Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1865-02-24

IN my confidence, Dut resolved not 10
trust the local police, as in these remote
stations their life of idleness often makes
.hem loafers and gossips. resolved to
call Mr.. r, the hotel keeper and
postmaster, aside he had been 40 offi-
Ger in the army many years-and tell
him my errand. | did so; never was
secret better kept; and returned as il
nothing had occurred. Toward evening
the bar was pretty full, and | took the
opportunity of saying publicly to Mr..
T that I was out of work, that |
was a groom, that did not want TO
60 to work on a station, and should be
glad Of a chance job, He at once told
me to 60 to his stables, and tell bis fore
man TO take me on as an extra stable
hand. ! gave Mr.. - my swag to take
care of; it contained my uniform, and my
authority from headquarters to act as a
detective. He understood all, and that
was sufficient.
As groom | remained here months /;
able for lorg while to do nothing but
feeling more and more confident that the
general suspicion of Stevens was well
founded. OF course became intimate
with him, but onyi in the evenings when
my work was done iu all respects | act
ed an ordinary groom, receiving my week
ly wages, and carefully avoiding every
thing that might lead any one to sup
pose | was any thing but groom. Of
ten have laughed within myself as a
mounted trooper has ridden up, and call
ed NE TO take his horse and give him a
feed; however | kept my own counsel,
and little by little light dawned upon my
track. Over the never failing pipe had
frequent conversations wi I'll h Stevens
about this old man on such occasions
he would geperally fix his eyes upon the
ground, which gave me the opportunity
to watch him more narrowly. could
then see the nervous twitchings OF his
face, the biting Of his lip, and the sudden
passing of his handkerchief across bis
brow, which convinced me that he knew
more Of the affair than did. Frequent
Iy at the close of our conversation, in
which Stevens was making these uncon-
seious self-revelations would he say-"l
hate talking Of this dismal subject, let's
have another glass" On such occasions
he always said--"I'll shout; you are on
ly groom, can afford it better than
you" Gradually he took TO regular
drinking; morning, noon and night be
was to be found at the bar. When joked
about his finances he had his answer
ready he had sold bis horse, or an old
mate had called and given him the cash.
So long as he shouted freely few cared
where the money came from. My eyes,
however, we're steadily fixed on h i
drinking habits as the clew to my re-
searches.
Summer was coming on; though it
was late summer it was a regular hot
Australian one; in the course of few
weeks the Glenelg began to dry up, and
its long chain of water-holes to appear.
Now was the Iime,for ascertaining wheth
er the remains of the old man were 10 be
found in any of the water holes in the
neighborhood of II, and one evening
as was talking to Stevens about this |
said-"You or | may as well try and find
the remains of Jeffrey, and so lay claim
to the Government reward" | noticed
this gave him quite turn and although
he tried to conceal it ! saw that he trem-
bled all over, and though generally very
mild spoken, he got angry with me, and
told me that might do what liked but
he wasn't so fond of looking after dead
men, especially if they are murdered.-
| replied: mo one said that Jeffrey
was murdered; you have always said be
made way with himself" 81 thought
so once, but now the more think over
the matter, the more convinced am that
he was murdered" "That has got to be
proved" Said !, "and to prove it, we
must first find the remains, and as the
river dries up have no doubt we shall
find them in one of tie aoater holes near
his hut" This was not exactly guess,
but was a conclusion arrived at this l.
Stevens was a slight built man, and, sup
posing him to have been the murderer,
he could not have carried Jeffrey far
2. every one knows that murderers sell
dom have nerve or forethought to carry
their victims far from the scene of mur-
der. As soon as l bad said this he be-
came pale and said-"Well, let's have
nobbler; | canno, stand this everlasting
talk about a murdered man."
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