Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1865-10-17
1a1illplI illlI Gmpire..: :ll',|FI:ii II, !:
THE SHERIFF'S STORY.
ICoSCLuDED,1

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At this point the idea which had before
been dimly floating in my mind as a possibil-
ity, became very near reality. These prints
we're at some little distance from the sunken
bridge, and the man who had made them
had crossed point of turf in reaching the
road. l selected place where the mud was
quite hard, and here stepped along by the
side Of the other track, was heavy man,
and yet the prints we're not half 30 deep as
those other prints. What did this tignify2 Ill
signi6ed very plainly TO me that the man who
had made those deeper tracks had borne very
heavy load upon his shoulders. i sialloI
And thus | arrived at the conclusion which
explained why the search and investigstionil
OF the officers for two years had proved futile. |
They had searched in the wrong place. Theyl
had taken it for granted that the murders had
been committed apon the dark road In the
swamp was now convinced that the dead
body 1 had just left had been borne to its
present place of rest from the shore OF the
creek And what was here beyond that ?
How came II upon the shore of tho creek n
We shall presently see. 4ni
1 left the proper officer to take charge OF
the corpse, and having told Mr., Watson TO
meet me in jackson on the following morns
ing, | started for the latter place and pot up
my horse at the stable Of the inn---the inn
kept by Laman Stoker. found tho hostlsr
aud shuddered when | looked at him-not
because be was q very ugly-looking man
but because he looked TO me exactly tit TO
help his master do bloody work He was a
| thin, pale, coldAbiooded fellow, with u low,
receding brow; sharp, cold eyes; small
triangular nose, and thick heavy upper lipl
| If he had been larger man those characters
sto features would have been more promi-
uent, and people might have feared him. but,
1 as it was, he had passed for weakly hni
healthy man, and nobody had thought OF his
doing HARM tH 5l Be- iaaomH ad' nod
After had seen my horse taken care of, III
walked out behind the inn, upon the brow OF
a point of table land, and q short distance
belowiI saw the bend Of the creek Il Toward
the creek made my way, and when within
few rods of the water, stopped, 4 saw
something on the grass--a dark, red ciot.
hanging upon stout blade, and bending 10
down. l. stopped, took it upon my fingers,
and found it to be blood gl 1.l9 oT tu.
pushed on to the shore OF the stream, but
= there we're no fresh footprints there went
back a little way and found that the trail
) turned to the left, aud led to point of the
Z swamp which made up behind the bluff upon
which the village stood. 1 made my way into
the thieket of vines and cottonwood and
presently fouLd boat drawn up upon the
shore OF the creek. 1t WAS of kind-caed
adug-out,p = and was wet outside and ia, as
though il had been lately washed down.
Perhaps you can imagine that was be-
ginning to be excited in my search. The
5 boat had been washed down and rinsed but
the fatal mark had not been obiteratsd The
water that gathered in the bottom, standing
in little pools, had crimson tinge, and there
we're one or two dark spots which had NOT
been washed OH, t
So far as my own mind was concerned, |
= had no doubt Since first entertained al
opinion of the criminality of Stoker every
thing had turned out Just as | had looked
for il and, when | had left the boat, had
about come to the conclusion to make my
+ next movement in my official capacity When
had reached the inn, Stoker had returned,
and dinner was almost ready; The host
eyed me sharply, but kept my countenance.
IL did me good to have him eye me in that
fashion, for knew that he feared me. Did
/, | ] not know why very welf In short, every
event from that time forth, gave weight 70
the testimony had already collected.
After dinner Stoker asked how long in
s. tended to stop with him had intended to
stop over night, and meet Watson in the
morning; but my plan was changed. Z The
wretch showed me more plainly than be efore
D, that he m mstruHted me, and 4 feared thai
some thing might turn up to injure my cause
Il | delayed too long So told him | wal
not going to stopat ALL had long road tC
travel, and | was in Q hurry. Whether ht
was pleased with this or not, could not de
- termine Il psid for dinner, for myself auC
horse and got away as quickly as possible
as and rode post haste to Huntsville i.a
u Watson opened his eyes with astonishmen
Is when | told him what l had discovered; but
~ he did not oppose my, belief The whole, as
on opened it to him in regular sequence, strucl
nd directly TO his understanding aud he onlJ
nd wondered that he had not thought Of some
,ct thing of that kind before He was ready ;,
sy act With me- aud our plans we're soon laid =
IN He vent out and engaged three stout men &
accompany us, two of whom were oonstablel
- and after tea the whole party set forth on on
way to jackson.
We reached the inn little after dark
- Watson and one Of the constables went t
the stable and secured John Boone, while
went into the house and arrested Lama
y Stoker. The latter, as l intimated, was
o powerful fellow, and came very near Riyin
us trouble; but a blow from the butt Of on
OF my heavy. pistols reduced his strengt
somewhat, and after that he was easily GO
e cured. -"1io '''"
Then we commenced to search the hous,
u. We hunted high and low, and we had pleni
u. Of interested people to help US Parttlo
70. wallis we're torn down, aud floors ripped up
/, We foshd the properly Of the murdered ma
ion in a secret locker and in a tank Of waite
ne away in one corner OF the cellar, we tonnd i
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