The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1862-06-27

aed the cottage, when we

-. ES"cl nv Dalh vi cuep'VlOU,
~ indeed, Of anJ other emotion,
!" +? we told him wc wishod TO
= rrh ihe horse.
Very well, gentlemen, as fast
a se ooon az you like" was the re-.
~,
Hive yoo n we'll hcrol' l in.
Cifcel.
"No, sig, re are obliged to go for
'~ater to Il snring oi a considerable
distance"
We sca-cted tie house which |
did, | cOaless, with kind Of fever.
ish oScitamtat, expecting every mo-
inent 70 Sr;ug some fatal secret to
light. Mpsnwhile the man g9zed
upon ia With an impenetrablc va
cant, oi ipok, and we at last left
the co,iaye without seeing anything
rngt 7ou'1 confirm my euspicious.-
I resolved to inspect the garden once
mare and O number OF idlers hav-
ing teen by this time collected, 4,
drawn to the spot by the sight Of O
stranger with two armed men, EN-.
gsged in searching The premises, ]
'nale inquiries OF some OF them
whether they knew anything about
the well in that plfce. | could get
no information at first, bnt At length
mn old woman came slowly forward,
leaning on O crutch.
"A wcll;" cried che, "is it well
yon are looking after. That has
been gone these thirty years. Ire
member it ns if il were only ycs'er'
day how many time, when was
yonng girl, | used to arnuse my
self by throwing stones into it, and
hearing the splash they used to
make in the water"
"ADd could you tell mo where
the we'll used to be?' asked n!'
most breathlcss with excitement.
"As near as ! can remember, on
tho very spot on which your honor
is Standing" said the old woman.
81 could have sworn it," thought |
epringing from the place as il | had
trol upon scorpion.
Need | say that we set to work &c
dig up ground. AT about eighteen
inches deep VIC came to layer oi
hricke, which, hcing broken mp,
gave to view some hoards which
"crc easily removed, after which We
hchG'd the mouth Of tho well.
Il was quito sure it waa here, said
the woman. 'What fool tho old
,cllow was to stop it up, ard ther
have to 20 40 lar for water
A eourding'liuc, furnished with
hooks, was now let down into tho
well; the crowd pressing around ns
md hrea'hlcssly bending over thu
dark hole, the secrets OF which seem
cd hidden in inpenctrnll" ohscurity
This was repeated several times
w,,hout any result AZ length, pen
Grating below the mud, the hook
caught in an old chest, upon tht
top of which had been thrown q
great many largo stones, and nitc'
mu,h time and cff,rt wc succeeded
in raising it to daylight. Tn" side.
and lid were decayed and rotten, i
ucehed no lock smith to open il; and
we found within what | was certain
we should finl, and which paraIyzcd
with horror all the spectators who
had not my Pre- conviciions--wc
iruul the remains Of n human body
The police officers who hhd nc
comvanjcd me, now rushed into Tie
house and secured the person OF the
Old man As to his wife, no one
could Mt first tell what had become
Of her; after some search. however
shc was hidden behind bundle Of
fagots.
BY this time rearly tho whole
town had gathered around tho spot;
and now that this horrible fact had
come to light, everybody had some
crime to tell of, which had Lecn
laid to the charge OF tho old couple
The people who prolict alter al
event are numerous.
The old compile woro brought be
fore the proper authorities, and pri.
yatefy and separately examined. -
Tie old man persisted in his denial
most pcrtinacionsly, bnt his wife a,
.cng'h confessed, thnt in concert with
her husband she hal once, a very
long time ago. murdered pcdlar
whom they had met one night on
the highroad, and who had been in
cautious enough TO tell them of Il
considerable sum OF money whicN
he had about him, and whom in con
sequence, they induced to PASS IA,
night at their house. They haC
'aken advantage Of the heavy slceI
produced by fatigue, to strangl,
him, his body hId been rnt into tho
chest. The chest thrown into the well
AMI the wtll stopped up.
The p,dlar being nom another
coun.ry. his disappearance had oc
sioucl no inquiry; there WAS M
witnesses If the crimo - and il,
traces had been carefully concealed
from every eye; the two criminals
had good reason to believe them
selves SECURE from detection. They
had not, however, been able to 81
Nnco The voice OF conscience; the,
h,d from the sight Of their fellow
men, they thonght they behcld
wherever they turned, mnte sccuscrs