The Shasta courier., 1861-09-14


as before, and never seemed as much at ease :
and never renewed the conversation that had
so agitated him, and never, in fact entered
into any other that he could possibly avoid.
/ kept my thoughts to myself, but made some
casual inquiries about him, and learned that
he had been 60 fortunate as to secure capital
lead, F" from which, with his PARTNER, anoth
er young man, he was taking out gold in
quantities that promised to enrich both, and
that both had the good will and esteem of all
who knew them.
One dark night, about three or four weeks
after this, l was startled from my sleep by
wild, prolonged shrieks, and cries Of
Murder murder help! helpl"
jumped up, seized my revolvers, and
darted out into the open air. The cries and
screams still continued, coming from point
on the bend Of the river about a hundred
rods below. In a minute was Joined by
FIVE others, all armed, and together we ran
as hard as we could to the place from which
the alarm proceeded. When we arrived there
Mt least thirty men were collected in and
aroundthe tent Of the dark man have been
describing, and he himself it was who had
given the alarm. His partner and compan.
Jon had been murdered and robbed, and he
elf had1- slightly cut across the face,
and gashed on the left arm, and he was all
excitement, lamenting his dearest friend,
and yowing vengeance against the assassin.
1t was some time bef1re we could get at the
particulars, and then we learned that both
had been sleeping side by side, when an un-
known robber had crawled under the light
canvas, stabbed one to the heart. and taken
large bag of gold from under his head
With this he was escaping, when the present
narrator awoke and seized him, and received
the wounds which compelled him to relin-
quish his hold. Lights were brought, and
there, sure enough, was the bloody contir-
nation of all that had been related.
l shall make not attempt to portray the in
tense excitement, the wild rage and conster-
nation which this daring murder occasioned
Every man felt that, if the assassin escaped
without his just punishment, there would no
longer be security for any one in our hitherto
quiet and peaceful valley, and solemn oaths
were taken to hang the wretch, if found, up
on the nearest tree. A large reward was of.
fered for his detection, and every gambler
that had ever been seen about there was more
or less suspected, and believe that, had any
man been arrested on the following day, he
would have been hung first and tried after
ward. l said less than any, for | had my
own suspicious, and | contrived my plot in
secret, and made confdant of no one.
The murdered young man was as decently
buried as surrounding circumstances would
permit, and his companion, my superstitious
friend, grew more moody with grief, refused
to work his !" lead" any more, and proposed
selling off his rocker and tools and quitting
the country altogether. l think he would
have gone at once, only that told him it
would not look well to leave withoutan effort
to discover the murderer, as some people
might be malicious enough to say he knew
something of the matter, and 50 get him into
trouble. He turned very pale, and declared
he would stay year, if he thought by that
means he could discover the assassin of his
dear, dear friend.
On the second afternoon following the
tragedy, almost every individual in the vicin-
i ;ty the the friend of the murdered man among
the rest, assembled at my store at my partic-
ular request. had told them that | had
something to communicate concerning the
foul deed, and thought it not unlikely |
should give them the clue to the assassin.
When all had collected, and arranged
themselves as / lad directed, in semi-cir-
Gle before my door-eager, expectant, ex-
cited-I came forward, holding in my hand
an egg. Then made them a short speech
Oh the various SupcrsllliOHS Vi uidukluu,
which contended had their origin in myste-
rious facts, revealed from the other world by
Gods good providence for the protection Of
the innocent and the punishment of the gull
ty; and among other things, | mentioned
how the ghosts oi' their victims would often
haunt the murde-ers, compelling them to re-
veal their crimes-how land and sea had
been known to give up their awful secrets
| nd bod oil IF
guilty wretch should place his hand upon the
body of the man he had secretly slain, the
wounds would bleed afresh.
'.And now, gentlemen" I continued, :"
hold in my hand as sure test as any have
named. This simple egg, so fair to the
view, contains the murderer's secret. Let
him but take it in his hand, and the frail
shell will crumble to pieces, and show to all
that it is filed with the blood of his victim.
You will excuse me, gentlemen, for putting
you all to this test. We do not know each
others secrets-the murderer of the young
man we buried yesterday may be among us
but only the guilty need fear the trial-the
innocent will surely pass the ordeal unharm-
| ed.'
As said this, fixed my gaze upon my
| dark visitor, my suspected man. never saw
more wretched or CHASTITY countenance, nor
greater struggle in any living being to
keep calm and unmoved exterior.
The egg began its rounds. Some took It
gravely, some lightly, some turned slightly
pale, and some laughed outright. But on it
went, and came nearer and nearer to the
man for whom it was intended. could see
that he was trembling-that his very lips
were getting white.
\ 1T is yoar turn now," I said, at length,
in a cold, stern tone.
.Minei'' he answered, with CHASTITY at
tempt at smile. ''Why-why-should
i take it? Poor Wilson was my-my-
friend =,
Let him prove SO now p said. "An
eyes are upon you. Take the ordeal sent by
Heaven, and prove your innoce-if you
can ~
He glanced hurriedly around. All eyes
were indeed upon him, and with looks Of
awakening suspicion. He made one despair
ing effort to be calm, gulI he'd his breath like
one choking, and seized the fatal egg with
trembling hands.
The next moment it was crushed in atoms,
and his hands wet and stained as if with hu;
man gore.
A wild yell burst from the crowd.
A despairing shrek came from the lips OF
the guilty wretch; and falling, rather than
sinking, down upon his knees, he cried out
''God of mercy, forgive me! | did kill
him Ibid kill him. for his gold his gold!
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