not
so bad as SEEM
1t was on a New Years Eve near twenty
years ago, and very late at night-,losc upon
Iwcl,e,-when had Put up my last shutter,
and was going TO lock the door OF my shop, that
stranger called. lie had come from the Swat
ham cnd OF the road, and had never seen HIM
before in all my life he could hardly speak
ALL he was SO awiuly drunk Red in face thick
in speech, and trembling al over like leaf; he
san ne UiuNt nave more rum tpiu nun thdt
We only had gingcr-heer and such like drinks :;
and, besides that it was too late at that time OF
NIGHT 10 ,elI people ANYTHING. He sWcre horri-
ly at this, sid that my wife (who was still be-
hlud the counter in the shop) aud |, were both
liars, that we had sold rum often enough To 9TH
or folks. he knew vcry well. lie managed To
siaggcr up the Two stone steps aud push IN at
ih, door He should get into the back iailor,
aud sleep there all niaht, he said | took h III
Toy the collar intending to s,l him outside the
door, but he was tail and Stout.malr lr man, and
| could uot--he struggled with me in a dull
heavy manner. | had hard matter to thrust him
from The parlor. | did 50. aud pushed him vio-
tntly, and he tel on the floor at iull length ike
a log he never gruancd ai.cr he had touched
the hoor hut he lay silent and mo'ionlr,S.
Nv wife ciicd. What have You done
George You've killed the man =
- Nonsense | said; but when we tried to
raise him. and saw the classy look OF his eyes.
knew It was true \ hundred horrible thoughts
would have crowded into nv mind at once, bur
that swliter than they, devices for getting The
copsc away, and removing susr ion from our
selves had already filed il; the simple honest
plan of telling lhc truth and calling in the police
at once. never so much as suggested itself. " hat
| If a ncghbor should step IN, as this poor murder
| ed man had done, and fad him living there
| Ii one of the children even. should be awakened
| by the noise, and come down into the shop II
| the watchman himself, seeing our door vet open
| at that time of night should call There was
not a moment to lose (; took the dca man by
the head and my wife, all in trembe, man
aged to raise his legs, and shutting the door care
fully after uS, we bore our dreadful burden ahont
fifty yards along the Swaiiham road We tried
| TO set it against the ratings winch ran along
both sides of what Is now Mccartney Street, bul
the inanimate thing slnped down again each
Time in mere heap, 1t surprising how
anxious were TO prop 1t up, and, although
every instant was precious TO US, we spent some
! five minutes in dung SOFT seemed inhuman
| somehow, to leave 1t on the pavement. In a
sort of desperate terror al last, twined the arm:
| about the bats, and we fed back in silence
! Nothing was stirring. We heard the tread oi
| the walchman outside nur closed door, and hi:
Past twelve o'clock ! die away in the distance
but we had put out the lights, and felt certain
hc had observed nothing unusual, nothing o
ours-oh horror !-dloppcd IN the road, while
we had gone about our terrible task. One o.
| the children, Clara, began to cry out, " W here
| have you been, motherE' She had heard US
! then, leave the house.
- only helped your father 10 put up the shut
ters child she answered, and the girl was quiet
ed bv the ready lie.
I'VE went 10 bed Immediately, but not tc
sleep our cars were on the stretch for the mo
ment when the cry should arise, and we should
| know the body was found. One o'clock, two
| three, four the time crept on with painful slow
ness, and ;he hours and quarters seemed TO pro
| long their iron voice horribly. And now the
! dawn was breaking, and there was light cnougl
| for chance traveller to see the corpse. w,
saw it all night long, as We were to see it to
years and as | SEE it now. Five, six; it wa,
time for US to get up and open the shop les
suspicion should rise that way and we did so
| There was a turn in the Swail ham road beyonC
our huuse, and it was farther than that and We
| ! dared not look in that direction as ! undid til,
| shuttle s.
." Watch watchl Help, helpr they lher
have und him at last and the str ct fills will
a hurrying crowd aud run with them, among
the first But my wife, she Is faint with terror
aud darcs not move, telling the children VIII,
have heard the cnes, that it is nohinI
" 1t leans against the railing whore we set it
but its right hand--ycs, by heaven, It points Il
me Nobody saw my face, they were all 81
horroislruck with the dreadful thing, or shoulC
have been carried of 10 prison at once withOu
am further proof, know. As they were abOn
to take il down, Doctor Scott, (your prcdecesso
AT the union, sir,) who was in the crowd, CrIc'
Stop " and called attention TO the position o
the arms ;" do not think-bear witness all @
you---thai any tit, or strong conyulsion whalsO
ever, could have thus twisted them. And bor
witness loudly wth the rest | was, as you hav
said, sir, upon the Jury. thought il best, safes
TO be, despite the things | had to deal with
When all the evidence which was chiefly medi
cal had been given. ! was with the minorit
for, Wllul murder against some person or per
sons unknown against the rest who were fo
Death by ap"plexy; and we starved the other
out. O, sir, the shifts and lies had TO invent
the tcrrors that facked me by night and by da
and all begoltcn by my cunning dishone'
ways, would have beer punishment for mur
derer indeed About this great reward here
of two hundred pounds, there was ceasees
talk and the widest surmses as to how it woul
be gained amongst our neighbors. They cam
into our little back pallor just as usual, an
wounded MS with every word. Now, mark m
words said one, the fellow will b, discoverc
/ in the end and hanged, and 'Ay, ay, muTde
, will out sooner or later said the rest. Soone
or laterr Great heavens how those word
, haunted us for now indeed we had played
part which, ifdiscoverel, would have proved u
, at once gully my wife took to her he'd, an
fairly sickened from sheer anxiety She haG Il