Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-02-14
THE MAYFIELD MYSTERY.
fcoNCLUDED.l |

is needless to say with what JOY that fond mo-
ther welcomed back her lost treasure. 1t was
full hour before any Of them could talk CO.
berently; and then Edward, in reply to a le-
gion of questions, said, 81 was persuaded to
gamble for one hour once; and as I won, and
would &c away, young scoundrel Of the name
of Petrus followed me and pushed me all una
wares over precipice.'
"Ah, my dear, }" said the mother, sswe know
all that"
"Yoa do, mother? ?''
''Yes, and about the pool-the fathomless
pool into which it was thought you sunk"
''Oh, dear no, / did not sink into it, and no.
body thought so. I slid down twenty yards
along the face OF the precipice, and caught
at some weeds in the face of the rock, and
by rare good fortune climbed up again The
rascal Petrus left the island that same night,
no doubt supposing he had murdered me, but
beyond few scratches was none the worse"
My sonny boy"
"GOd bless you, Edward,'
" But who was or who is that person." said
came in!''
{" Bless u.s." exclaimed both Mr.. and Mrs.
"Who is Pierre?'
"Your friend, my dear, who thought you
were drowned in the pool-your friend, Pierre
st. George. Oh, run out, and see if he is hurt"
"Stop" said Edward. SIS ne slight and
thin | only saw him on the top of the steps
for half a second"
He iS-he is"
" Has he a scar on his left brow2''
"Oh, yes, yes,'
"Ah, then that is Petrus who would make
me play, and then push me over the precipice
Dear father and mother, L see it all now, The
villain, thinking me dead, came to you, and by
his specious cunning, got you to adopt him. He
is stained by hundred crimes You have in
deed taken a viper to your bosoms"
The Cattleys were aghast with surprise and
fright at the knowledge that they had been
actually for so long cherishing the man who
had attempted the life of their own son. An
eager search was made over the entire neigh
borhood, but no trace of the fugitive could be
found; and in the joy of the recovery of their
real son, the Cattleys would soon have ceased
to think of their adopted one .
But Petrus alias Pierre st. George had not
done yet with the Cattleys
That he entertained the most deady hatred
against Edward Cattley there could be no
doubt; and that he would gladly give his own
life, if it would enable that hatred to be the
destruction of Edward, was evident
Stained by many crimes in the Mauritius,
which made his return to those islands certain
death, Petrus felt that his only chance was the
one which he had so successfully for a time
carried out at the Cattleys
That chance gone by-through the Ito hm)
most unexpected temperance of Edward-he
evidently gave himself up to despair and death;
Oth ~ Will Oc eccu uOW even III Qedtl ne QOpeQ
to be the fate and the bane of Edward Cattiey.
About two days after the return of Edward
to Mayheld House, there was found partially
embedded in the lower part of the haystack
which stood in the meadow we have mentioned
as adjoining the garden of the house, dead
body.
The labering man who first saw it fed with
terror to the nearest public house and spread
an alarm, SO that before the Cattleys knew
anything Of il, the ten acre meadow was full of
people, and a constable had been sent for, and
the body was laid on a hurdle. to be conveyed
somewhere, IN order that an inquest should be
held upon it.
Mr.. Cattley and his son ran out of the house
to the field to see what was the matter, and
they both recognized the body.
I" 1t is Pierre said Mr.. Cattley.
1t is Pretrus,'' said his son.
But now we must describe what remarkable
appearances the body presented
In the chest was still thrust a small Indian
dagger, which had evidently been the cause of
his death, for it had touched the heart.
In one hand of the dead man was some hair
which seemed TO have been wrenched from the
head OF some one, during the progress of a
mortal struggle.
In pocket-book that was found upon the
body, there were several-three in all-ac-
acknowledgements for money, signed Edward
Cattley, and amounting in all to the sum of
seven thousand pounds.
"neu tueee clrcumstdnceS were taken into
consideration-at the roadside public house
whore the dead body was taken to-by an
attorney in the neighborhood, named Watson.
who had been at enmity with the Csttleys for
some time, about a real or supposed right of
way over the ten-acre meadow, he ran off to
the nearest magistrate, and after a consulta-
tion, got warrant for the arrest of Edward
Cattley.
At the inquest the next day, the hair that
was found clutched in the hand of the dead
man was found to be so exactly the color and
quality OF Edwards, that no one could doubt
il TO be other than his
The Indian poniard he admitted was his
The Acknowledgements for the seven thousand
pounds, dated from the Mauritius and found
in the pocket-book of the dead man, he de-
clared to be fOrgeries
But after a very long inquiry, Edward was
committed on the cOroner's warrant, for willful
murder, on the following grounds
That he had, In the pursuit of Petrus, after
he, Pctrus, had sprung through the window,
at his father house come upon him in the
ten-acre field, and after struggle murdered
him, and hall concealed the body in the hay
stack.
The motive of the murder was presumed tn
lie in the fact that Petrus had the acknowl-
edgments for meney, no doubt-as the coroner
took upon himself to say-lost at play in the
Msuritius by Edward CattIey to Petrus, with
whom he acknowledged to have had gaming
transaction.
Such, then, was the case against Edward
Cattley, and when was retained for the de-
Tense 1 had an interview with him z.
The Government prosecuted, because killing
is murder in this country, whether the person
killed be British subject or not, and what
ever may be the charscter Of the slain indi-
vidual, unless some circumstances can be shown
which will convert the act into justifable
homicide. =
Edward Cattley's statement to me was most
clearly and distinctly that he never met or
saw Petrus after his evasion Of him by leaping
through the dining room window :
The poinard he avowed was his but he had
not seen it since he came home; and had, ON
the occasion of his leaving home for the Mauri-
titus, left it in his dressing room, at Mayfeld
House.
The hair, he admitted, was wonderfully like
his, only that he did not wear his hair 50 long
rs to admit Of 50 much being torn from his
head in any struggle.
The Acknowledgements for the money he
knew nothing of, as he had never played with