The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1864-07-22
Volume ll--No. 9


| have narrated had faded almost in-
to an uncertain Legend: when, one
sunny afternoon, an elderly gentle.
man Of staid, respectable appearance,
accompanied by bis wife and children
made his way from the evening stea.
mer TO one Of the principal hotels. -
After securing rooms, he walked in
to the streets. He earnestly scanned
the signs ns he passed. He stopped
before one that read "Attorney.at.
Law" He paused, and then, with a
start as If the determination had a
spice of the desperate in Il. he ascen.
ded the stairs md entered the office.
An elderly man. with bald head and
wrinkled face, was seated ut q table
surrounded by books and papers. In
viting the new conner, to lyc seated,
he peered at him through his sperta.
cles, and inquired his business.
! "Mr. B.--,you do not remember
me ?"
II cannot say that do" answered
the attorney, slowly, as if in doubt (:
"Do you not remember pleading in
behalf ofa poor fellow, about tei1g
lynched, for n murder, some thirty
years since p
"Miles Williams" exclaimed the
lawyer toyfuliy, "Can It be possible?
/ never forget u face, and yours saw
in frame work that night that ought
to impress 10 upon my mem ~ for.
~ 7 4
ago. Sit dowu--sit down-and tell
me all l."
"After was thrown from the YES.
sci that night, said williams, scating
himself, al was so frightened that
for some time I had no consciousness
Of what had occurred. On becoming
more collected, I found my little boat
half filed with water, riding the short
heavy waves, and every second ex.
pected to go under, or be capsized.
and so drown. This not occurring,
/ began to look about me. I found
the cord by which I was tied pas ,ed
over my shoulder. managed to get
it in my mouth, and soon knawed 1t
apart. This loosened my hands, so
that in few minutes I freed myself
and sat up. With an old tin cup,
that I found In the boat. bailed out
the water, and than, breaking up one
of the seats, I managed the little af.
fair so as 70 ship no more of the wa.
yes, and In this way rode ont the
storm and the night. By morning
the wind had snbsided, but so exhaus.
ted was by fear a I'd fatigue, that
was forced to lie down, and soon was
sound asleep. When I awakened the
sun was setting, and. far IA I could
see on every side, was dreary waete
Of waters. Strange as it may sound,
I was greatly relieved. I feared neth-
ing so much as falling into The hands
OF that terrible mob The full moon
came out, making the scene almost az
light as day, and q gentle breeze
springing up, took my coat, fasten-
ed 1t on the broken seat, and with
this for sail, drifted, near Us could
make ont by the stars, in north. eas.
terly direction. | knew, sooner or
later, | must strike the Canada shore,
but how far / had been carried in the
storm, could not, OF course, deter.
mine. Through that long night /,
hoated on. saw the moon 60 down
and the stars fade away into the cold
gray light OF morning, and then the
sun cqmc up with the clear, calm day,
but no land could he seen-nothing
but glittering water. l imagined ut
one time seeing in the dim distance
sail, but il one It Immediately disap.
pcared. About noon I noticed some
thing floating near me, and on pad.
ding my boat along side, found il
bale Of goods, carefully corded to.
gether, l fastened it, almost with
out motive, to my boat, and again ly.
ing down, was soon asleep. was
awakened by shout, and, starting
up, found was running in close TO n
wooded shore, and number Of men
staring in wonder at my appearance.
In answer to my request, one of them
waded in and pulled my boat To the
land. l learned, to my great relief,
that I had reached the Canada side,
within a few miles OIL. II was
supposed that I had been ship. wreck.
ed, to which my bale ofgoods at once
gave coloring, and secured for me
kind rec ption. On openins this bale
next day, | found it filed with costly
silks and veIvets, and so admirably
packed that the water had not dam.
aged them. This had probably been
lost from some wreck in the late storm
and noting the address with the in
tention OF repayment some day, sold
the contents, and with the proceeds
made my way to New York, where I,
after my mothers death, joined an
expedition fitting ont for -, in
South America. In this new home
/ married, and engaged in merchand.
Use. There lived until | learned,
few months since, my innocence of
that cruel deed had been made known
by the confession Of the real crimin.
al" ~.I .|H
When he had finished recounting
his strange Escape, the lawyer, rising
abruptly, caught him by the arm. and
pointed to the open window. They
looked and saw gaunt figure, with
sunken eyes, pale cheeks, and long
gray hair, in the gloom OF the evening
move silently along
uThntr ~ aaid the, LAWYER. "is Mr. |