The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1866-11-22
THURSDAY,1 NOVEMBER. % 1865
staggered almost headlong iu.. :.

staggered almost headlong iu.: :a..sy7g :
What had we come to sec /? A. roou
dabb'ed oyer-foors, walls, furniture
with: blood A dog, with blazing eye
and bloody feet, glariogs from >beneatl
. lounge. A bed, ,unslept in, bu
bloody. And in a large and heav,
chair, a woman sitting, bound hand 40,
foot, aud BY cords passing round be
BODY with her head dropping storwar,
upon her breast. And as VIC raised he
head we saw hideous cash that, ha1
cut her throat from ear to ear.
A policeman is but q man. L hay,
found some Of the most human, men ]
ever knew among the for.e, and Peter
vas one of them; He was horror stfucl
and could not utter a word: Pointing
to the street and to his mouth, L knew
that l was to do what he could not con
tract his lips to do-whistle to the D.
trolman in the street. I did SO at once
and in another minute or. two We wert
joined by two other officers.
L pass over what followed briefly
The house was, taken possession of b,
tho police; the dog was secured an6
in due time there came the inquest
with its inevitable verdict Of, "Wilfu
murder by some person or persons un.
known" and private and public in.
qulr'es Of the most searching descrip
ton for the murderers. Money wal
the object Of the crime, for broken
desk was found, and from . private rec.
ord it was discovered that bank notes
to large amount had been. kept in it,
but were missing. AS for the girl tha,
had been arrested and set free, she was
not heard OF again, although all, the re.
sources OF the police were taxed to the
utmost to find her whereabouts. And
the, murder of No. 80 remained a mys.
terry which it:seemed would never be
solved. The only relic of the case was
the dog, which I took a fancy to and
brought TO my: house. Bob-that was
the name l gave him-became quite a
curiosity for time; and was, looked on
as a historical character. This, too,
soon died out. Aud when, five years
later, l took house several miles back
Of Jersey City, in one Of the localities
fast becoming popular; the terrible sto-
ry Of how our supposed neighbor died
was very seldom thought of. .s
My business increased. Twas grow
ing rich. Not rich in the past war sense
OF this year Of grace, eighteen hundred
aud sixty-six, but 1 had enough to keep
me in a quiet way without more work,
it l chose to remain idle. We saw it,
tie company, and, except some occa-
sional visit from a client, saw but. few
new faces at home. People did, say
that 1 was getting fat, but that was
"Anybody been here to-day Jack.
son p This to my clerk; with me now,
man and boy, fer twenty years.
"Only one; a queer looking chap,
Mr.. Elder; looks like returned dig
ger, or something of that Sort" 49,.
"What does he want ?" I asked.
Some question about a California
land claim, I Think" said Jackson {;
"but he will be here iu half an hour to
speak for himself"
And in half an hour he came: Whv
jackson should compare him to dig.
ger, l could not for the life of me i'm
agine. He was tall, we'll built, though
rather slender; had black, curling hair,
and full, dark beard, and his eyes we're
full of gentleness. There did not seem
even the cool, ready tongue, and watch
fu)uess Of expression that I have no
ticed about many who have made for
tunes in gold claim and lost them
again in the gilded saloons of San Fran
cisco. But there was something-no
matter i; L will get on with the facts.
Mr.. Layton-that was the gentle
mans name-had, he told, purchased,
several years ago, certain California res
ervations, and had paid for them in
full. There were now claims advanced
against him by the agents Of certain
Mexicaus, and his object in visiting me
Was to have the title investigated, and,
secondly, to hand over the whole prop
erty, without restriction Of any kind,
to his wife. The total sum involved,
or rather the total amount of his mon
ey and the value Of tie disputed prop:
erty, would place his wife in possession
at his death of over $50, 900. She was
in the city, and If her presence was re-
qmred, would be forthcoming; but be
ing OF invalid habits, did not 60, abroad
much. y
I was, of course, ready enough to un-
dertake the case, aud took charge Of the
papers respecting it, and We parted with
an offer on my part to mako his visit
as agreeable rs possible. For the next
few weeks had frequent visits from
Mr.. Layton quite upon companion
able terms-so much so that on his
last call I invited him to my house on
tho following Sunday and requested
him to bring his wife, which he prom
ised to d.. IT,. s~;s ri ...;;. IL: ~. ;rri
Iswell remember that day.. The
morning had. been showery,' aud the
sky had since cleared !; all the trees
and grass were dressed in their. bright
est green, and from the cool earth per.
fume ffoatcd up with.that iudescribable
freshness only experienced after rain